I'm Sensing a Small Change

Pentax today announced the Q7 mirrorless camera, the replacement for the Q10. Huh? 1, 10, 7? Is this some kind of math IQ test where we're supposed to guess the next number? (Q16 ;~)

The big news here, if you can call it big, is the change from a 1/2.3" sensor to 1/1.7" sensor. That's a change from (updated) 6.16 x 7.70mm (47 square mm) to 7.6 x 9.5 (72 square mm). Essentially, Pentax is keeping up with the compacts, where at the high end they've been moving from 1/2.3" to 1/1.7" sensors (e.g. Canon Powershot G15, Nikon Coolpix P330, Nikon Coolpix P7700, Panasonic LX-7, et.al.). 

That's probably a good way to think about the Q: compact camera image quality with interchangeable lenses. The Q is most popular in Japan, where smallness is indeed a sought after factor. Many in Japan consider the Q "the smallest DSLR," though it doesn't have an EVF or OVF. 

I've updated the sansmirror site to include the Pentax Q lenses, by the way. As the Q becomes a more competent camera, it's important that I treat it equally to the others on the site. But note that the sensor change also is changing the equivalent focal lengths (from about a 5.6x crop to 4.6x). The original 5-15mm Q kit zoom was about a 28-85mm equivalent, but with the new sensor that moves closer to a 24-70mm equivalent.


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