New Pentax Q System

[pakodominguez]

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2011/06/2 ... and-ricoh/
Features looks very Cybershotish IMHO. The camera + the wide lens and the tele lens make a nice street photography combo.

[alphaomega]

Starting with a high-resolution back illuminated 1/2.3-inch CMOS image sensor

at over 12Mp is a non starter for me. I have the Panasonic LX2/3 with 10Mp and a 1/1.6 size sensor. That is the max combination for P&S quality. Good luck to them.

[Lonnie Utah]

Is the slightly smaller size make this system with it's small sensor and less MP worth the same price as a NEX? Personally, I don't think so.

[bfitzgerald]

Ok gloves off time!

The sensor is tiny my finepix actually has a larger one!
It's evidently $800 which isn't exactly bargain priced
Most folks looking for a decent compact will buy a Canon G12 or S95 or LX-5 etc etc and ignore this like the plague!

I'd rush out and buy a NEX before I buy something like that because NEX has a "real APS-C" sensor.

If it had a 1" sensor or 110 film ish size around there it "might" be worth a look as it could offer much better than normal compact IQ. As it is..somebody at Hoya has lost the plot. They've wasted time, money and effort on a Japanese "gimmick" which will probably be a sales flop. Hoya are not a good company for Pentax IMO they have a lot of work to do lens wise and that should have got attention way before this.

[Dr. Harout]

Probably Hoya and Pentax are aiming those with a Super 8 background
Price wise it's unreasonable...
Very tiny sensor.... again unreasonable...
But who am I to judge, maybe Pentax Q will never hit the shelves and maybe this is to mask a future (or near future) exciting new camera such as a 6x7...

[Kenneth Sky]

Aside from the Japanese market, which I have no knowledge, this will not sell in sufficient numbers to cover the R&D. Unfortunately, Hoya has committed the Pentax brand to suicide. I say "unfortunate" because Sony needs them to use their sensors and consumers need photographer friendly choices that have been the hallmark of this brand since day one. Pentax is on the knife's edge financially and this may be a costly mistake leading to its demise. What a pity! All they needed to do was join the E-mount system with their own style of ergonomics and interface and surfed the wave.

[pakodominguez]

already available for pre-order:
http://www.adorama.com/IPXQBK.html

[Dusty]

No thanks! If I want a P&S, I'll go back to Canon.

Dusty

[Lonnie Utah]

No thanks! If I want a P&S, I'll go back to Canon.

Camera phones are the new P&S cameras...

From Flickr...


Nikon D90
Apple iPhone 4
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Canon EOS REBEL T1i

http://www.flickr.com/cameras/

[Dusty]

Camera phones are the new P&S cameras...

The problem is, I can't have a camera phone and use it at the same time. Working IT security at Govt. facilities (not currently, however) they don't let you take them into the facilities. Everyone with nifty, feature-rich phones was always asking to borrow mine to make a call, since I had the basic 'dumb' cell phone.

Dusty

[KevinBarrett]

$800 is a lot of dough to upgrade from Instagrams.

[bfitzgerald]

It's so ridiculous it actually makes me want to rush out and buy a NEX! Sony's NEX looks like an absolute bargain compared to this put me down for one right now

It looks a lot like one of those dumb brain storming sessions with a bunch of suits in a board room and somebody actually gave it the "nod". You'd get laughed out of the room for mentioning this. Do they not understand they have APS-C and micro 4/3 rivals making models which are far superior to this for "less" When was "pay more get less" a great selling point?

I'd pull it and fast before they lose a fortune on a product they can't possibly hope to sell.

[bakubo]

Yes, I am sort of shaking my head also. The very small sensor and no OVF/EVF. The sensor is smaller than the Canon S95, Panasonic LX5, and Olympus XZ-1 -- those also have no OVF/EVF, although the Panasonic and Olympus have accessory EVFs. Those 3 also all have fairly fast zoom lenses which cover much of what the Pentax lenses will cover. I guess some people who want something small, maybe cool looking (matter of opinion), has the tactile feel of quality (I assume), but don't care much about the IQ will buy it. I wonder how many of those people there are? It seems like the S95, LX5, or XZ-1 would be better.

I have seen rumors of a Nikon ILC, but supposedly it will have a larger sensor, yet smaller than 4/3. Depending on price, size, and features I might see this as being interesting to some people, but this Pentax just seems like a strange product. I make no predictions about whether this Pentax will sell though, just that I have no interest in it.

[Greg Beetham]

I wonder who is going to spend good money on those ‘Toy lenses,’ two lenses in the Q range that have been deliberately made with poor optics so they produce photos equivalent to some el’cheepo camera, and another strange thing is that a prominent control on the camera is not dedicated to PASM, but instead to applying a choice between a bunch of inbuilt image effects. I wonder what those guys were on because the sure seem to have lost the plot?
Greg

[alphaomega]

I have seen rumors of a Nikon ILC, but supposedly it will have a larger sensor, yet smaller than 4/3.

Interesting point bakubo. Since Nikon do not make sensors they need to go outside and if this is a non standard size the costs of tooling up and making small quantities on an uncertain sales forecast should either make the camera very expensive or give Nikon a cost headache. It sounds daft to me for Nikon not to use a current sensor size and a currently available sensor they can modify as they do with the Sony sensors.
But in view of Pentax's move I would not discount the possibility that Nikon are also about to lose the plot. It will be interesting to see if Canon are also about to come out with something silly. At least they have a smaller APS-C sensor and could come out with a camera to match the NEX-C3 for size.