[eliallan]

I'm almost sold on the Q, but I was hoping to get some direct feedback on peoples experience with the Q and compact K mount lenses.
I've read the adapted lens test thread, but its very scattered and some of the images no longer show up.

Does anyone have any strong feeling on their use of the limiteds? What sort of shooting do you do and how well does the Q satisfy your needs when paired with K glass?

How difficult is it to achieve accurate focus?

I've seen many tests of the Q with big glass, and I think thats interesting, but I'm really more curious about normal to portrait lenses for the extreme portability of the system. i.e. carrying the k5 with 15,21,40,70,and 100 macro, I could theoretically add the Q plus adapter and have a range of telephoto equivalents as well, without adding hardly any weight or size to the camera bag. But how well will it actually perform? will I have 10px of CA? Will camera shake make handheld shooting impossible? Will diffraction and fiddly aperture selection give me headaches?

Any and all opinions welcome!

[Adam]

The Q certainly has handling issues with adapted lenses: it can be hard to hold steadily at times, and focusing or even framing could be difficult with longer lenses. However, after using it for a while, you'll figure out workarounds for most of these issues. My advice is to get the genuine Pentax adapter, as then you'll be able to use the Q on a tripod with all of the lenses you've mentioned. The leaf shutter is also very nice to have. Also, get some sort of optical viewfinder, as it will help you compose your images.

Aberrations generally aren't a big issue until you start using very long focal lengths. There will be diffraction if you stop down too much, though. Definitely try shooting close to wide-open at all times.

The bottom line is that the Q has the potential to outperform APS-C DSLRs at longer focal lengths, but this comes at the cost of handling. You'll also want to keep the ISO locked at the minimum setting.

Have you seen our Q adapter review?
Pentax K to Q-mount Adapter - Introduction - PentaxForums.com

[pearsaab]

I'm almost sold on the Q, but I was hoping to get some direct feedback on peoples experience with the Q and compact K mount lenses.
I've read the adapted lens test thread, but its very scattered and some of the images no longer show up.

Does anyone have any strong feeling on their use of the limiteds? What sort of shooting do you do and how well does the Q satisfy your needs when paired with K glass?

How difficult is it to achieve accurate focus?

I've seen many tests of the Q with big glass, and I think thats interesting, but I'm really more curious about normal to portrait lenses for the extreme portability of the system. i.e. carrying the k5 with 15,21,40,70,and 100 macro, I could theoretically add the Q plus adapter and have a range of telephoto equivalents as well, without adding hardly any weight or size to the camera bag. But how well will it actually perform? will I have 10px of CA? Will camera shake make handheld shooting impossible? Will diffraction and fiddly aperture selection give me headaches?

Any and all opinions welcome!

i agree with adam the focus aspect takes getting used to but then i'm trying to use the q for nature/bird and they don't sit still...i have the 15 and then fa 31 and 77 lens and if there is something you would like to see i can try to take some pictures this weekend...for the most part i have only used the q with the big lens...i have used it with the 100 macro but would be happy to check out the others...amy

[baro-nite]

Sandy Hancock has done quite a bit with Limiteds on the Q. For Single-in-January he used the 31, and a number of his shots from that month are on the Q:

Single in January 2013 - a set on Flickr

And I expect there are many more Q shots with different Limited lenses in his Photostream.

[mike.hiran]

Focus is pretty easy with peaking/zoom and the stablization works surprisingly well. All of these were handheld except the da35 which I think I used a monopod. These shots were pretty much just experiments at the time and I haven't spent a lot of time trying to figure out which apertures give the sharpest images.

Hope these answer some ?'s for you...

DFA 100 wr

fa43

fa77

fa43

da35 2.8 (I think)

fa77

fa43

fa43

[eliallan]

Thanks everyone! this is exactly what I was looking for.

[crewl1]

The 70 and 100 are fun to use with the Q.
The Pentax adapter eliminates jello effect up to 1/1000 shutter so is a good choice if you plan to use it hand held.

TBH I use the native Q lenses 01 02 03 for the wider focal lengths instead of carrying adapted lenses, and hope to soon add the 06 to complete the range.