Alunfoto: January 2012

I've had a Pentax Q with 01 Standard Prime lens on loan for a couple of days, and took it for a walk in my local forest. Below are a bundle of snaps with comments. It's barely enough to get a first impression, so don't read this as any serious test.
On balance, my impression with this camera is only so-so. I appreciate the image quality for what it is; pretty good for a compact with a small sensor. I also appreciate its dynamic range and noise characteristics. For a walkabout camera the size is near perfect too. With the Standard Prime lens it fits nicely in a pocket, or if slung around the neck you hardly notice its weight.
But. There are things I don't appreciate with the Q. As "everyone" says on the web forums, the price tag is too high compared to its performance. I know I would need the zoom lens to go with it, and here in Norway I would have to shell out NOK 8000,- for the package. By today's exchange rates that's €1000,- £850,- or $1330,- rounded to the nearest 10 in each currency. For clever shoppers seeing that prices are lower in other countries, Norwegian VAT of 25% is added to the total price of purchases from abroad by the customs authorities; transport cost included. Not much to be gained, in other words, and higher risk regarding warranty issues. But I digress.

It seems to me the Q has an issue with battery capacity. On my two-hour trip I made about 50 exposures. I refrained from chimping and used no flash. Yet the battery was down to 1/3 charge when I got back. I suppose reducing the screen brightness could have helped a bit, but in the snowy and sunny environment its default level seemed to be just about right. Between shots I turned the camera off and kept it inside my jacket. Ambient temperature was about -4°C. Maybe this is on par with what you get from any "serious" compact, I don't know. It seems a bit low, and makes the camera less useful, to me.

As a seasoned system camera user I expect a range of focal lengths for the Q, since it is advertised as a system. The current lineup has five lenses, but only two have variable apertures and autofocus. That's too weak, even with one of the fully functional lenses being a decent normal zoom. I'm really sorry I didn't get to test the camera with the zoom. I guess that would add the optical flexibility I would expect from a compact, even if the size of the zoom lens compromise the convenience of the overall Q tinyness.

And a bit of advice to Q owners in warmer countries: -Don't even try to operate this camera with gloves on... :-)

A big thanks to Fovi A/S for lending me the camera.