The Pentax Q is a
mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera
A mirrorless camera is a photo camera featuring a single, removable lens and a digital display.
The camera does not have a reflex mirror or optical viewfinder like a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, but may have an electroni ...
introduced by
Pentax
is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporati ...
on June 23, 2011.
Characteristics
Introduced as "The world's smallest interchangeable lens system camera…"
[ ] The Pentax Q system is composed of four bodies (Q, Q10, Q-7, Q-S1) and eight lenses: the 01 prime normal, the 02 wide-tele zoom, 03 fish-eye, the 04 "toy" wide angle, the 05 "toy" telephoto, the 06 telephoto zoom, the 07 "mount shield" lens, and the 08 ultra-wide zoom. The zooms and prime normal lenses have leaf shutters (with built-in neutral density filters) and sync with flash up to 1/2000 of a second. The other lenses use the camera's electronic shutter. The 09 macro lens was prototyped but never released. Modern Pentax K mount lenses can be used on the Q with an adapter that has a mechanical shutter. Other adapted lenses use the electronic shutter.
The camera's small sensor size (1/2.3") means that the Q has a
crop factor of 5.6× (compared to full-frame 35mm cameras), as well as a short
flange focal distance
For an interchangeable lens camera, the flange focal distance (FFD) (also known as the flange-to-film distance, flange focal depth, flange back distance (FBD), flange focal length (FFL), back focus or register, depending on the usage and source ...
(FFD). With the 5.6× crop factor, a 100mm macro lens (for example) results in a 35mm equivalent field of view (FOV) of a 560mm telephoto. An additional implication of the 5.6× crop factor and associated optics is that
depth of field
The depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image captured with a camera.
Factors affecting depth of field
For cameras that can only focus on one object dis ...
(DOF) is increased proportionally for a given aperture setting (in comparison to the 35mm equivalent DOF at the same aperture). This means that in some applications the small Pentax Q sensor offers an advantage over larger formats. This also allows the Pentax Q lenses to be proportionally smaller than lenses designed for larger formats.
The short FFD of the Pentax Q enables it to accept manual focus lenses from many manufacturers (via adapters) including Nikon F, Leica M and 39M, Olympus OM, Canon FD, Minolta, M42 screw mount, C-Mount, D-Mount, Pentax K, and
Pentax Auto 110.
The Pentax Q has a wide range of digital effects and controls including
high dynamic range
High dynamic range (HDR) is a dynamic range higher than usual, synonyms are wide dynamic range, extended dynamic range, expanded dynamic range.
The term is often used in discussing the dynamic range of various signals such as images, videos, a ...
(HDR), multiple scene modes, and a
bokeh function which, when activated, can enable a pseudo
shallow-focus effect.
The camera is equipped with sensor-shift
image stabilization
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure.
Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pit ...
technology to improve image quality at slow shutter speeds or when using telephoto lenses. It has a "focus peaking" function as well. Sensor shift and focus peaking functions also work with adapted lenses.
The Q7 and Q-S1 models have a larger sensor size (1/1.7") resulting in a crop factor of 4.6×.
References
External links
Specs at DPReview
Contemporary YouTube review of the camer
Pentax Q-mount cameras, Q
Cameras introduced in 2011
{{camera-stub