Introduction and features
Ricoh's latest super small Pentax interchangeable lens camera enters a crowded marketplace of diminutive system cameras vying for a place in our pockets. At its launch, Pentax claimed that the QS-1 is the smallest interchangeable lens camera currently on the market.
Unlike the majority of compact system cameras on the market, the Pentax Q range features small sensors the same size as you might find in a compact camera, but of course the big difference here is that you can change the lenses, of which there are eight different available for the Q mount.
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Key Features
That sensor is a 1/1.7 inch 12 .4 million pixel backlit CMOS sensor. There's also a three-inch TFT LCD screen with 460,000 dots and, while there's no viewfinder, there is a hotshoe which means you can attach external accessories, such as a flash or external viewfinder.
Other features include SD card compatibility, full HD (1080p) video recording and a ISO 100-12,800 range.
One of the key selling points of recent Pentax camera is the staggering array of colour combinations that are available (some better than others). The QS-1 is no different, pairing up with the standard 5-15mm kit lens to create 40 different colour combinations.
Build Quality and Handling
Although the body size of the QS-1 is certainly very small, the kit lens sticks out a fair way from the front of the body, so you won't be able to fit it in your jeans pocket – it should just about fit in a reasonably large jacket pocket though.
On the plus side, despite the fact that it is very small, it is still equipped with a decent range of buttons and dials, placing most of the key controls at your fingertips.
On the top of the camera there's a mode dial for switching between the different exposure modes the camera offers, including aperture priority, fully automatic and shutter priority. The movie mode is also found here.
Also on top you'll find a shutter release button, an on/off switch, a second dial which performs different tasks depending on other buttons that are pressed, a playback button and switch for raising the camera's inbuilt flash.
The buttons on the back of the camera are all found on the right hand side and here we have an exposure compensation button, which is also used to switch between altering shutter speed and aperture when in manual mode. Just underneath this button is a green button which performs different functions.
A four way navigational pad has buttons which all have a dedicated function, for instance up for ISO (sensitivity) and down for white balance. Simply press the button you need and then use the scrolling dial at the top of the camera to make the change you need.
To set the autofocus point, press the OK button in the middle of the navigation pad then move across to the point you need. You can also adjust the size of the AF point by using the scrolling dial on the top of the camera. Press the green button to return the AF point to the centre of the frame.
A sort of quick menu can be reached by pressing the info button. Settings such as metering, aspect ratio, custom image and so on. There's also a main menu accessed by pressing the Menu button, which is pretty sensibly arranged by different functions that you'll need to access.
Flip to the front of the camera and there's a dial with a dot and the numbers 1-4 on it. By default, this controls Smart Effect, as in you can change between the four available (or switch it off altogether), but you can also customise this dial to control a different function, such as focus peaking.
Lab test results
We use a standardised resolution chart to test camera resolution (below) and DxO Analyzer hardware and software for measuring dynamic range and signal to noise ratio in laboratory conditions. Performance is checked both for JPEG images produced in-camera and raw files, which are converted into TIFF images for testing.
We also picked out for rivals to test against the Pentax Q-S1 – the Nikon 1 S2, Panasonic GM1 and Samsung NX Mini. You'll find the results of these comparisons below.
Resolution (JPEG and raw)
Analysis: The Pentax Q-S1 lags behind its rivals for resolution, both with JPEGs (top) and with raw files (above). The leader in this group is the Panasonic GM1, which has the largest sensor. The Pentax has the smallest.
Dynamic range (JPEG and raw)
Analysis: Again, the Pentax Q-S1 produces the lowest figures. The difference is not obvious with JPEG images at low-medium ISO settings, but where the other cameras show improved dynamic range when you shoot raw files, the Pentax Q-S1 does not. That's bad news for photographers who rely on raw files to capture a wider brightness range.
Signal to noise ratio (JPEG and raw)
Analysis: For both JPEG and raw images, the Pentax Q-S1 has the lowest signal to noise ratio. This means that noise forms a larger part of the image detail, so you will see more graininess in images, especially at high ISOs. Again, this is directly related to sensor size, and demonstrates the disadvantage of the Pentax's smaller 1/1.7-inch sensor compared to the 1-inch sensors in the the Nikon 1 S2 and Samsung NX Mini, and the Micro Four Thirds sensor in the Panasonic GM1.
The Pentax Q-S1 offers good performance relative to high-end compact cameras with a 1/1.7-inch sensor, but it's a little out of its depth up against other CSCs.
Performance and verdict
Straight from the camera, images are nicely saturated to produce bright and punchy images without straying too far into unnatural territory.
Detail is fairly well resolved, and although it doesn't quite compete with those cameras which feature a bigger sensor, such as the Panasonic GM5, for something which essentially uses a compact camera sensor, it's pretty good.
Click here for a full resolution version.
When examining images at 100% you can see some examples of image smoothing, even at low sensitivities such as ISO 200, but it's not something that is generally going to affect normal printing or sharing sizes. As you go up the sensitivity scale however, smoothing becomes worse and noise starts to be introduced. At ISO 3200, images are fine to use at very small sizes, but not much else.
Click here for a full resolution version.
Click here for a full resolution version.
Pentax cameras generally don't use a proprietary raw format file, instead using the universal DNG file format meaning you can open them with most image editing software, including Photoshop. The JPEG images clearly have quite a lot of processing applied to them, including correction for lens distortion and noise reduction. If you prefer to work with the images yourself, or prefer to favour detail over noise reduction, working with the DNG files is useful.
Generally, the all-purpose metering does a decent job of assessing the scene to produce accurate exposures, and the same can be said of the automatic white balance function which copes well even under artificial lighting to produce accurate colours.
It's worth experimenting with the different creative options which are available here, including Smart Effects, Custom Image and digital filters, probably the most interesting can be found under the Custom Image setting, such as Cross Processing. There's nothing here overly amazing, but at least you can shoot them with raw format shooting applied, so you can go back to a "clean" version of the image should you need it.
We liked
The design of the Q-S1 is pretty good, and for a small camera there's lots of direct control buttons which mean you don't have to fiddle around in menu systems to change key settings. The green button which returns the AF point to the centre of the frame is pretty nifty too.
We disliked
Even though it is undoubtedly small and light, there are other compact system cameras currently on the market which offer so much more in a package which isn't much bigger, especially once you take into consideration the size of the attached kit lens. There's just nothing here to get overly excited about.
Verdict
Pentax continues to fight a battle in what is a pretty crowded compact system camera marketplace. It chooses to do that with the likes of the QS-1, which offer a very dinky package… but unfortunately for Pentax, lots of other manufacturers are also now producing very small compact system cameras with much larger sensors.
Click here for a full resolution version.
Click here for a full resolution version.
Take the Nikon 1 series and the Samsung NX Mini, some of which are only a fraction bigger than the QS1, as an example – each of these has a one inch sensor. And you can go even further than that by looking at the Panasonic GM5, an incredibly small camera, which is only marginally bigger than the Q-S1 but manages to squeeze in a Four Thirds sensor.
If however, you have a particular affection for the Pentax brand, you might find like the QS1. Even if you don't, it's an easy camera to get to grips with and although it's small, it does have a lot of buttons and dials for quick access to all of the key settings, something which isn't always true of ultra-small CSCs.
Click here for a full resolution version.
Click here for a full resolution version.
There's nothing particularly exciting here to distinguish this camera from the rest of the market though, aside from its small stature. There's no inbuilt Wi-Fi, viewfinder, touchscreen or GPS. The kit lens is also shaped so as to make the whole camera not particularly pocketable, which makes it lose some of the appeal it has in the first place.
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