Recently lots of digital cameras are claiming to be the smallest and lightest offerings with interchangeable lenses, a few days ago we told you that the Panasonic Lumix GF3 was the holder of this accolade, however we then heard that the Sony NEX-C3 was a close contender, well you can now forget about both of these as the Pentaq Q has overtaken them both.
According to PCWorld the Lumix GF3 measures in at 1.28 x 4.24 x 2.64 inches, whilst the Sony Alpha NEX-C3 measures in at 1.31 x 4.38 x 2.38 inches, as you can see both are small, however when we tell you that the Pentax Q is lighter (just 7.1 ounces) and measures in at just 1.2 x 3.9 x 2.3 inches its clear that the Q is significantly smaller.
So what has Pentax fitted into this tiny housing? Well you can read the official press release over at Engadget, we do not have a full beak down of tech specs but we can confirm that you get a 12.4 megapixel backlit CMOS sensor, support for SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards, 1080p HD video capture at 30fps, a 3-inch rear LCD and there is also a pretty unique pop-up flash, it is worth noting that still operates when it has not been “popped-up”. Pentax are keen to talk about the camera’s CMOS sensor which has been manufactured by Sony, apparently the lenses have been designed specifically to suit this 1/2.3-inch image sensor and the sensor itself allows for high sensitivity levels, whilst still managing to combat noise.
In terms of pricing and availability it will cost around $800 when it becomes available in the U.S. this fall, there will be white and black models to choose from (see below).
Recently Engadget got their hands on this impressive piece of kit, if you scroll down to the bottom of this post you can watch their hands on video which reveals that the standard lens will be a 47mm offering, however there will also be zoom, fisheye and telephoto lenses available. Pentax’s representative also claims that the Q has the functionality and controls of a DSLR and a whole repertoire of capture modes, one neat feature is the dial on the front of the camera which will allow you to pre-program multiple custom modes for quick access.
As you would expect the build quality looks solid and the interchangeable lens mechanism looks great, Pentax say that the Q has a magnesium alloy body and is not only durable but it is also scratch resistant to.
What do you think of its $800 price tag?
*Identifying Monetised Links - outgoing links that we monetise are marked with an '*' symbol.
