Engadget Q review

Oh dear

http://engt.co/u9sKto

Was going to offer some choice quotes here but can't bring myself to do it. Poor little Q

I can't help but think that the Q is catastrophically overpriced: if Pentax were going to make a compact-sized, compact-IQ camera then it should have been compact-priced. It's a shame - I really do love it's adorableness.

Owch !!!!

Rather a scathing review I have to say.

I think the reviewers would have been happier had Pentax ditched interchangeable lenses and priced it £200 cheaper.

However Pentax will be picking up sales from people who do not read reviews, comparing it to the Sony and Panasonic ILCs in the shop, and buying it on size / looks. That probably helps Pentax's sales income, but the long term reputation of the company?

And it does not give us 'obsessives' the camera we want from Pentax. Sony NEX is a more obvious choice for Pentaxians as you can at least mount legacy K-mount lenses on it.

(I know there's an adapter for the Q too, but the crop factor is ridiculous)....

I just hope that the Q is something that HOYA can be blamed for and not indicating a trend for the future. After all, the most prominent initiatives HOYA brought to the table was to introduce colourfull DLSRs and raise the price on everything with some 50 to 100 per cent ... at the same time as production had a very hard time pushing out bodies or lenses without "issues", fire the lens designers and put us - users and owners - on the "ignore list".

Oh well, I am hoping and trusting that Ricoh will be a better owner.

Not being privy to what happens at Pentax, it's early days yet for the new ownership. It will also take time for investment to filter through as budgets will have to be agreed and allocated.

However, there is a good deal of stuff that may well be already on the drawing board or even further down the line and we might be surprised yet at what appears. Providing it's not hit by supply problems from sub-contractors affected by the Japanese tsunami and the Thailand flooding.

Pentax do not operate and manufacture in isolation from their supply chain.

That story about the lens designer being 'fired' (can't remember his name, but he designed the FA Limiteds among others) was a mistake. The story was actually that he was 'leaving the company' because he was old (in other words, retiring) but this somehow got mistranslated from Japanese and became "LENS DESIGNER X FIRED!!!!!" on DPReview

The Other Place has some quite serious discussions about mounting Pentax's C-mount (security camera?) lenses on it because there are f1.0 zooms available.

I think price is the Q's fundamental problem: if it were half the price (ie the same price as cameras with similar image quality - midrange compacts) then it would make sense. With less money than the Q costs, one could buy an Olympus EPL1 and the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 pancake. Or for even less a Canon G11. Both of these beat the Q for image quality by some distance.

That's great, but I guess most Pentaxians, when they talk about wanting to use their Pentax lens collection, aren't talking about C-mount lenses!

Aren't the CCTV lenses made by the same companies that made
the Takumar bayonets and non-SMC lenses

Ricehigh had a link to this site showing the Q
at No: 77 for sales and falling:

http://bcnranking.jp/category/subcategory_0008.html

I'm surprised how many Olympus Pens and Sony NEX's
are in there.... which at least shows that there is
a market for these small camera's.

Don't forget that the iPod became popular because
it was smaller than most other MP3 players.

They seem to like it .... It needs to be cheaper though to really attract would be buyers


http://www.trustedreviews.com/pentax-q_Digital-Camera_review

Some people like big cameras, some people like small cameras, some people like big sensors, some people like small sensors, so there you have it, everybody is catered for

If Pentax produced a "small" camera with a "small" sensor that was as good as my K7 then I would probably buy one, it would need a K mount and proper viewfinder too.
Regards

Chris

So basically you will never buy one then?

Kai's Pentax Q review on DigitalRev TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ea_bmxRoic

It's not as slating as you might have expected, although of course he's all over the Q's failings like an angry moss.

After reading several reviews the Q does seem like a bit of a missed opportunity - especially given the limitations of the current range of lenses. Barring the fisheye, you can do more with a decent compact for less money, and without the hassle of having to change lenses at all.

What niche does that leave the Q, exactly? The novelty market, basically.