[Wolfeye]

My family is fond of day trips. We very seldom stay home on the weekend. Last weekend we visited tiny (pop 30,000) Burlington, Iowa, for the first time. Lo and behold, there was a full service camera store. It's called Camera Land and it carries a pretty nice collection of Pentax gear. They even had a body mock-up display of the latest Pentax DSLR showing off the color combinations. Pretty neat! So anyway, after chatting with the store's owner, Newt, I decided to buy a Pentax Q zoom lens kit for $300. My first one was defective (zoom in didn't work) but I had no problems exchanging it. It's so nice to have real customer service.

I'm really liking this pint-sized "DSLR" even though it has the original, tiny tiny tiny sensor. Here are a few sample shots...











I'm reminded of a quote from Yoda, "Judge me by my size, do you?" The Q is pint-sized fun.

[jimr-pdx]

It does pull the absolute max out of that tiny tiny tiny sensor with raw abilities and so much control over exposure. And fun is really hard to measure but you know when you're having it - it's a fun camera to have along!

[GibbyTheMole]

Hey - I was just in Burlington this past weekend on a little road trip with the wife, and we took our Qs too! We even stopped by Snake Alley... Some really cool historic houses there. Very nice town, but I don't consider it "tiny" by long stretch. Didn't know they had a camera store or I would've stopped in.

Those Qs are awesome, fun little cameras, aren't they?

[Tanzer]

It's been said on so many other threads how fun the Q is, now I can say I know what everyone means.

It's so nice to have a real mechanical zoom ring. That really sets it apart from using a P&S camera. Plus a flash hotshoe. Such a gratifying experience.

[crewl1]

Nice work! Be sure and upgrade the firmware for the camera and lens. Join us over on the Q subforum for lots of Q fun Pentax Q - PentaxForums.com

[Wolfeye]

Nice work! Be sure and upgrade the firmware for the camera and lens. Join us over on the Q subforum for lots of Q fun Pentax Q - PentaxForums.com

Thanks! I missed that subforum. Didn't scroll down enough, sorry. I've ordered the 01 Prime so next time, I'll post pics in the proper forum.

I did update the firmware and it helped the focus a lot. It also added some nice features. I did notice when I tried to get the "latest" version from the Pentax website that the file they link to for version 1.13 is actually the file for the K-01. Weird.

[crewl1]

I heard that about the Pentax FW links. @Docrwm provided some links in this thread https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-q/230258-new-firmware-q-q10-july-4-2013-a.html

[monochrome]

Hi Wolfeye! Neat shots!! - welcome to the Qniverse!

Many of us have also bought the fitting hoods for our 01, 02 and 06 lenses to increase the contrast (especially with 02). There are the OEM versions at $40+ each - and then there are some eBay Jinfinance and JJC versions at $7 ea. I honored my 01 with the real deal and the zooms with the JJC's.

[Wolfeye]

Alas, the camera store I discovered is closing its doors. November 15th is their last day. I was there a couple weeks ago but there was little worth buying. I did manage to pick up a K100D Super from their $1 parts bin... and it works perfectly. I also paid $15 for a folder camera that takes horrid pics. That one went in the trash.

[Mikesul]

This is sad news. I was aware of the store and was hoping I could drop in sometime when visiting my daughter. Was this an independent store or could it have been part of a small chain?

[GibbyTheMole]

I did manage to pick up a K100D Super from their $1 parts bin... and it works perfectly.

Whoo-wee, did you ever score! The K100D might be past it's technological prime, but it's still an excellent camera.

Shame about the store though. I was looking forward to checking it out next time I was in Burlington. :-(

[Wolfeye]

This is sad news. I was aware of the store and was hoping I could drop in sometime when visiting my daughter. Was this an independent store or could it have been part of a small chain?

It was an independent store.

Talking with folks there, the reason given for closing is that someone wanted the building, and made them an offer. After 50+ years and with declining sales, they gladly sold out. I was told on my first visit there that if it weren't for the sideline business (Sony TV's are also sold) the store would have gone under years ago, that, along with the floods of 2008 (and others) which makes it a tough location to be in.