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Monday, June 27, 2011

How Large a Sensor that Pentax Could Put Into the Q?

In these few days, I have seen over the Net that quite some existing Pentaxians are pissed off and they have been blaming about Pentax for making an "useless" mirrorless that has a too small sensor in it but yet the Q body and lenses have not been created smaller to the proportion as it should be. In fact, my latest poll and the results so far have shown that a large fraction of existing Pentaxians do feel disgusted about the Q system and they do believe that the Q is just not their "cup of tea" (in 55% amongst 217 votes at the time of writing my this Blog post).

I did feel the same before when the first Pentax "NC-1" rumour came out. But now I have a second thought and view. Let me this time to defend Pentax/Hoya for what they would have planned! (Yes, you have read the right and real thing - I am in defence of Pentax!! ;-D Lol..)

Before I am to go further, just think why Pentax needed to name that lens "01" "02" .. and so on? Why not put an effective focal length for the actual viewing angle just like what Ricoh did for their mirrorless modules of their GXR? There should be a reason behind, i.e, the sensor size is to be varied, I believe.

So, let me have my illustration, look at the Q mount and sensor picture (the deep-cyan line has outlined the sensor) and my added overlaid drawings as below:-


(Click to Enlarge)

I calculated the sensor size dimension ratios amongst the 1/2.3", 1/1.6" and even for a 1" sensor and then I've drawn the coloured marks as shown in the above.

And, the most important "co-incidence" is, which I have been able to discover only after I drew the 1/1.6" lines. Actually, I was drawing the lines by my already calculated dimensions (and the ratio on picture) for the 1/1.6" sensor (I had to make it ready before I could draw the lines!), the lines eventually are laid down exactly at the same position of the grey/dark boundary of the above original photo, which I believe is the opening for the transparent film for the ultrasonic dust removal. Besides, it can be seen that some room has been reserved for the movement of sensor for shake reduction.

So, after all, I bet the maximum possible size of a sensor for the Q body to accommodate is an 1" one! (which is yet much smaller than a 4/3 sensor anyway, but without SR anymore as it is just too tight now.) As for a 1/1.6", I am almost sure that it is just an "easy task", without any doubt! And, most possibly, a 1/1.6" sensor and size has already been planned (for)! :-D

Hey, fellow Pentaxians, do you feel easier and more comfortable now?! ;-p


Read Also:-

How to Make the Pentax Q Looks Better?

The Pentax Q Announced!

Nikon Mirrorless Would be in 2.6X. So, Pentax Will Win..!

Comparison of Sensor Specs - 645D Against Others

100% Bingo! I Derived Exactly Correctly for the 645D Actual Sensor Size!

Sensor Size of the 645D (and More Technical Talks on DSLR Form Factors)

Comments (10)

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... but is the imaging circle of the lenses calculated for a bigger sensor? HM...
1 reply · active 715 weeks ago
I believe so! Otherwise why the "02" standard kit zoom needed to be made so large. In fact, it is not much smaller than the m4/3 3X 14 to something counterparts.
Florian Kacic's avatar

Florian Kacic · 715 weeks ago

...or even bigger than 1" if you place sensor in portrait mode :D
Rice, how does the 1/2.3" backlight CMOS compares with 1/1.6" CCD (like those in LX5/G12) ?
Seems like the backlight technology may only work for the smaller sensor.
I raised the same question here http://www.dchome.net/viewthread.php?tid=1040533&...

Someone has posted a QE vs pixel pitch curve, but I would like to hear about your opinion on that.

Thank you

Vincent
1 reply · active 715 weeks ago
Read my latest posted article and see if it sheds some light to you on the topic (which is interesting enough and thanks for the initiation).
If Q is the response to prosumer market, I feel that Pentax do it right.
Hi Rice, I have another question about this Q-mount. What is the chance that adapter can be made to fit C-mount lens like below onto the P-Q ?http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/341297-REG/Pentax_C60812_C60812_8mm_to_48mm.html
2 replies · active less than 1 minute ago
My thought exactly.....I think for this to be a success, having the ability to use C and CS mount lenses on it. THey are cheap, a lot of them out there, and make for some interesting shooting..
C mount lenses have an image circle that is large enough to cover the m4/3 lenses but they have a back focus register distance of 17.526mm. As the back focus register distance of the Q mount is unknown, the adaptability is just uncertain at this stage.

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