Pentax Q

I'm still dithering on what to replace my now way too heavy DSLRs & lenses with.

I was looking at compacts but I'm wondering if I'll miss the flexibilty of an interchageable lens system and have been looking at the Q.

Question really: is the Q now considered old hat and out of date or still a viable system, I spotted one at my local supermarket for £164 including standard lens which seems a good price compared with ebay used prices.

Thoughts anyone?

My first question is, where's your local supermarket?

I'm not daft enough to say

Isn't the answer obvious? Buy it, try it, and if you don't like it then sell it at a profit on e-bay.

Seriously, though, the Q is a totally different experience to a DSLR. Best to look at it as something different rather than a substitute. I've got a Q and Q-S1, both get used as well as the K3. The little 'uns are easy to carry around 'just in case' and less intrusive when I don't want to be conspicuous.

The original Q is very well built and feels reassuringly solid. Later models have more plastic and don't feel as robust. If it's the original Q, don't expect to get away with high ISO, it's a tiny sensor (ISO 400 is my limit and can still be a bit noisy). Later versions use a bigger sensor (ISO 800 on my Q-S1 is OK for me). You'll miss a viewfinder and the screen can be a pain in bright light (or if your eyesight isn't good!).

The 01 standard lens is very good. Wide open, you can get some worthwhile OOF blur, but nothing like a DSLR with a fast normal lens. The 02 is much better than some reviews suggest. The 06 tele-zoom is also very good (although mine recently packed up, still waiting to hear whether it's repairable ). The fisheye is fun, if you like that sort of thing. Worth noting that f8 is the limit with the Q for sharp images, diffusion sets in beyond that. However, the ND filters built into some Q lenses are a big help with bright light.

Is it an outdated system? Depends who you ask and what you mean by outdated. Nothing new in the Q series for several years and not likely to be any in the future, and it does have a small sensor. But if it does what you want (which it does for me) and you can get the lenses you want, then it's a viable system.

Hope that helps.

Steve

I use the Q system quite a lot. It's great for any situation where carrying a DSLR is inapprpriate and the quality is excellent.

It's also very good for experimenting with as all sorts of adapters are available. i've used it with CCTV lenses, AF extension tubes, Pentax 110 system film lenses and lots of other things.

At that price, what are you waiting for?

Buy it and hold onto it (new, boxed) for a few years. It'll be a bit of a hidden classic soon enough.

Then go out and buy a secondhand Q10/Q7/Q-S1 with your future profits

The Q is a great fun little set up at £164 it's got to be worth a try. I have the original Q but, I wonder if you would be better served with better image quality and a more responsive camera with a 1" sensor bridge or super zoom camera or a micro 4/3 set up. It's the balance between size and image quality which only you can decide what will suit you.
Some of the images I've seen produced by current micro 4/3 cameras have been stunning, members of the same camera club and a visiting photographer that gave a lecture.

A few images from various locations taken with a Q. It's a very capable camera.


better just buy it at that price Alan.

Buy it!
If there's more than one would you be willing to buy me one too?
I desperately want the 01 standard prime, but the only ones that regularly come up on ebay cost more than that for just the lens!

I'm a fan and use my Q and QS-1 regularly with good results. Lubbyman's post pretty much sums it up for me.

I'd recommend getting either a Q7 or QS-1 as they both use the larger sensor. That said, the original Q is definitely a future classic.

Thanks for the comments guys

As we were running low on milk I had a good excuse to have another look, to be honest I'd only given it a passing glance before.

Following these comments I'd decided to take the plunge, I was a little hesitant as the box was a bit of a mess, however given this is the original Q with metal body it must be several years old by now and quite old stock, contents inside were pristine and still sealed in packaging, (sorry asbo there was only 1)

Had a quick play with a half charged battery (I couldn't wait) and a quick snap of one of the wifes garden ornaments leads me to believe I've made the right decision

Enjoy your new toy!

One little thing to note - some older Q's lose the ability to keep date and time when changing batteries, something to do with an ageing capacitor. Doesn't affect picture taking, just adds a few seconds to battery changes while date and time are reset. Yours might be good for many years seeing as it hasn't been used, but don't panic if it happens .

Steve

I am a tad envious
If you get bored with that prime, I have a spare 02 zoom I'd eagerly swap it for

Unfortunately I've just ordered the 02 zoom from SRS, they had one listed on ebay for £49.99, having said that I doubt the prime will be taking a back seat just yet

I think the 01 prime makes this system special. The 02 lens is a little bit bland. It's good but you can get any old compact to do what it does.

The 06 lens is another that makes this system very cool. Lots of reach and very good sharpness.

Finally, if you can find the 08 and 03 lenses then you've got the fun wide angles covered. At that point I think we start to get into the limitations of a small sensor and flare/fringing gets a bit annoying when shooting contrasty scenes