Disappointed_Horse
Well-known
Of course it takes good pictures—it's a Pentax!
It's official, vintage digital compacts are trending (Petapixel)
- Thread starter JeffS7444
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Disappointed_Horse
Well-known
Some people like to take pictures with cameras that don't feel like a boat anchor around their neck.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
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)
JohnGellings
Well-known
Well, yes, but I meant in regards to image quality since young people are against clinical perfection and predictability supposedly.
Disappointed_Horse
Well-known
Ah, sorry for the flippant response. I see what you mean now. I'm way too old to be speaking for the younger generation.
ddutchison2
Well-known
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.
JeffS7444
Well-known
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.
Bolo Kukus
en vacances, en permanence
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.
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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Darthfeeble
But you can call me Steve
I had several up for sale here, sold one. I should dig them out and put them on the 'bay I suppose.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
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.
Bolo Kukus
en vacances, en permanence
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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Bolo Kukus
en vacances, en permanence
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.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
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.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
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.
shawn
Veteran
The Pentax Qs are awesome little cameras. This is uncropped from a Q-S1.
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.
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.
shawn
Veteran
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.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
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
ddutchison2
Well-known
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.
JohnGellings
Well-known
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.
Disappointed_Horse
Well-known
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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