Originally posted by Art Vandelay II Are there a lot of people out there interested in an $800 interchangeable lens magnesium compact camera that don't know what DOF is? There may be some like Christine that view infinite DOF as a bonus, but I imagine the vast majority of this market cherishes the ability to shoot at f/2 with soft backgrounds.
Can I respectfully ask that you don't try and marginalise my position and project your needs as the needs of the majority?
I never said that I viewed "infinite DOF as a bonus" - please don't put words into my mouth. However, I did say that DOF isn't everything, and high DOF for the purposes I intend to use the camera is actually good. Note: high does not have the same meaning as infinite.
I would argue that expecting a standard prime to provide soft backgrounds is a niche requirement. When I started out photography (in the 70s on a rangefinder) - I would reach out for a standard prime for speed, not bokeh. Indeed, the bokeh of most standard primes is rather harsh. If I want soft blurry backgrounds, I would go for a telephoto. Pentax has yet to release a good telephoto for the Q but they are working on it. In the meantime, the standard prime can used as per any other camera with a standard prime - for speed, not bokeh. And if someone wanted bokeh, there is a bokeh filter (yet to proven how effective this is).
Earlier on in this thread there was a link to an article that provided info on the marketing research that Pentax did (in Japanese) parts of which I then translated to English. That link shows that Pentax knows exactly who they are targeting, and the size of that target segment.
You keep on bringing up image quality - the market survey Pentax did says that for the target market image quality is a secondary consideration. The primary consideration is size, ability to change lenses, followed by ability to control shooting parameters. Eerily, that almost exactly describes what I am looking for. Just because that target includes someone like me and excludes someone like you does not invalidate their product or the research.