Pentax launch the Q

I am not impressed by the Q on paper at least. The main thing is the price. If it were being made by Canon,Sony Nikon or Olympus I reckon there would be considerable pith taking- "£600 for a compact!!!!"
It would fit quite nicely into the Sigma range though, looks great value next to their APSC SD1 at £6k+!!

I think it comes down to the fact that you will use more / have a desire to play with something that to you feels nice to hold and use and there is no denying that the X100 just as the Q looks and feels great to use. So people will pay the Q price - and one of those people might even be me - not only because it looks good but because it feels nice to hold and use.

Duh, the Q is on the photo right so it can't be taken with it :

I've seen those sony but the build quilty is just not it and it's not fun to use them when you want to have a bit more control.
I'm hoping the Q will be aimed more towards that.
As long as the camera is fun to use i might buy it, so yeah a toy camera is what i want... an expensive toy camera...

You probably know this already but... Realistically, because Pentax hired an advertising/marketing agency, the agency hired a photographer, and the photographer happened to use a D7000. This probably happens all the time and the likelihood is that promotional shots for cameras are rarely taken with the same brand of camera as a result.

However, they should really remove the EXIF data when posting such shots online so it isn't quite so obvious.

I must admit I'm REALLY dubious about the Q.

It's the first time I've gone "riiiiiiight" when learning about a new Penatax product line.

It's just the sensor size; I can't get my head round why they would do it. Surely it's a SERIOUS flaw.

I actually really like the Pentax Q as a concept. Small enough to carry the camera in one pocket and ALL your extra lenses in another. A two-pocket system. It has appeal because interchangeable lenses potentially give it great versatility and I could carry it with me all the time, including situations where I would never have my DSLR kit on me.

The sensor size does not bother me from this point of view. Anything this compact will have to have a small sensor, and that's perfectly acceptable for many applications. Viewed side by side at typical 'web' size (say 1,000 pixels wide) photos from my K-5 and photos from my Samsung compact are practically indistinguishable in quality.

However, from my perspective the product as offered has two major problems:

1) It's much too expensive for what it is - for me it would be very much secondary camera for everyday use when I have to leave my K-5 behind and the price is much too high to spend on a camera for that purpose.

2) To offer the versatility I'd want from it a 'proper' telephoto zoom and a true macro lens would have to be offered (a rectilinear UWA zoom or prime would be nice too but not essential). I could assume they will be offered in the future but that assumption would be far from safe. If the product bombs, further lenses may never see the light of day. In that eventuality, I would, from my point of view, have wasted my money on a product that never lived up to its potential.

On the plus side, time may solve both of the above problems. But until it does, a Q will not be on my shopping list, so there is zero chance of my being an 'early adopter'.

Yes, it's a serious flaw. No, no-one who doesn't have money burning a hole in their pocket would buy one. Next question?

I think the Q has been in development for ages, on the back burner. It's not the first ICL compact they have produced (in prototype form at least). They probably used their R&D into that model, and the R&D from the 645D/DSLR imaging pipeline, to come up with it.

on the image sensor size I can tell you this for certian....
I was able to mix video footage from a go pro hero, and the kr with 10-17 fisheye lens, both shot outdoors in good light.... you'd be hard pressed to figure out which was which... in low light the kr blows the go pro away...
so I'd think under most circumstances, outdoors on vacation, indoors with flash, the Q is gonna deliver the goods that will satisfy many photographers. I hope to see a k-mount big Q.

as for price... it is a lot easier to lower the price after release, than it is to raise the price, so if a market price adjustment is needed, I can understand why they'd start high.....

One interesting thought though about the Q.
Pentax have said that initially they are not making any adapters for other lenses, but "Are considering it".

Now the sensor has a crop ratio of 5.46 over a 35mm, so taking that into account, imagine using one of the Sigma "Bigmas", therefore the 170-500, 150-500 or the 50-500. You would get an effective focal length of 2730mm! and with a x2 converter 5460mm!!!!!!!!
Perfect for birding would you say?

Actually if you are really flush and get the Sigma 300-800 you could get a 4368mm and with the x2 and 8736mm!!!

If Pentax do make a converter for the K-mount, I might be very interested.......

I don't think large frame designed lenses will have the right sort of optical design to carry if off, but we'll have to see! I think Pentax may be thinking about adapters for tiny C-mount lenses.

C mount was mentioned too.
I am sure if the adapter provides the correct focal plane for the lens type (so a rather large adapter for K-mount) I am sure that it will work. And as a plus, the sensor will only use the very centre of the lens, so in theory should be as sharp as a tack without any sharpness fall off whatsoever.

But like you say, we shall see.

They will be fine the only problem is can they deliver the resolution needed, i think you want to use only high quality lenses on the little thing.

One of the best parody posts in a while!

Unfortunately people often actually think this way.