pictogramax
All-Pro
- Location
- Zemun, Serbia
I am having fun as well. With the X20's AF gone and the X30 is still in transit, I've been using the Pentax Q. The actual problem was that I has lost the charger so I hadn't used it in a while. Last week I still couldn't find the changer but I discovered that an old Fuji charger could handle the Pentax batteries. The D-LI68 (Pentax) and the NP-50 (Fuji) are essentially the same size with the same contact arrangement and similar electrical specs. It has been a joy to use the Q. It's a remarkably competent camera for such a small sensor. More to the point, it's a remarkably well-made camera with a Mg body. It's actually "brassing" on the corners, albeit with a gray metal poking through. I also have a Q7, and you can easily see the quality difference. Nothing that small has great ergs, but the menus and control layout are really good. Given my current daily photo addiction, I'm really glad to have this back in my arsenal. It's also been a little sad, however. I was a Pentax user from 1974 to about 2010, and Pentax never really evolved out of DSLR mode and I developed a liking for Olympus mirrorless cameras.Iām having so much fun with this challenge. I tried to get one of those Fringer Nikon f to Fuji x smart adapters, but that was a bust.
I returned it and got a refund. That was to be my new job gift to myself.
Instead, I see where B&H Photo os having a decent sale on the Fuji SQ20 instax camera $120 and square film is down to $6 per pack of 10.
Iām not really that interested in the camera per say, but I do like the fact that I can load images on the micro SD card and print from there. I do that more often than Iād thought with the current instax mini printer I have.
B&H cart is locked out now for holiday observance, but will be back open at 7pm tonight EST. Iāll be ordering them and I will be able to continue using my lo-fi fun gear once it arrives.
The biggest thing, my mother in law is old school and loves to have pictures hanging in her house. We have a metal wire and clips up in her hallway and she has pictures up there from throughout the year. Every Christmas we take down the old and use my instant cameras to take new ones for her.
Itās a fun tradition that she cherishes and everyone loves the experience.
I am having fun as well. With the X20's AF gone and the X30 is still in transit, I've been using the Pentax Q. The actual problem was that I has lost the charger so I hadn't used it in a while. Last week I still couldn't find the changer but I discovered that an old Fuji charger could handle the Pentax batteries. The D-LI68 (Pentax) and the NP-50 (Fuji) are essentially the same size with the same contact arrangement and similar electrical specs. It has been a joy to use the Q. It's a remarkably competent camera for such a small sensor. More to the point, it's a remarkably well-made camera with a Mg body. It's actually "brassing" on the corners, albeit with a gray metal poking through. I also have a Q7, and you can easily see the quality difference. Nothing that small has great ergs, but the menus and control layout are really good. Given my current daily photo addiction, I'm really glad to have this back in my arsenal. It's also been a little sad, however. I was a Pentax user from 1974 to about 2010, and Pentax never really evolved out of DSLR mode and I developed a liking for Olympus mirrorless cameras.
Iām not quite sure what Pentax needs to do at this point. I do think the DSLR approach is worth a try, because they just donāt have the resources to try to compete in the current mirrorless fight.I'm personally kind of okay with Pentax not throwing their hat in the ring of ergonomically disadvantaged, slightly too small with slightly too many buttons, EVF instead of OVF, expensive lens stable mirrorless systems. Yes, they might design a truly compelling system, but they might also cede too much design consideration to the conventions of the mirrorless design language that we all have thrust upon us. Pentax has come around to very unique DSLRs and it would be a shame to lose that aspect of them.
I just want Ricoh to introduce some new development based on their GR and GXR line. I'm fine with them not being a whole new system, dedicated-lens-sensor combo type cameras offer something that's harder/more expensive to get when you jump into a mirrorless system with all its inherent choices and compromises.
The "mirrorless fight" is just about as laughable as the DSLR fight was ten years ago, it's as if every manufacturer agrees to make the same mistakes. Of course on the imaging tech front Sony has driven the quality for years, but I feel like the real original promise of mirrorless is what micro four thirds offered way back a decade and more ago: small, large aperture lenses and really short flange distance, good IQ in the same size package as the smallest film cameras offered. Now, everyone is shooting for these ungainly hybrids between pro-level ergos and comfort, and miniaturization, and that's a losing battle in my opinion. Either make big chunky cameras that are very comfortable in the hand, or make small, slim ones that are easy to stow but still offer high IQ. You literally can't have both at the same time.Iām not quite sure what Pentax needs to do at this point. I do think the DSLR approach is worth a try, because they just donāt have the resources to try to compete in the current mirrorless fight.
Very cool unsettling vibe about this!
My daughter says the same.Very cool unsettling vibe about this!