Originally posted by Aristophanes Photography as a noun is about light. That's what you build your product around.
Photography as a verb may be about life, or it may be about work. That's subjective and that's where marketing comes in.
Don't confuse the two. If you want an over-priced P&S sensor system camera knock yourself out. The competition obliterate the Q on both product and marketing, so the Q mount is a dead end unless the price screams down to P&S, sub-$250 kit land. Which still leaves Pentax with no viable mirror less option. The Q as a product at tiny market share is missing the vast bulk of this market. Better choices with resources could have been made.
Lol, I tend to agree. Is this a marvellous example of mind over matter? I guess we do not know how well the Q is selling worldwide, not only in Japan - I mean in terms of its worth to Pentax and its continuation in the line. This list from a couple of local dealers here does suggest that for what it is, the Q is keeping some pretty racy company:
Pentax Q Black Camera Body - £79.00
Pentax Q Black with 8.5mm Lens - £179.00
Pentax K-01 Silver with 18-55mm DAL Lens - £299.00
Nikon 1 J2 + 10-30mm Kit Black - £299
Sony NEX-3N + E PZ 16-50mm OSS - £339.00
Panasonic Lumix GF5 Black with 14-42mm Lens - £349.00
Panasonic Lumix G3 White 14-42mm OIS Lens - £349.00
Panasonic Lumix GX1 14-42mm Lens - £369.00
Olympus PEN E-PL3 Silver with 14-42mm & 40-150mm R Lenses - £369.00
Pentax Q10 Silver 5-15mm Lens - £379.00
Olympus E-PM2 Silver with 14-42mm II R Lens - £389.00
Canon EOS M Black + EF-M 18-55mm - £399
Sony NEX-5R White 18-55mm OSS Lens - £419.00
Panasonic Lumix G5 with 14-42mm Lens - £449.00
Figures are in pounds sterling. Anything you like, including full-on APS-C cameras here. By comparison, the local price of an iPhone 4S is £449.
I guess what this may say is that there are overstocks galore in this market segment. Shop around, no need to pay full price for anything these days.