It's official, vintage digital compacts are trending (Petapixel)

boojum said:
I guess I had better charge the batteries and dust off the old Pentax Q S1, complete with short and long zoom plus a "standard" 50mm equivalent. It takes good pictures and movies. What's not to like?

Judy is pissed the BBQ joint is not fancy. The food was good.

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Here's the manufacturer's blurb on the camera:

Manufacturer description: The PENTAX Q-S1 is the latest addition to the popular PENTAX Q series of compact-sized, interchangeable-lens digital cameras. The camera is equipped with a wide range of features to make photography more enjoyable, including a 12.4 megapixel, back-illuminated CMOS image sensor to deliver high-quality images, high-sensitivity shooting to a top sensitivity of ISO 12800, and a reliable shake-reduction system using a state-of-the-art gyro sensor. It also provides a variety of creative tools, such as bokeh control and Smart Effect to add the desired filters with just a simple turn of a dial.

I got it for cheap. They range from ~$200 to ~$900 now. The sensor size is larger than the M8 (10.3) and smaller than the M9 (18). It has a good image. With the lens off it easily fits in one pocket and the lens in the other. With the lens on it will fit in a large pocket or a jacket pocket.

I'm putting the batteries in the charger. There is no excuse for not always having this along. ;o)

Here is another example of what this tiny camera can do. It punches well above its weight. Here is Santa Takes a Trip:

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And here is what we are talking about: Yes, the flash is built in.

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Of course it takes good pictures—it's a Pentax!
 
JeffS7444 said:
The new Japanese-market leader in compact cameras is ... Kodak?!
Kodak Cameras With Decade-Old Tech are Outselling All Others in Japan

I purchased a refurbished Kodak FZ45 several years ago @ ~40 USD, and thought it was a solid offering for the price. Film-like, or "retro", not so much, except in the sense that all standalone cameras have become retro. Sony's Cyber-Shot DSC-W800 and W830 are logical alternatives, if you can find one. They're still listed on the Sony USA web site and perhaps dribbled out occasionally, just as they've done with the RX1R II, which was originally released more than 7 years ago.
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The current youth market may see these old P&S cameras as a bridge between their phones and a more technical camera. It is almost as small as a phone and it is a distinct camera. Impress your friends, buy a camera! ;o)
 
AAlfano said:
Not sure buying a digital point and shoot with a high failure rate after 10+ years is much of a rebellion against relentless technical advancement and planned obsolescence. If someone likes the pictures from these cameras, more power to them, but if you want to rebel against planned obsolescence then buy something built to last a lifetime and work indefinitely (with reasonable service) like a Leica M or a Nikon F. You can buy a Pentax Spotmatic or K1000 or many other good reliable film cameras for less (with a lens) than what these digital ticking time bombs are going for today.
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Well I never said their motivations were logical - they're just what I've heard expressed. However the same demographic is also famously fond of vintage mechanical film cameras like the ones you mention and for much of the same reasons.
 
If I came of age during the "smart" [device] era, I wonder if I would crave activities not built around an app, or some mega corporation's "ecosystem", at least not their current ecosystem.
 
In the right hands these "antique" P&S digitals can give surprisingly good results.

In 2008 I was loaned one to take to Bali. I've forgotten its exact details but it was a Kodak one with a (made in Germany) Schneider lens, so likely either 6.1 MP or 7.1 MP. As the friend who owned it told me, you will get good quality A4 prints with it if you put a little effort into it.

Memories fail me here, but at the time I was still into film, so I also took along either a Nikkormat FT2 or a Contax G1 kit, most likely the latter. I photographed Hindu ceremonies and temples with that digital Kodak, which given its reasonable size triggered something in my psyche that made me more adventurous in image-making than with my film camera.

The images from it were amazingly good. Its scope was quite limited, only barely passable in cloudy or shade conditions but okay for bright sun, and Bali has a lot of that. Back then one could still sell an occasional image taken in Bali, unlike now where you can't even give them away. Anyway, to my great surprise I sold a few taken with the Kodak. I look at them now and then and am impressed at how sharp are those images, and how good the colors and mid-tones.

That camera made me rethink my position on film vs digital. I held out for a couple of years until 2009 when Nikon released the D90 and then took the plunge.

Not sure what happened to that small Kodak, my friend is no longer around for me to ask. I do wish I had one now to carry with me, altho' my circa 2009-2010 Lumix GF1 with the 14-42 kit lens more than suffices on those occasional occasions I take it out for street images.
 
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Here is a Pentax S-Q1 shot of an old school. Here in the PNW we are famous for odd places and odd names. This old school is in Skamokawa, WA. The population is listed as less than 500 so it is no garden spot. Flat land is rare around here. If it is flat it is likely fill and unstable when things start to shake.

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boojum said:
Here is a Pentax S-Q1 shot of an old school. Here in the PNW we are famous for odd places and odd names. This old school is in Skamokawa, WA. The population is listed as less than 500 so it is no garden spot. Flat land is rare around here. If it is flat it is likely fill and unstable when things start to shake.

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Nice image, boojum. Not too sharp, for me the sharpness is exactly right. Very nostalgic memories for me, of my years growing up in eastern Canada, many such buildings were around then and I wish I'd had the nous to go around and photograph them. My one and only 'negative' thought here is the heating bill in winter for this hacienda could bankrupt its new owner...
 
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Guth said:
Is there anything being sold today that has not experienced an increase in value over the past few years? (Or in popularity for that matter?) What I found interesting is the comments of those much younger than myself referring to these early digicams in such nostalgic terms. In reality, this is not unlike the way I look so many different things that I enjoyed in my youth and still enjoy now much later in my life — from cars with manual transmissions to film cameras, from manual typewriters to vinyl LP's, so on and so forth. While pining for the days of early digicams with their sensors of only a few megapixels seems kind of funny to me, it's all relative. Anything that manages to get people away from their smartphones is a good thing in my opinion.

I captured the first few years of my son's life on film using my rangefinder. After my wife and I decided to move to Oregon and my son had grown a bit older, we were continually on the go. I ended up buying a little Canon Digital ELPH, model SD400. The very small size made it incredibly convenient to haul along with us wherever we went and the digital images were equally convenient to email to family and friends located elsewhere around the country. Given my needs at that point in time, it actually served its purpose well. The thing that drove me crazy about the SD400 was the shutter lag — it was horrendous. Even when taking simple snapshots it was very irritating.

I can't recall exactly what happened to the little SD400, but I believe that it developed some sort of a problem. I went on to buy a Canon SD880is to replace it and later on I bought a Canon G10 — both of which I've used in recent years. Though they didn't fit the mold of the cameras discussed in the original article, they too served me well. Fortunately I hung on to my film gear and have been enjoying it once again for a number of years now. This is where my enjoyment in photography is primarily coming from these days. Be they film cameras or digital cameras (with a few megapixels or a lot), I still like the idea of using dedicated cameras to capture moments in time and I'm glad that others do as well.
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Ah, the Canon G10. I bought one new when they came out in Australia (as I recall, late 2009). Kept it and used it for five years and it gave me maybe as many acceptable images. Everything I photographed came out rock-sharp but the colors were all over the place and the mid-tones stank and tonal obsessive as I am I disliked that camera but I persevered with it, uselessly. Several others I know did well with the G10 and one friend even sold images taken with it, so probably mine was a dud from day one. Or the photographer...

Mid-2010s those Canons became the latest fashionista item and I sold it for close to what I had paid for it. One of the few times I made money on a camera sale. (Sold privately, not on Ebay.)

I still reckon the P&S Kodak I took to Bali in 2008 (see my previous post about this camera) was the best small digital I ever had. Borrowed and not owned, unfortunately, or I likely would still have it and use it to this day. So I now make do with a Lumix GF1. No complaints about that, but as an age pensioner I have to watch my money now so I'm unlikely to be investing in any more antiquated photo-machines.
 
DownUnder said:
Nice image, boojum. Not too sharp, for me the sharpness is exactly right. Very nostalgic memories for me, of my years growing up in eastern Canada, many such buildings were around then and I wish I'd had the nous to go around and photograph them. My one and only 'negative' thought here is the heating bill in winter for this hacienda could bankrupt its new owner...
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We seldom see frost here. Summers rarely exceed 80F. Heating that school when it was a school was a stove with wood most likely as we have a lot of it. Central gas air might be steep. It is probably heated only when in use and the rest of the time at 45F or so. My guess.
 
Here is what the little Q-S1 can do with its prime "normal" equivalent of a 50mm lens. These are wild peas just over the bridge on the Washington side from a year or so back. The peas themselves are hardly bigger than a BB (0.177cal, 4.5mm). They do taste just like their larger cousins.

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The Pentax Qs are awesome little cameras. This is uncropped from a Q-S1.

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With their short flange focal distance you can adapt a ton of C mount lenses to them as well. A fun one is a Fuji fisheye you can get out of an old security camera for little money on ebay.

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boojum said:
Here is what the little Q-S1 can do with its prime "normal" equivalent of a 50mm lens. These are wild peas just over the brodge on the Washignton side from a year or so back.

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The prime 01 on the Q-S1 is actually equivalent to a 39mm. It was a 50 (47mm actually) on the original Q and Q10, the Q7 and Q-S1 had a larger sensor that changed the crop factor.
 
shawn said:
The prime 01 on the Q-S1 is actually equivalent to a 39mm. It was a 50 (47mm actually) on the original Q and Q10, the Q7 and Q-S1 had a larger sensor that changed the crop factor.
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OK, thanks for that info. And that puts us into the 40 - 43 mm "natural" focal length discussion. All roads lead to Q-S1. LOL
 
JohnGellings said:
How do you explain the popularity of cameras like the Fujifilm X100V and VI and Ricoh GRIII(x)? I don't think we can lump all young people together. This isn't mainstream stuff we are talking about.
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Ultimately marketing, same as ever. On YouTube there's lots of posts showing really cool people telling us in detail about what products they personally think are cool. There are exceptions of course, but we're talking here about the mainstream. And you're right, age does not have any effect on the topic one way or the other so I had no need to mention it.
 
ddutchison2 said:
Ultimately marketing, same as ever.
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Seems too easy to me. I mean, if it was just marketing, certainly they can fool everyone with any of these modern cameras that are out there. When people say it is marketing, it generally means people are being duped. However, why are these two compacts super hot? Especially the GR series. Ricoh / Pentax do not market the GR series in the USA at all really. Of course social media is to blame, but it's been years now. People get caught up in the hype, but usually hype doesn't last that long. My theory is that these cameras are actually special and actually live up to the hype if you know what you are doing.
 
I agree but also who else is doing anything in the compact camera category? When was the last time Sony updated the RX100 series? What was the last high end Canon Powesrshot? Panasonic? Olympus? Really I think it’s that Fuji and Ricoh are the last ones standing in the enthusiast compact category.
 
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