Now is the right time for the Pentax Q to make a comeback

Hear me out – I feel it’s the precise time for the Pentax Q to make a comeback. In truth, I feel it’s the right time. If you’re accustomed to the Pentax Q, you may already be pondering that is ridiculous. But if a budget pocket-sized compact digital camera can return, why not a tiny mirrorless system?

The Pentax Q system launched in 2011. It was, and stays, the smallest interchangeable-lens mirrorless system round; the primary digital camera, merely known as the Q, had dimensions of 98×57.5x31mm. Three extra cameras adopted – the Q7, Q10 and Q-S1 – the final of which arrived in 2014. Eight lenses have been launched for the system, and its 1/2.3-inch sensor meant that they have been actually tiny. Even the 70-200m zoom and 100mm prime may slot in a pocket!

Ultimately although, the Q system failed. Reviewers near-universally agreed {that a} 1/2.3-inch sensor was just too small for critical image-making (the bigger 1/1.7-inch sensor in later fashions did little to unravel this – however let’s put a pin in that). The arrival of the full-frame mirrorless Sony A7 collection in 2013 additionally meant that mirrorless cameras now not wanted to market themselves so closely on portability and comfort, as they now had the standard to compete with DSLRs. Tiny mirrorless cameras went out of vogue; the Pentax Q was discontinued and all however forgotten.

Now, fast-forward to 2025. More photos are taken every single day on 1/2.3-inch sensors than all different sensor sizes mixed, since that is the most typical sensor measurement for a smartphone. As such, many large tech companies have invested closely in making photos from these sensors look nearly as good as doable. Full-frame mirrorless cameras, in the meantime, have ballooned in measurement, decision and worth, placing a lot of them out of attain of the typical hobbyist, who can also be feeling the pinch of elevated prices throughout the board. Cheap, pocketable compact cameras are again in vogue, with a brand new technology of customers treating their digital scuzziness as a function fairly than a bug. Do you see what I’m getting at?

Pentax have been utilizing digital filters lengthy earlier than movie simulations got here alongside

I imagine {that a} refreshed, re-released Pentax Q system might be an absolute slam dunk within the 2020s. The cameras nonetheless have their share of devoted fans, who love them as day by day drivers for his or her comfort and particularly the pop of their colors due to these artistic digital filters (which pre-date Fuji’s Film Simulations, by the way in which). A refreshed model, perhaps with a sprinkle of 2020s picture processing, might be an enormous hit with the sorts of people that’ve flocked to the Camp Snap, who love Instax prints, or who purchase previous X100 cameras on eBay. And with a set of cute little lenses you may preserve in your pocket, it’d provide one thing these cameras can’t, particularly because the Q has an actual pop-up flash built-in.

I do have one phrase of warning, nevertheless, to any Pentax-Ricoh executives studying this and beginning to get these cartoon dollar-signs within the eyes: you must make it reasonably priced. You must. I recognize that it’s not going to be a $65 Camp Snap, nevertheless it can also’t be an $849 Fujifilm X-half (and admittedly I feel you have been cheeky with the Pentax 17). Price this proper, and it may promote in droves. Get it unsuitable, and it may begin to really feel like 2014 yet again.

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The views expressed on this column should not essentially these of Amateur Photographer journal or Kelsey Media Limited. If you will have an opinion you’d wish to share on this subject, or another pictures associated topic, e-mail: ap.ed@kelsey.co.uk

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