Pixiq

The first reviews are beginning to trickle in for the teeny-tiny Pentax Q mirror-less camera that was launched with massive fanfare (after much rumour and speculation) in June this year, so we thought that we’d take a look at what they had to say. When the camera was announced, there was a fair bit of discussion about the size of the sensor, and whether or not something so small was really going to be worth it. The reviews still seem to be a bit ambivalent; it’s as if the Q isn’t quite there yet when it comes to performance, and the price is a bit too high. But take a look for yourself.

Amateur Photographer says ‘There was always a danger when a camera is so miniaturised, that it would become unusable creatively. However, the Q has some well-positioned buttons that allowed me to adjust the regularly used features, the most interesting of these being the quick dial on the front of the camera.’ – Read the full review on Amateur Photographer.

Engadget says ‘There’s nothing impressive about the Q’s performance. It’s sluggish to boot and focus… if you’re trying to capture a photo in the moment, there’s a very good chance it’ll be over before the camera even fires.’ – Read the rest of the review on Engadget.

ePHOTOzine says ‘The Q also feels like a compact camera. It doesn’t feel as quick, snappy and ultra fast as the latest mirrorless Panasonic and Olympus cameras with fast focusing. It appears to offer “the smallest” mirrorless camera, yet it may not take long for other companies to match the size of the Pentax Q, but with larger sensors.’ – Read the rest of the review on ePHOTOzine.

Expert Reviews says ‘Its performance in normal use was more worrying, taking almost four seconds to switch on and shoot, and 2.1 seconds between shots. This is largely down to the autofocus speed, which is squarely in compact rather than SLR territory. The 0.4-second delay between autofocus confirmation and the shutter being released didn’t help, either.’ – Read the full review on Expert Reviews.

PhotographyBLOG says ‘Unfortunately, unlike its handling, the Q’s image quality doesn’t come anywhere near a DSLR, or the new breed of compact system cameras either. It may have DSLR pretensions and an ISO range to match, but in reality the compact camera sensor at the heart of the Q seriously restricts its appeal.’ – Read the full review on PhotographyBLOG.

Pocket-lint says ‘However, amid a competitive Compact System Camera market it fails to encapsulate true DSLR-like quality in a compact body. Images may be sharp, but other imaging issues and lack of depth of field control hold the Q back. While the camera certainly looks sweet enough, it just doesn’t have the inner guts to outperform its competitors. Plus the £600 asking price is more than most of its larger-sensor compadres.’ – Read the full review on Pocket-lint.

T3 says ‘Though the styling may not be as luxurious as our personal favourites in the Olympus Pen or as practical as the Panasonic GF series, the ‘Q’ is smaller than both, and if less really is more as far as your opinion goes, there’s currently only one choice.’ – Read the full review on T3.