L0n3Gr3yW0lf
Top Veteran
- Location
- Somerset, UK
- Name
- Ovi
I took out my (new to me) used Pentax Q10 with the 5-15mm f 2.8-4.5 and 15-45mm f 2.8 lenses, no goal specifically outside of trying to see what kind of images it can make and the user experience.
Little wet duckies, light rain made things a bit more annoying so I stuck with the 15-45mm lens until it stopped to not risk getting water in.
My first observation (and cumulative experience by the experience) is that the autofocus is not reliable for a subject at any speed but 0. This doesn't disappoint me all that much, it's fine for street photography and candid shots but it's not my "Walk-The-Dog" setup. The AF was set for AF-S with medium size AF point.
Besides speed for AF there's also the accuracy problem, a few of the shots came out front or back focus. Noticing this I locked the zoom function to 100% because pixel-peeping is not going to help this little camera even in the best-case scenario. Since doing that I've been more impressed with the little Queenie than I thought.
This was one of the cases where the camera confirmed the AF lock on the swan but in post, it's out of focus, I might consider making the AF point smaller to avoid confusion on a subject too small. I was a bit surprised by the DoF of such a small sensor, even at f 2.8 there is some DoF to blur the background, at medium range to minimum focus (about 5 meters and less).
What I found absolutely wonderful are the colours and the white balance. The WB is just perfect between too cold and too warm (though I do prefer warmer nature to pictures), I have not changed the WB at all which is a first for me in years. The colours are wonderfully balanced, not too saturated or too offbeat BUT it was a very cloudy day with and mild amount of light. I will have to see how it behaves in direct sunlight and its more varied light types.
Mind you all (well most, I will mention those who are not) the images have been processed from RAW and had a final pass through Topaz DeNoise AI. There's quite a bit of sharpness in the files to unlock and denoising them adds a bit more sharpness on top as well.
I was also surprised that, despite the English weather, the bright lenses kept the ISO almost always at 100 to 200, delightful. The IBIS seems to be quite conservative though, keeping the shutter speed at a 1/1 ratio for the focal length, I should test it in low light to see if the shutter speed is brave enough to go below. I let the camera choose the exposure in Program mode and Auto ISO, I wanted to see how well it handles the exposure. I expected the camera and the lens to handle wide open most of the time (Diffraction, Optical Quality, keeping ISO as minimum as possible) but I am starting to reconsider that.
Now speaking of ergonomics this little camera is surprisingly comfortable and fun to use, even though it's very short because it's so light I can hold it comfortably with 2 fingers on the grip and pinky underneath (and I am holding its weight well on it). The buttons are small but very clicky and responsive. There is a bit more room for bigger buttons if they tried (especially if you put the text on the buttons instead of next to them). One dial is fine but if it was clickable it could work well in Manual mode and switch between Aperture and Shutter Speed.
The biggest difficulty/disappointment is the screen, it's VERY reflective and not particularly bright. At 460K dots, it's impossible to judge the focus or sharpness on it but at least the bezels are quite reasonably small for their size. I wish Pentax would have made an EVF with a link in the hotshoe, even a (for its era) basic 1.44 million dots EVF would have been helpful. The fixed nature of the screen is understandable for its size but I do wonder if, after some years of investment, a later mater could have a front-facing tilt screen (the mechanism is more compact and easier to implement in very compact cameras).
The lenses, one disappointing aspect of both lenses is their minimum focus distance, magnification and close-up quality. Of the two I think 15-45mm f 2.8 lens is the better one, for macro but also IQ-wise in every aspect. Both lenses are so small and light that they are almost the same BUT the 15-45mm had a locking mechanism to stay small when not in use. But given how small the 15-45mm f 2.8 lens is I wonder why didn't Pentax make the 5-15mm a constant f 2.8 lens instead of f 2.8-4.5. But it's nice that both of them have the same filter size: 40.5mm
The Pentax 15-45mm f 2.8 lens is quite sharp and has good contrast at the minimum focus distance. The chromatic aberrations are reasonable and easy to control on this lens. I will have to test the other aperture to see if there's more sharpness in it. I am not finding the locking mechanism annoying, it's reasonably easy to unlock and I keep it unlocked when I have the lens on and I haven't accidentally locked it while on the camera (yet).
I don't know how much it would affect the size and the price but I do wonder and wish that the system was weather sealed, it doesn't have to be to the level of Pentax K series or Olympus but a little bit too give the feeling of "take it everywhere, use it all the time" aspect. I don't mind the plastic lightweight feel to it, I have different expectations compared to my Sony a7 Mark IV or a Micro Four Thirds camera. Cheap and cheerful.
The camera and the lens survived a light drizzly rain just fine, not much worry there. The battery life is not great but the batteries are old so I am not faulting it for that, the batteries are very small and thin, I haven't seen a battery like this since my first phone back in the late 90s. The battery is so compact that I left one in my wallet as a backup if I ever run out of battery and forget my spare (I have one OEM and 2 3rd party ones).
Another picture where the AF confirmed to lock on my Nuggie but she's out of focus.
This camera LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES the green colours. You might think I used flash for this image but I have not, it just renders the green absolutely beautifully. To be honest, the more I look at this picture the more I want more of it, I might consider getting a Pentax DSLR but my financial situation will not allow me to buy anything for at least next year (I am literally broke).
Zooming in on the roots, this is one of my favourites. A very sharp little lens, I might use the 15-45mm f 2.8 more than the kit lens.
I attempted to shoot the ducks but it was not particularly fast to focus enough to get the moment before the duck is gone from the AF point. Cute separation in the background, not a lot but enough to let you not focus your eyes on it.
The dynamic range of the camera is quite good for this little one, the highlights can be burned but there's at least a stop recovery. I didn't use any exposure bias to evaluate recoverability, the RAW files don't mind the pull on highlights and push the shadows.
Queenie handles yellows very well, just like greens, I didn't expect it to handle all the gradients of yellow so well. The more I edit the RAW files the more excited I am about it.
The greens on the head, the yellow beak and the orange feet colours are looking very natural and pleasing, besides the contrast and dehaze I have not changed any aspect of the colours and left the AWB as it was.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Little wet duckies, light rain made things a bit more annoying so I stuck with the 15-45mm lens until it stopped to not risk getting water in.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
My first observation (and cumulative experience by the experience) is that the autofocus is not reliable for a subject at any speed but 0. This doesn't disappoint me all that much, it's fine for street photography and candid shots but it's not my "Walk-The-Dog" setup. The AF was set for AF-S with medium size AF point.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Besides speed for AF there's also the accuracy problem, a few of the shots came out front or back focus. Noticing this I locked the zoom function to 100% because pixel-peeping is not going to help this little camera even in the best-case scenario. Since doing that I've been more impressed with the little Queenie than I thought.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
This was one of the cases where the camera confirmed the AF lock on the swan but in post, it's out of focus, I might consider making the AF point smaller to avoid confusion on a subject too small. I was a bit surprised by the DoF of such a small sensor, even at f 2.8 there is some DoF to blur the background, at medium range to minimum focus (about 5 meters and less).
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
What I found absolutely wonderful are the colours and the white balance. The WB is just perfect between too cold and too warm (though I do prefer warmer nature to pictures), I have not changed the WB at all which is a first for me in years. The colours are wonderfully balanced, not too saturated or too offbeat BUT it was a very cloudy day with and mild amount of light. I will have to see how it behaves in direct sunlight and its more varied light types.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Mind you all (well most, I will mention those who are not) the images have been processed from RAW and had a final pass through Topaz DeNoise AI. There's quite a bit of sharpness in the files to unlock and denoising them adds a bit more sharpness on top as well.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I was also surprised that, despite the English weather, the bright lenses kept the ISO almost always at 100 to 200, delightful. The IBIS seems to be quite conservative though, keeping the shutter speed at a 1/1 ratio for the focal length, I should test it in low light to see if the shutter speed is brave enough to go below. I let the camera choose the exposure in Program mode and Auto ISO, I wanted to see how well it handles the exposure. I expected the camera and the lens to handle wide open most of the time (Diffraction, Optical Quality, keeping ISO as minimum as possible) but I am starting to reconsider that.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Now speaking of ergonomics this little camera is surprisingly comfortable and fun to use, even though it's very short because it's so light I can hold it comfortably with 2 fingers on the grip and pinky underneath (and I am holding its weight well on it). The buttons are small but very clicky and responsive. There is a bit more room for bigger buttons if they tried (especially if you put the text on the buttons instead of next to them). One dial is fine but if it was clickable it could work well in Manual mode and switch between Aperture and Shutter Speed.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The biggest difficulty/disappointment is the screen, it's VERY reflective and not particularly bright. At 460K dots, it's impossible to judge the focus or sharpness on it but at least the bezels are quite reasonably small for their size. I wish Pentax would have made an EVF with a link in the hotshoe, even a (for its era) basic 1.44 million dots EVF would have been helpful. The fixed nature of the screen is understandable for its size but I do wonder if, after some years of investment, a later mater could have a front-facing tilt screen (the mechanism is more compact and easier to implement in very compact cameras).
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The lenses, one disappointing aspect of both lenses is their minimum focus distance, magnification and close-up quality. Of the two I think 15-45mm f 2.8 lens is the better one, for macro but also IQ-wise in every aspect. Both lenses are so small and light that they are almost the same BUT the 15-45mm had a locking mechanism to stay small when not in use. But given how small the 15-45mm f 2.8 lens is I wonder why didn't Pentax make the 5-15mm a constant f 2.8 lens instead of f 2.8-4.5. But it's nice that both of them have the same filter size: 40.5mm
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The Pentax 15-45mm f 2.8 lens is quite sharp and has good contrast at the minimum focus distance. The chromatic aberrations are reasonable and easy to control on this lens. I will have to test the other aperture to see if there's more sharpness in it. I am not finding the locking mechanism annoying, it's reasonably easy to unlock and I keep it unlocked when I have the lens on and I haven't accidentally locked it while on the camera (yet).
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I don't know how much it would affect the size and the price but I do wonder and wish that the system was weather sealed, it doesn't have to be to the level of Pentax K series or Olympus but a little bit too give the feeling of "take it everywhere, use it all the time" aspect. I don't mind the plastic lightweight feel to it, I have different expectations compared to my Sony a7 Mark IV or a Micro Four Thirds camera. Cheap and cheerful.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The camera and the lens survived a light drizzly rain just fine, not much worry there. The battery life is not great but the batteries are old so I am not faulting it for that, the batteries are very small and thin, I haven't seen a battery like this since my first phone back in the late 90s. The battery is so compact that I left one in my wallet as a backup if I ever run out of battery and forget my spare (I have one OEM and 2 3rd party ones).
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Another picture where the AF confirmed to lock on my Nuggie but she's out of focus.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
This camera LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES the green colours. You might think I used flash for this image but I have not, it just renders the green absolutely beautifully. To be honest, the more I look at this picture the more I want more of it, I might consider getting a Pentax DSLR but my financial situation will not allow me to buy anything for at least next year (I am literally broke).
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Zooming in on the roots, this is one of my favourites. A very sharp little lens, I might use the 15-45mm f 2.8 more than the kit lens.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I attempted to shoot the ducks but it was not particularly fast to focus enough to get the moment before the duck is gone from the AF point. Cute separation in the background, not a lot but enough to let you not focus your eyes on it.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The dynamic range of the camera is quite good for this little one, the highlights can be burned but there's at least a stop recovery. I didn't use any exposure bias to evaluate recoverability, the RAW files don't mind the pull on highlights and push the shadows.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Queenie handles yellows very well, just like greens, I didn't expect it to handle all the gradients of yellow so well. The more I edit the RAW files the more excited I am about it.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The greens on the head, the yellow beak and the orange feet colours are looking very natural and pleasing, besides the contrast and dehaze I have not changed any aspect of the colours and left the AWB as it was.
