Pentax has announced firmware updates to two of its tiny Q-series interchangeable lens cameras, the original Q and last year’s Q10. Firmware version 1.13 for the Q and 1.02 for the Q10 add support for the PENTAX-07 Mount Shield Lens, and bring ‘improved stability for general performance’. Click through for links to download the new firmware.
Pentax Japan has unveiled a new colour variation of its Marc Newson-designed K-01 mirrorless camera, with a white body shell, blue grip covering, and black accents. There are no spec changes or updates compared to the existing K-01, which was announced early in 2012 and available in black, silver, or yellow. So the camera sports a 16MP APS-C CMOS sensor, in-body image stabilisation, 3″ 912k dot LCD, and the same K-mount as the company’s SLRs. It comes with the ultra-slim smc PENTAX-DA 40mm F2.8 XS pancake lens, and will go on sale in July.
Just posted: Our real-world samples gallery shot with the Pentax Q7. The latest in Pentax’s series of tiny interchangeable lens cameras, the Q7 is the first to offer a larger 1/1.7 inch 12MP BSI CMOS sensor. We’re working on a full review, and as part of the process we’ve been out and about taking plenty of sample pictures on the Q7 in a range of different situations, to see how it performs. Click through for a link to the our gallery.
Hot on the heels of Carl Zeiss’s decision to become simply Zeiss, Pentax Ricoh has decided that from August 1st it will be known simply as Ricoh. It’s not all bad news for Pentax fans though – the brand name will continue to be used on the company’s SLRs and interchangeable lens cameras. Meanwhile the Ricoh name will be used for compact cameras and, cryptically, ‘new technological innovations’.
We’ve just posted our Pentax MX-1 review. Designed to recall the golden days of camera design, the Pentax MX-1 features a bright F1.8-2.5 28-112mm equivalent zoom lens, a 12MP 1/1.7″ sensor, and a 3-inch, 920K-dot tilting LCD screen. Brass plates top and bottom are a minor feature of the MX-1 that Pentax was nevertheless careful to highlight as giving that old camera feel, even showing signs of wear over time. A retro look and feel is great, but does that translate into a good camera for modern times? Click through to read our review.
Pentax is not a company to sit quietly on the sidelines and watch the traffic go by. The most recent and startling example of this was the introduction of the Marc Newson designed camera, the K-01.
Going further back and with more relevance to this camera under review were some Pentax products way back in the film era. Remember those times?
The 1970s saw the minuscule 110 format launched by Kodak and a whole avalanche of cameras appeared from seemingly every camera maker that accepted the tiny film cartridge.
And Pentax were in there with the Auto 110, an interchangeable lens reflex camera. Can you believe it!
The camera was so tiny the lens aperture was not built into the lens but into the camera body and doubled as the shutter!
The relevance of this camera is in the film area: each frame measured 13x17mm. Diagonal measurement: 21.4mm.
Welcome to the Pentax Q10!
The light sensitive area of the sensor is 6.17×4.55mm and its CMOS diagonal is 11.04mm.
By referring to the diagonal, the Pentax Q10 would have an effective 35 SLR equivalent factor of 5.53. This makes it ‘the world’s smallest, lightest digital interchangeable lens camera.’
The review camera was supplied with two lenses: an f2.8/5-15mm and an f2.8/15-45mm. Applying the factor of 5.53 would make the former have a zoom range (as a 35 SLR equivalent) of 27.6-82.95mm and the latter as 82.95-248.85mm. Got that?
Taking it further, you can acquire an adapter Q to accept the Pentax K-mount lenses. So, attach a Pentax 300mm lens and you get a 1650mm! There are other ways to attach Leica, Nikon or Olympus lenses.
Not only is the Q10 novel in many respects but, as an indicator of it eventual market, the Q10 can be bought in any of 100 ‘pop-tastic’ colour combinations!
The idea is to make the Q10 a fun camera to take fun photos. The whole digital camera game, I reckon, is now sufficiently broad to allow models such as this to catch your attention.
To be realistic, the Q10 is barely smaller than many fixed lens compact digicams. For example, take Sony’s Cybershot HX9V digicam: it measures 104.8x59x33.9mm while the Q10 measures 102x58x34 mm. Comparative weight? Sony: 245g. Pentax (with 5-15mm lens): 280g.
Add a lens and you get the full picture: it looks like a real fun camera. Hold the magnesium alloy body, attach a lens, it and looks and feels right! The rubberised surface makes handholding a treat, aided by a relatively prominent speed grip.
(insert Civic centre 2, Shop front 1, Play centre and Shop front 1)
Front panel: right next to the lens is a ‘quick dial’ button to which you can assign frequently used functions.
Top deck: tap the flash button and you will be surprised at how high the pantograph raises the flash cell; from flash to lens centre is a healthy, anti red eye 70mm!
To the right you’ll find the replay, power and shutter buttons, flanked by the mode dial and a controller called the E-dial. The mode dial has positions for auto, PASM, video record, scene modes (21 in all: portrait, macro, food etc) and a blurr control setting. The latter lets you shoot a picture ‘that looks as if it was taken with a wide-open aperture and shallow depth of field’; it shoots multiple images with different focus positions and merges them into a single picture.
The E-dial in shoot mode lets you set shutter speed, aperture and exposure values; in replay it will enlarge the on screen image.
Rear: a button for exposure compensation; trash; four way jog dial with positions for flash options, ISO setting, white balance and self timer. In the centre is an OK confirm button. Lower down are info and menu buttons.
Unusually, there are side hatches for the battery and a memory card.
Overall, a terrific and workable layout, despite the camera’s small size. With one caution: while the various controls are clearly labelled in smallish white text, the actual buttons are black on a black background: difficult to see the actual button you need to press.
The Q10 has an internal stabiliser, thanks to a shifting sensor, so all lenses can be used with no shake.
It also has a supersonic vibration mechanism, which vibrates the image sensor at high speed to shake the dust off its surface.
The maximum image size is 4000×3000 pixels, so expect to make a 34x25cm print.
Video is captured in FullHD at 19209x1080m pixel resolution.
As with its stablemate, the Ricoh GR, there is only one ‘shoot’ button (for stills and video). I had a bit of a contretemps with the camera at this stage with video record: I couldn’t make it bend to my wishes!
No help in the manual. But at last I found the answer on the Internet: you must gently depress the shutter button to confirm auto focus; once the confirmation green square appears on screen you then depress the shutter button all the way and … voila! You’re recording! Hope this helps yo’all!
The Q10 performed very well up to ISO 3200, with noise not too objectionable. Even at ISO 6400 you could use it for some subjects.
Quality: about average. No more.
Why you’d buy the Pentax Q10: small; you can add a bundle of lenses.
Why you wouldn’t: is it really a better alternative than a fixed lens, compact digicam?
A novel camera for the person who has everything.
Image Sensor: 12.4 million effective pixels.
Sensor: 11mm CMOS.
Lens: Mount: Pentax Q.
Lens Factor: 5.53.
Metering: Multi segment, centre-weighted, spot.
Exposure Modes: Auto, Program AE, shutter and aperture priority, manual.
Shutter Speed: 30 to 1/2000 second, Bulb. Flash sync: 1/2000 sec (electronic shutter).
Memory: SD/SDHC/SDXC.
Image Sizes (pixels): Stills: 4000×3000 to 1440×1440.
Movies (30 fps): 1920×1080, 1280×720, 640×480.
Continuous Shooting: 1.5 or 5 fps.
Viewfinder: 7.6cm LCD screen (460,000).
File Formats: RAW (DNG), JPEG, RAW+JPEG, MPEG4.
Colour Space: sRGB, Adobe RGB.
ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 100 to 6400.
Interface: USB 2.0, HDMI type D, AV, DC input.
Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery, DC.
Dimensions: 102x58x34 WHDmm.
Weight: 200g (inc battery, card).
Price: Get a price on the Pentax Q10 at Amazon.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Pentax Q10 Review
Fresh from the Pentax Ricoh launch event in New York, we’ve put together a real-world samples gallery from the Pentax K-50. The 16MP mid-range DSLR builds on the very likeable K-30 and promises improved image processing. We take a closer look at the K-50 and its similar sibling, the K-500, to see just what they bring to the table, as well as presenting a selection of full-resolution sample images.
Pentax Ricoh has announced the Q7 – its latest Q-mount camera and the first to feature a larger, 1/1.7″ type sensor. The 7.44 x 5.58mm, 12MP BSI CMOS sensor is the same size as the one used in many enthusiast compacts, with the company claiming a 60% improvement in S/N ratio over the existing Q10. This improvement also allows the camera to focus faster in low light. The Q7 will cost around $ 500 with the ’02’ 5-15mm zoom lens and can be custom-ordered in any of 120 color combinations. The company has also introduced a body-cap ‘Mount Shield’ lens for the Q system – the 11.5mm F9 lens will cost around $ 80.
Pentax has refreshed its entry level DSLR lineup with the announcement of the K-50 and K-500. The K50 is an update of the K-30, featuring less controversial styling and slightly tweaked processing, helping it offer a maximum ISO of 51,200. The K-500, meanwhile, gets most of the K-50’s features – the main loss being weather sealing – in a less expensive package. While not radically different from the K-30, both cameras bring twin dial controls and 100% glass prism viewfinders to price points ($ 799 and $ 599 respectively), where both those features are rare. Alongside the cameras, Pentax is launching revised, DA-L versions of its 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 WR and 55-200mm F4-5.6 WR lenses.
We just posted a review of the Pentax K-5 II, which also covers its near-twin the K-5 IIS, a version of the camera that lacks an AA filter for higher resolution (in theory). Offering 16MP CMOS sensors, a unique shake reduction system, and a rugged weatherproof body, the Pentax K-5 II and K-5 IIS are compelling little cameras and in this review we’ll explore their various standout features, as well as look at the difference in image quality between the two models. Click through for a link to the full review.