[devorama]

I'm guessing it will be the smallest micro 4/3 camera. There's no way it's smaller than a Q or Q7.

[jogiba]

The Q vs APS-C NEX-3N shows that there is not much difference in body size.

[Uluru]

New stuff is released with shorter and shorter development/release cycles (same thing turned once leading electronics companies in to followers).
I hope Ricoh will be able to keep up.

Yes, Ricoh will release an FF system that is smaller than the GM1 and only a fraction larger than Q7.

[krebsy75]

Pentax will have to ditch its proprietary OS in order for the Q to really catch on.

[krebsy75]

I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Don't most camera systems outside of the new Android hybrids have a proprietary OS? Or are you talking about the lens AF protocol? Because that never stopped Sigma before with their unlicensed EOS and Maxxum/Alpha implementations.

I think the Q would become a hit if it came equipped with Android. This is where convenience-oriented cams seem to be headed. And for good reason.

[Kunzite]

Guess again. If equipped with Android it would need an extra dual core CPU, 2GB RAM and a 3000mAh battery.
Samsung's going that way because they don't know how to make cameras; but they have experience with smartphones.

[krebsy75]

You're technically spot on. But it's a product that may sell worldwide.

And "guess again" was a little snotty for what it's worth.

[Kunzite]

Would it really sell? Or maybe it would lose the Japanese market? I'm not sure there are many who would want a thick interchangeable mount smartphone - but with the telephony part disabled.

[Vylen]

Why would you have Android on the phone unless you're going to make use of the internet connectivity and social apps it can provide.

Having Wi-Fi or mobile modules would just make it bigger and what's there to really gain?

Trying to penetrate the mobile phone market with a gimped device and a slightly larger sensor is a losing battle.

[JinDesu]

As a recent user of the Q, it is damn near fantastic in usage with the button layout (except for the exposure comp button) and the similarity to my k-x/k-01.

If it were to get touchscreen and an android system, a lot of that usability would drop - the screen is really quite tiny and my fingers are rather fat. I'm pretty fat-fingered for my iphone, and I have noticed that a lot of the newer android smartphones are getting pretty large.

[krebsy75]

I'm thinking of an ILC version of this: Nikon COOLPIX S800c Digital Camera

The Q is supposed to bring fun back to photography while giving the shooter control over their images.

[krebsy75]

Engineering is an important part of the product development process. And the Q is a well-engineered camera. There is no disputing that.

If you navigate to the digital camera portion of Ricoh's website and click on the Q, the first thing you see is all of the color options. This tells me that Pentax is trying to position the camera to a different client base than that of a K5. Enthusiasts, like many of us, consider a camera merely a tool in which to capture photographs. The color of a camera has nothing to do with the images it captures. This is why I believe Pentax is selling this camera to a less-serious crowd. And less-serious photographers may find value in enhanced functionality that open-sourced software provides.

I merely used the Andriod OS as an example. It may prove to be too bloated for applications like this.

That sentence sounds like it was written by an advertising agency.

Based on the engineering of the camera, the core design considerations of the Q are clearly:
1) produce an extremely small camera that utilizes interchangeable lenses and
2) be useable to perform the basic functions of its other digital cameras with a similar interface
3) Do so in a high quality package with robust construction, button-based mechanical interface, and software designed specifically for photo taking
4) produce high quality photos

So how would making it into an android device help these goals? Android would be largely incompatible with a mechanical interface or would require a touch screen (making it more prone to damage); it would introduce bloat and latency since Android would have to carry all the baggage of being a mobile OS; it would undermine Pentax/Ricoh's own unique interface identity and make it "just another android device;" it would position it as a device designed to produce images for those very platforms on which the excellence of the system's images are lost (i.e. the low-res, high compression thumbnails of Facebook or the gaudy filtered mess of Instagram); and finally, it would necessitate constant development, bug testing, and maintenance of new firmwares every time Android released a new version, which owners would demand. This last one could be the biggest dealbreaker, especially since owners of a dedicated and expensive camera system would not have the same impetus to upgrade hardware every two years that phone owners get via their cell contract subsidy and might balk at upgrading that frequently to keep pace with the OS.

[jogiba]

Guess again. If equipped with Android it would need an extra dual core CPU, 2GB RAM and a 3000mAh battery.
Samsung's going that way because they don't know how to make cameras; but they have experience with smartphones.

Samsung sells more smartphones than anyone including Apple worldwide and they all have cameras including the new Galaxy Note 3 with 4K UHD video.

[Kunzite]

Which doesn't contradicts anything from what I said. Unless you think a smartphone is a camera, of course (which is exactly what Samsung does)

[prime.partisan]

A smart phone with interchangeable lens, optional grip and housing to make it look like an SLR, and a removable EVF that you can wear on your choice of eye like a pirate, is, of course, a camera. Now somebody just have to build it.