Anyone have a Pentax Q?

The Barbarian · Oct 27, 2016

I picked one up for very little, with the standard zoom. Really just curious. Anyone have any experience with this?

pixmedic · Oct 28, 2016

I've been thinking of getting one...they remind me so much of my beloved pentax 110 super.

You'll have to keep us updated on how you like it.
Which version do you have?

Advanced Photo · Oct 28, 2016

I have a 645D that I like fairly well.
I like them post Ricoh more than before the acquisition. (2011)

jcdeboever · Oct 29, 2016

I looked and held one that had 4 tiny lenses with it $500 and he appeared desperate at last minute and said $400, then $300. I responded to a craigslist ad and met up with the guy just outside Detroit. I asked a lot of questions which he had no idea about. Battery wasn't charged and I asked that it be to which he said no problem, apparently it was. When I was asking questions, I got a strange feeling that this thing was stolen and it appeared in remarkable condition. I passed as I felt this was hot and I don't buy stolen gear. Probably would have been a nice setup to use for a spell and flip. I have giant hands and it was too small for me, I could see me dropping it. Probably would be great for street.

Advanced Photo · Oct 29, 2016

jcdeboever said:
I looked and held one that had 4 tiny lenses with it $500 and he appeared desperate at last minute and said $400, then $300. I responded to a craigslist ad and met up with the guy just outside Detroit. I asked a lot of questions which he had no idea about. Battery wasn't charged and I asked that it be to which he said no problem, apparently it was. When I was asking questions, I got a strange feeling that this thing was stolen and it appeared in remarkable condition. I passed as I felt this was hot and I don't buy stolen gear. Probably would have been a nice setup to use for a spell and flip. I have giant hands and it was too small for me, I could see me dropping it. Probably would be great for street.

Good call, there. If they are not selling it at their house, I am not interested, also most original owners have the box and receipt from when it was bought.

nerwin · Oct 30, 2016

I kind of want one. They are cute and with a fast prime, might be fun.

jcdeboever · Oct 30, 2016

nerwin said:
I kind of want one. They are cute and with a fast prime, might be fun.

It has a small sensor so I would expect the watercolor effect you see with the small sensor point and shoots. They cram so many pixels in those things that everything has to be spot on to avoid it.

nerwin · Oct 30, 2016

jcdeboever said:
nerwin said:

I kind of want one. They are cute and with a fast prime, might be fun.

Click to expand...

It has a small sensor so I would expect the watercolor effect you see with the small sensor point and shoots. They cram so many pixels in those things that everything has to be spot on to avoid it.

This is true. I'm sure the IQ isn't that far from my Galaxy S7.

But it's pretty...

The Barbarian · Oct 30, 2016

pixmedic said:
I've been thinking of getting one...they remind me so much of my beloved pentax 110 super.

I have one of those, and loved it. With slow film you couldn't see a difference in 4x5s between 110 and 35mm. One reason I got this was that I wanted to see if the same magic would happen for me again.

You'll have to keep us updated on how you like it.

I'm rapidly getting to love it.

This is a stitch of the Dallas skyline I did today.

The camera is a bit small to hold. I'm trying to find the old wrist strap I used on my 110. It attaches at the tripod socket, and works great for such small cameras.

Which version do you have?

The original Q, with the metal body and really small sensor. The IQ is much better than I anticipated.

Two things I don't like:
1. Doesn't come with an electronic viewfinder, and buying one would cost almost as much as I paid for the camera.

2. Battery is very small and runs down after just a few hundred shots. If you get one, get a couple of Wasabi batteries to carry with you.

The Barbarian · Oct 30, 2016

nerwin said:
This is true. I'm sure the IQ isn't that far from my Galaxy S7.

I have an S7. And the quality of that really surprised me, too. It's surprisingly good in low light.

The Barbarian · Oct 30, 2016

All I have currently, is the 5-15 standard zoom.

The Barbarian · Nov 6, 2016

The Barbarian · Nov 6, 2016

So far, it looks to do pretty much everything I want a camera to do. Lack of a good viewfinder is a problem. Currently, an old Leitz VIOOH finder is a fair match to the range of my 4.5-15mm zoom lens.

It goes 35-135mm, and adjusts for parallax.