(UPDATED with lens specs) Pentax mirrorless system with ultratiny sensor (5.6x crop)!
Pictured above. The old analogue Auto 110.
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It’s not a secret anymore that Pentax will announce their new mirrorless system in March (Updated, it’s May!) And as Mr. Hamada from Hoya-Pentax said a while ago: “we would like to release products with an individuality that shines through“.
The biggest challenge for all mirrorless system is to find the right balance between size (as tiny as possible) and image quality (sensor size). So what is Pentax going to do?
According to our sources Pentax wanted to create a sort of digital version of the popular and very tiny Pentax Auto 110. That’s why the new system will use a 5.6x crop sensor! By comparison: Micro Four Thirds uses a 2x crop sensor and Sony/Samsung are using 1.5x crop sensors. Note that there are rumors saying that Nikon will also use a very small sensor for their mirrorless system. Pentax made a very risky but also intriguing choice! We have been reported that the camera is much smaller than the current smallest mirrorless body (which is the Sony NEX-3/5).
The sensor itself has 14 Megapixel which can record HD h.264 movies. May this is a coincidence only but the new Kenko mirrorless system uses a 14 Megapixel 1/2,33″ (crop factor 5,6). Will Kenko and Pentax share the same sensor?
What about lenses? For now we only know that two lenses will be announced along the camera and that three more will be launched by end of the year.
UPDATE: We just got the lens specs! There will be a prime 8.5mm f/1.9 (almost 50mm equivalent) and a zoom 5-15mm f/2.8-4.5 (28-80mm equivalent)!
In Summary:
- One camera (Pentax NC-1?) and two lenses will be announced in May.
- 8.5mm f/1.9 (almost 50mm equivalent) and a zoom 5-15mm f/2.8-4.5 (28-80mm equivalent)
- New mount
- 5.6x crop 14 Megapixel sensor (Sensor size around 1/2.33″)
- HD h.264 recording
- smaller than NEX body
- hot shoe
- Three more lenses to be announced later (very likely in September 2011)
As soon as we have more info we will post them here on mirrorlessrumors. Also Nikon,Panasonic, Olympus and Sony will release new products within the next three months! So stay tuned! Do not miss any of our future rumors and news:
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The Mirrorlessrumors guys!
P.S.: We published the rumor one hour earlier before of the end of the countdown. We didn’t want to make you suffer to much! 
Toomas Kadarpik
3 years ago |Why not, I would like to carry miniature camera with me with all controls. NEX is nice thing but the lenses are too large, same words for 4/3. With android phone inside it would be even better and with some pancake lens …. Technically it should allow to shoot under normal office and home lighting and provide also RAW format and all manual controls and ext flash interface.
If there is no phone inside, I hope they will add bluetooth or wi-fi soon to communicate without SD card interface. Because such camera is more social than DSLR is now.
Compacts are nice but they are incredibly slow in all ways I look, Canon G11 among them and there is no lenses to chose from. Moreover compacts would not last if you use them to shoot one thousand photos and then another 1000. All my Canons have sensors broken after warranty, I have 3 of them.
JesperMP
3 years ago |C-mount lenses have an image circle that would fit an m43 sized sensor.
Using C-mount lenses with a 1/2.3″ sensor means most of the image circle goes to waste. Just doesnt make sense.
A slightly smaller sensor than m43 would be another story.
An “auto 110″ mount would be a fine historic return. The 110 film format almost equals an m43 sensor.
at
3 years ago |You are wrong, there are different C-mount machine vision/FA or CCTV lenses designed for 1/3″, 1/2″, 2/3″, 1″ and some actually designed for 1.3″ or 4/3″ sensors (released by Schneider Optics and coming soon by Kowa). Lenses designed for smaller sensors will usually cheaper as well because of its limitation on optical resolution. Buying C-mount lenses designed for the right sensor will not be a waste.
NoName
3 years ago |Finally. A system camera with worse image quality than new and upcoming smartphones.
But of course the whole thing is just a silly rumour with no truth whatsoever.
openyourap
3 years ago |Let’s not get too carried away with negativity. . .yet.
This is, after all, just the first of two.
Imagine they put out this first camera with C mount registration distance, but have a bayonet mount with a much larger flange throat.
That would allow for a larger sensor (APS-C) in the second camera, while maintaining c-mount lens compatibility, having a single new mount and making for easier backwards compatibility with K and other full frame lens mounts.
at
3 years ago |I doubt whether sensor-shift image stabilization will be implemented because many Pentax DC do not have optical or mechanical image stabilization at all.
Mal
3 years ago |I don’t understand why anyone would want a system camera that has less performance than current P&S cameras. Until they produce lenses (and sensors) that outperform cameras like the Olympus XZ-1 with an f1.8 lens and 28-112 zoom, then these miniature system cameras don’t serve much purpose.
Answering my own question, perhaps it could be useful for people that want a shirt or shorts pocketable camera that can take a wide angle image wider than 24-28mm, something that is not currently available in P&S cameras? The market does not seem big enough to warrant the trouble though.
If pocketability is the key issue here, then it is going to be interesting to see how Pentax implement this camera. My guess is that they will need to implement collapsing lenses that collapse back into a very thin body, much like fixed lens P&S cameras do now, or the whole point of being small enough for a pocket will be lost.
Personally I would like to see Olympus do more work on their collapsing lenses so they can make an EPL3 with collapsed lens about the same size as their XZ-1
openyourap
3 years ago |Precisely zero Pentax DC lenses have stabilization, which is why they WOULD be likely to have sensor shift.
Zaph
3 years ago |“Personally I would like to see Olympus do more work on their collapsing lenses so they can make an EPL3 with collapsed lens about the same size as their XZ-1″
Me too. Why haven’t they done that yet?
WT21
3 years ago |Most of the image circle on a c-mount lens is garbage, so it’s actually not “wasted” unless you wanted really soft corners, which sometimes you might.
bob
3 years ago |Who is the author of this crazy rumor? Should we trust him?
There is no point making a camera smaller than giving it a 1″ mount (CS mount size). That’s tiny already. The Auto 100 which the rimor says is the original to be copied has a mount about this diameter too.
The Auto 110 is a crop 2.0x camera (like FT) and the Pentax C/CS lenses for 2/3″ specify a FoV which horizontally is exactly 50% of 2/3″, corresponding to a crop factor of 4.0x and some 1″ C lenses almost go up to 2.0x crop.
So, if Auto 110 is 2x crop and C mount is about 3x crop then I don’t see why to assume that Pentax would plan to release a 5.6x crop camera (1/2″ C mount). Just doesn’t make sense. Except of course they need a still body for thier $12,000 C61233WP lens which is 1/2″ only
JesperMP
3 years ago |@at
OK my bad. My knowledge about C-mount was limited to those I have seen fitted to GH1 and NEX.
Still dosnt change my opinion about the sensibility of it all.
A mount an sensor size that has some heritage with Auto 110 could have potential. Same as Olympus that exploit the “pen” heritage to the max.
mochapaulo
3 years ago |The world of C-mount lens is complicated. Especially it is divided into C and CS system. CS is mainly produced for lower budget surveillance setup which several manufacturers make this kind of lenses such as D.O. Industrial, Edmund Optics, Kowa, Fujinon, Navitar, Pentax (Tokina), Panasonic, Tamron, Samsung and tons of made in China products. The price is vary and depends on the spec and the resolution resolving power for specific function. In fact, we may be open mind to this small sensor system because 1/2.33″ means some 1/2 and 1/3 CS lens can be used. For example, Fujinon has a manual focus and aperture CS lens with 2.8-9mm f/0.95 which roughly produces 18-54mm FOV equivalent to the 35mm system in extreme large aperture. I know the DOF is not comparable but there is no such a DC produced in such an attractive specification!
In fact, lot of C/CS mount lens are underrated. If you have met their 1.3″ Xenoplan C-mount series of Schneider, you might be shocked by its ultra sharpness and color rendition. There is also other choices such as Pentax 25mm f/1.4. I believe it should be produced anyway but the last question is will Pentax adjust the price to an acceptable level. If the price is as low as a Yashica EZ-f521, there may be another miracle for the camera industry.
MP Burke
3 years ago |It’s a pity that Pentax have chosen such a small sensor. The film format of the old Auto 110 was nearly the same size as four thirds but the camera was very basic, few controls and the add on flash and motor wind made the camera much bigger.
So I presume Pentax has looked at the sales of Sony NEX and decided that the public wants tiny cameras with interchangable lenses and then gone for the tiny sensor.
A couple of years ago Fuji made a superzoom (S100fs I think) which is possibly the last camera made with the 2/3 inch format. If somebody had brought out an interchangable lens camera with that sensor size a few years ago when I had my old Minolta 7i camera, I would have been interested.
The Pentax may turn out to be the thing that micro four thirds users have been looking for, a camera with a small sensor that they can look down on!
bob
3 years ago |It’s a joke…
kligis
3 years ago |If this will turn out to be true many pentaxians intending to complement their DSLR gear with a compact EVIL will be driven into the arms of panasonic, olympus & co. But anyway…these are just rumors.
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