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Pentax mirrorless small sensor camera

B

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
Seems a shame when they could have built the same size camera with that K7 sensor to be used with those lovely limited pancakes and competed directly with the nex5.
 
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M

Millsart

New member
Super small sensors aren't great, but they can still take some decent pics and a range of "fun" yet cheap lenses does have its merits, however, with no viewfinder, not even an EVF, I just don't see the point really.

Why spend the money on something that gives you IQ of a p&s and that makes you shoot like a p&s ??

If they could of made it actually a unique user experience by intergrating a good EVF into then, then it would be a really unique product and one I might actually think of buying.

As is, why not just use a XZ1, LX5 etc and throw an adapter lens on if you want "lo fi" fisheye fun etc. Better overall IQ from those anyways.

I bought a X100, not because its great IQ (though it is good!) but because its the only camera in its class that lets me shoot with a true viewfinder

I think thats what photographers want these days, cameras with good viewfinders, be they EVF or OVF, accessabile controls etc

Doesn't matter what features you put into it, if you've got to hold it at arms reach like a typical p&s just don't see the point these days.

my iPhone has replaced the traditonal p&s role for me
 
kit laughlin

kit laughlin

Subscriber Member
+1 for Millsart—that is the key problem with the NEX, X1, etc,.—no finder.

I am waiting for the x-100 mk II, personally
 
Rawfa

Rawfa

Active member
There are 2 ways this camera could have been great or at least good:
same price with a large sensor
us$350 as it is right now.

Either way they should have retractile lenses, as even being this small it will never be pocketable with a protuberant lens.
 
kit laughlin

kit laughlin

Subscriber Member
@ DavidL: there's a thread over at FM discussing the pros and cons of the LX-3 vs. LX-5. I have had both, and sold the LX-5.

And @ Jono: does this new thing have the red dot???
 
D

DavidL

New member
jonoslack said:
HI David
There's talk of something else coming later on - so don't give up hope yet!
Click to expand...
Hi Jono thanks for the :thumbs: Will sit quietly and watch the clouds roll in off the moor. Weather has to improve soon, doesn't it? Should know by now to hibernate through Wimbledon and Glastonbury. Last year was just a blip.
David
 
jonoslack

jonoslack

Active member
kit laughlin said:
@ DavidL: there's a thread over at FM discussing the pros and cons of the LX-3 vs. LX-5. I have had both, and sold the LX-5.

And @ Jono: does this new thing have the red dot???
Click to expand...
HI Kit
No - I wasn't talking about the Leica job - there was a rumour of another Pentax model coming later on.

I dithered about an LX-5 and an Olympus Xz-1, and bought the Olympus. Not regretting it for an instant, I'm really enjoying it - the longer reach and the fast lens were the carrots.

tsjanik - thanks for the link to the blog link - excellent reading. I think it's a great camera and I hope they do well - after all, the sensor is 6mm as opposed to the LX5 7.5mm - not such a big difference, and with that Sony sensor I imagine that the performance will be right there with the 'serious compacts'. It'll certainly go in a pocket with the little 40mm lens, and you can bung the zoom in another pocket.

Seems to me to be a much more sensible thing to be doing that slugging it out with the other, already established, mirrorless cameras.
 
M

Millsart

New member
tsjanik said:
You may all enjoy Mike Johnston's thoughts on this camera. In short, you are not the target audience, so don't despair:
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/blog_index.html
Click to expand...

But at $800 for the camera body, who is it for ? $80 each for the toy lenses is reasonable of course but the overall cost of entry is pretty high.

If it doesn't have the specs to appeal to more advanced users, and it cost 2-3 times as much as any other point and shoot aimed at the typical consumer, who's going to buy it ?

I could see a very small niche market, perhaps in Asia, where its small size and being the new item on the block would make it popular to those same people who buy a new cell phone every 3 months, but is that enough to keep a product line afloat ?

Does the type of photographer who is okay with a super tiny sensors level of output really even want to change lenses ?

Can those who want a "toy" look not just add a little filter onto their LX5 or other compact and get that look ?

How do you sell a $800 camera next to $500 m4/3 offers or $600 NEX offerings, both of which have far better IQ ?


If it was $399 I could see people people considering it, but the camera and a couple of lenses runs you over $1000

$1000 and "toy camera" optics don't really go hand in hand

I like a lo fi look as much as the next guy, but I like it when it cost $0.99 on my iPhone, not from a $80 lens on a $800 camera
 
Rawfa

Rawfa

Active member
+1

Millsart said:
But at $800 for the camera body, who is it for ? $80 each for the toy lenses is reasonable of course but the overall cost of entry is pretty high.

If it doesn't have the specs to appeal to more advanced users, and it cost 2-3 times as much as any other point and shoot aimed at the typical consumer, who's going to buy it ?

I could see a very small niche market, perhaps in Asia, where its small size and being the new item on the block would make it popular to those same people who buy a new cell phone every 3 months, but is that enough to keep a product line afloat ?

Does the type of photographer who is okay with a super tiny sensors level of output really even want to change lenses ?

Can those who want a "toy" look not just add a little filter onto their LX5 or other compact and get that look ?

How do you sell a $800 camera next to $500 m4/3 offers or $600 NEX offerings, both of which have far better IQ ?


If it was $399 I could see people people considering it, but the camera and a couple of lenses runs you over $1000

$1000 and "toy camera" optics don't really go hand in hand

I like a lo fi look as much as the next guy, but I like it when it cost $0.99 on my iPhone, not from a $80 lens on a $800 camera
Click to expand...
 
T

tsjanik

Well-known member
Millsart said:
But at $800 for the camera body, who is it for ? $80 each for the toy lenses is reasonable of course but the overall cost of entry is pretty high.

If it doesn't have the specs to appeal to more advanced users, and it cost 2-3 times as much as any other point and shoot aimed at the typical consumer, who's going to buy it ?

I could see a very small niche market, perhaps in Asia, where its small size and being the new item on the block would make it popular to those same people who buy a new cell phone every 3 months, but is that enough to keep a product line afloat ?

Does the type of photographer who is okay with a super tiny sensors level of output really even want to change lenses ?

Can those who want a "toy" look not just add a little filter onto their LX5 or other compact and get that look ?

How do you sell a $800 camera next to $500 m4/3 offers or $600 NEX offerings, both of which have far better IQ ?


If it was $399 I could see people people considering it, but the camera and a couple of lenses runs you over $1000

$1000 and "toy camera" optics don't really go hand in hand

I like a lo fi look as much as the next guy, but I like it when it cost $0.99 on my iPhone, not from a $80 lens on a $800 camera
Click to expand...
I agree, it's not a camera that has my interest; however, it is possible that the often-maligned Pentax marketing knows the Japanese market better than we do. Remember the multi-colored Kx? Its introduction met with considerable distain, yet it sold like crazy. Even Canon now offers colors.
The pricing seems very steep - $250 for the finder! Pentax pricing has changed since the Hoya takeover. The cost of the 35mm FA limited lenses has risen at least 50%; the new 25mm 645 seems overpriced at $5000 when compared to previous 645 lens pricing. Those of us in the US can attribute some of this to our nose-diving dollar, but I think Hoya decided that one way to make the camera division profitable was simply to raise prices (and move production out of Japan).
 
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R

raist3d

Well-known member
Well the bigger win I am seeing of the Q is size, size size and the right ergonomics, with potentially ultra small high quality interchangeable lenses. Looks like the new Sony sensor they are using may very well push from the known LX5 ISO 400 to ISO 800-1200 in quality which would be a first. But we will see. I want to make sure what I saw is not JPEG and is RAW.

The other chance for the Q is high quality glass at a small size. Looks like for example that prime lens it comes with will outclass the likes of a Panny F2.5 or F1.7 pancake lenses. But of course, that has to be seen.

The GF3 doesn't have the ergonomics I am seeing this camera may have. Pentax may have nailed that down better so that's another potential win for the Q.

If they can deliver this ultra compact with fast user interface and operational response, along with high quality glass, it may just work. But I want to see a street price of $550 USD, not $800 USD.

As "small" as a Pen-3 maybe be (let's say it's like a Pen-1/Pen-2), it will still feel bigger and much weigher in your pocket than this. For the street photographer, the Q may work.


- Raist
 
R

retow

Member
Ricoh's GRDIII cost some USD 700 when it was launched two years ago. The Pentax with a f1.9 50mm equiv. prime is priced at USD 800 and offers the advantage of great versatility. So if its performance, lens quality, handling, IQ, premium build is anywhere as good as the GRD III's, what is so wrong with the price, especially when considering the devaluation of the USD over the last two years.
 
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