The world’s smallest, lightest camera body, featuring newly developed Q mount system

The PENTAX Q features the newly developed Q mount, with a mount diameter shortened to approximately two-thirds of that of the conventional K mount. This was made possible by reducing the flange back (the distance from the lens mount surface to the image sensor surface) to nearly one-fifth of that of the K mount, as well as by optimizing the size of image circle of its lenses to be proportioned to the size of the compact image sensor. The Q mount system also eliminates an optical finder, mirror box, focusing plate and AF sensor, making the PENTAX Q’s body the smallest and lightest in its class. The body has been made of magnesium-alloy, which gives an elegant, high-quality texture to the compact, lightweight camera body while improving its durability.

Exceptional image quality thanks to digital interchangeable lens system camera

The PENTAX Q comes equipped with back illuminated 1/2.3-inch CMOS image sensor, which delivers beautiful, high-resolution images with approximately 12.4 effective megapixels. This is made possible by its high efficient light gathering optical construction that assures excellent high sensitivity and low noise characteristics and a high speed readout of image data signals. The PENTAX Q also features a new generation imaging engine integrating the best of PENTAX’s state-of-the-art digital imaging technologies, developed and accumulated over many years of digital SLR camera development. By coupling this imaging engine with exclusively designed, high performance Q mount lenses, the PENTAX Q delivers clear, high contrast images rich in gradation and texture, even at edges. With high sensitivity noise minimized, the photographer can use the entire sensitivity range — from ISO 125 to the highest ISO 6400 — without worrying about annoying digital noise. By taking advantage of the HDR (High Dynamic Range) function that produces one composite photo from multiple images, it’s easy to create beautiful images with an extra wide dynamic range and free of white-washed and blacked-out areas.

Innovative creative tool to add personal touches to the images with great ease

The PENTAX Q offers a totally new style of photo shooting. By coupling the new Smart Effect function offering nine distinctive visual expressions via the easy access Quick-Dial positioned on the camera’s front panel, the photographer can effortlessly add a desired finishing touch to an image, while previewing the effect on the LCD monitor. The Quick-Dial has four positions, to which four favorite Smart Effect modes can be assigned in advance. The ever-popular Custom Image and Digital Filter functions have been further enhanced to provide an even greater range of image processing tools. In order to customize the PENTAX Q to accommodate specific shooting styles and user preferences, the user can also assign other options such as a custom image setting, a digital filter or an aspect ratio setting to the Quick-Dial.

Smart Effect modes

• Brilliant Color: Creates a lively atmosphere by raising the saturation level almost to the point of color saturation.
• Unicolor Bold: Creates an extremely high contrast image that retains one particular color in the image.
• Vintage Color: Produces a toy-camera-like effect, with a choice of several different finishing touches.
• Cross Processing: Produces a unique image with unusual colors, as if treated with the cross processing** used in film photography.
• Warm Fade: Creates a low contrast image with the white balance slightly shifted to pink shades.
• Tone Expansion: Produces a dramatic image with an artistic finishing touch, close to an intensified HDR (High Dynamic Range) effect.
• Bold Monochrome: Produces a low-key, high contrast image with enhanced sharpness.
• Water Color: Creates a watercolor-like finishing touch.
• Vibrant Color Enhance: Creates a flowery atmosphere with slightly enhanced contrast.
• USER: Used to enter a user-selected combination of custom image mode and a digital filter.

** A film development technique that uses an unconventional film developer to create a distinctive finishing touch with dramatic colors.

High quality, Full HD movie recording

The PENTAX Q comes equipped with a Full HD movie recording function employing the H.264 recording format, allowing user to capture high quality, extended movie clips (1920 x 1080 pixels) at a frame rate of 30 frames per second. The user can also take advantage of interchangeable Q-mount lenses to produce distinctive perspectives, or make effective use of the Smart Effect modes*** and other in-body movie editing tools to produce creative, dramatic visual expressions with great ease, even during movie recording. The PENTAX Q also provides a micro-HDMI terminal (type D), which allows the user to simultaneously output both Full HD movie clips and sound to external devices via a single terminal.

*** The frame rate may vary when a selected Smart Effect mode requires nonstandard image processing.

Effortless Bokeh control

The PENTAX Q comes equipped with newly developed bokeh control function, which allows user to capture the image with obtrusive objects in the field of view optimally defocused. With this function, the camera will automatically judge the focused subject as well as relative distance of each object from the camera in the field of view to apply optimal defocus effect to each object to stand out the main subject(s). This function will allow even a first-time digital photographer to easily capture the images with such effects as background defocus or foreground defocus that otherwise require certain extent of familiarity with the photography.

SR mechanism for sharp, blur-free images

The PENTAX Q incorporates the PENTAX-developed SR (Shake Reduction) mechanism, which automatically shifts the CMOS image sensor to offset camera shake detected by the camera’s motion sensor. As a result, the PENTAX Q produces sharp, blur-free images even under demanding conditions that are prone to camera shake, such as when using a telephoto lens, shooting in the dark without flash illumination, or capturing landscapes in the twilight. Therefore, whatever lens mounted on the PENTAX Q, it does not need to be stabilized, which is a subsequent financial advantage for the user.

Dependable features available only with digital interchangeable lens cameras

The PENTAX Q offers a host of user-friendly, functional features available only with digital interchangeable-lens cameras. Its top shutter speed of 1/2000 second freezes the decisive moment of the subject’s action. To accommodate user preferences and varying photographic applications, it also offers a choice of four different exposure modes: the user-friendly Programmed AE (P) mode that automatically selects an optimum combination of aperture and shutter speed; the Aperture-Priority AE (AV) and Shutter-Priority AE (TV) modes that allow the photographer to faithfully reproduce specific creative intentions on resulting images; and the Metered Manual (M) mode. It even allows the photographer to instantly switch from the P mode to the AV or TV mode with a simple turn of an electronic dial.

Large, wide view LCD monitor

The PENTAX Q features a large, easy-to-view, high resolution 3.0-inch color LCD monitor with approximately 460,000 dots. Its wide view design assures a clear view of the monitor from approximately 170 degrees horizontally and vertically, making it particularly useful in low and high angle shooting.

Dependable DRII mechanism for effective dust removal

The PENTAX Q’s DRII (Dust Removal II) mechanism effectively prevents annoying dust spots from spoiling captured images, even after the user changes lenses out in the open. Like PENTAX’s K-5 and 645D digital SLR cameras, it incorporates highly effective supersonic vibration mechanism, which vibrates image sensor at high speed to shake the dust off its surface.

High speed continuous shooting at approximately five images per second

The PENTAX Q’s high speed burst shooting mode allows the photographer to record up to five images (in JPEG recording format) in a single sequence, at a maximum speed of approximately five images per second. This mode comes in handy when trying to preserve the action of fast-moving subjects in a series of images.

Built-in auto flash with pop-up mechanism

The PENTAX Q comes with a built-in auto flash (guide number 7 at ISO 200/m). The photographer can either use it at the default position, or raise it to the pop-up position with simple operation to widen its discharge angle to cover a 28mm angle of view (in the 35mm format).

Other features

1. TTL image-sensor metering, with a choice of multi-segment, center-weighted and spot modes
2. Contrast-detection autofocus system, with a face recognition function and 25 selectable focus points
3. CTE white-balance control mode to emphasize the dominant color of a particular scene, such as the sunset
4. Auto Picture mode for effortless shooting
5. 21 scene modes, including new Forest and Stage Lighting options
6. A choice of image size (4:3, 3:2, 16:9 or 1:1) to accommodate different subjects and applications
7. Multi-exposure mode (up to 9 exposures on a single image), with an auto exposure compensation function
8. Interval shooting mode, convenient for recording transition of landscapes and flowers/plants from exact same location and angle
9. HDR mode to produce photo with an extra wide dynamic range composite photo from three images of varying exposures
10. A choice of data storage medium: SD, SDHC and the new-standard SDXC memory cards
11. SILKY Developer Studio 3 for PENTAX RAW-data development software (developed by Ichikawa Soft Laboratory) included; in-camera RAW-data development also available