Originally posted by Christina I'm very interested in the Q. I currently shoot with a K-x, and while I love it, I find the size to be a bit cumbersome while traveling.
I like the idea of having a camera on me at all times (and something that takes NICE photos, not crappy cell phone pictures that can't be printed above a 3.5x5)
I like having control over my lens, which is why I shy away from typical point and shoot cameras. Plus, I feel like I spent a decent amount on my entry-level DSLR and a point and shoot would be a bit of a step down.
That being said, the Q has a fairly hefty priced tag. How does the image quality compare to the K-x? How large can an image be printed before it starts to lose quality?
I tend to do close shots, unless I'm in a scenic area and want to capture everything. How is the kit lens? Does it feel limiting?
I'd love to play with it .I'm located in NJ, anyone know of some dealers that may have it?
Thank you for your thoughts.
Hi Christina, I have the K-x and if you look in this forum you'll see my post
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-q-forum/161564-k-x-versus-q-versus-lumix-ts3.html
comparing the K-x and the Q. I am going to post a comparison shot of the K-x and Q in daylight as well later this weekend but the short answer is the Q is almost as good as the K-x. The RAW files from the Q are better then the K-x's JPEGS and when comparing RAW to RAW, the Q is only slightly behind in detail when viewing the image at 100 which you will 95% of the time never do.
I will answer some of your questions below:
Since you stated you like having manual control on your cameras, the Q will fit in perfectly. It works just like your K-x and is designed very well to be easily usable and configured to how you like to shoot your photos. You'll feel right at home with the Q.
The build quality on the Q is very good as well and it's very tiny, compact, and lightweight. Just like your SLR, it has a standard hot-shoe to use any Pentax compatible flash or other accessories. I use my Metz AF 58-2 on it and get the same great photos as my K-x with one caveat. I have to use the built in diffuser with PTTL mode or set it to Automatic mode for the Metz. I haven't used the Pentax branded flash on it but the manual says it supports all current Pentax flashes.
As for your image size, the Q is the same megapixel as your K-x essentially is so anything you could do with you K-x in terms of image size and quality you can expect from the Q. The Q also takes much sharper images.
They're are only two things that you may miss with the K-x versus the Q and that is the AF and Shallow Depth of Field with wide open Apertures. HOWEVER, both of these can be "fixed". The Q's AF is good and quick when there are high-contrast areas but in low-light I feel it's as bad as my K-x in focusing or sometimes better depending on the day. I find the K-x does a LOT of hunting in low light, the Q will take at most, that I've seen, about a few seconds to AF in bad lighting. Otherwise in good light it's under a second.
Since the Q is a smaller sized sensor, you will get different depths of fields for the same F-stop number compared to the K-x. The Q's 8mm f/1.9 is equal to a K-x's 47mm f/7.1 . This means it's harder to get those nice blurred shots, but not impossible. You can get nice Bokeh by just shooting up closer and filling the frame, which it seems like you do. Also, the Q has after-market adapters and lenses that I and others are testing on the forum to give more flexibility to the system. I have purchased a f/1.0 lens which should give me even more shallow depth of field and help me mimic the K-x when using a 50mm f/1.4 lens. To be honest though, you can get nice blurred shots by just shooting slightly closer and it comes out very well with the kit lens.
The kit lens is very good and not really limiting. It's a standard "human eye" perspective and unless you want a very wide landscape shot or super telephoto, the kit lens is good. I purchased the fish eye lens which I've really enjoyed and also ordered the Zoom lens because I found the Q to be such a wonderful and great camera. The zoom lens will let you shoot wider, 27mm-82mm, and give you some nice telephoto. If you feel you only want to shoot up close and wide angle shots, just buy the $89 wide angle "toy" lens and you're done. Otherwise, I think a better long term investment is to just buy the Zoom lens when maybe the price is a bit lower.
One more thing about the sensor size on the Q. Your going to hear a lot of comments and opinions that because the Q has a small sensor it is inferior and a poor product. I would ignore those people as they haven't actually used the camera. If you read reviews of the camera that are out and some of the newer ones that are coming from other reputable websites, they are all giving the Q praise. It's a very well made camera and designed for photographers. I've said this before and I'll say it again, no matter your profession, you don't blame your tools for the work you produce. A photographer is not defined anymore by the camera and equipment they use then a musician is defined by the brand of instrument they play, or by a writer by for pen they use. It is always about the people behind the tools that make the difference. Now that I've said that, the Q takes excellent images and comparing them to a P&S is silly because a lot of very high end P&S take VERY GOOD IMAGES. Technology has progressed to where your iPhone is as good as a top of the line digital camera from 3-4 years ago. The Q takes as good a photo as the K-x in RAW mode and there is the another benefit of the Q. The sensor is more sensitive to light, meaning if you took a shot at ISO 800 with the K-x, you could take it at ISO 200 with the Q. It has a 2-3 EV stop better performance then the K-x which means more shots are going to come out at a lower ISO's for better quality or faster shutter speeds for less blurring.
I hope that answers your questions but if you have anymore, please ask. I've really enjoyed the camera so far and if my new lens works the way I want, I will be selling me K-x and just using the Q.