Pentax Q Operation

Pentax Q Modes and Menus

Pentax Q Capture Modes

When powered on, the camera is automatically placed into Record mode. The Mode dial on top of the camera sets the main shooting mode, with the following options:

 Auto Picture mode: Recognized scene types include Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Night Scene Portrait, Sunset, Blue Sky, and Forest.

 Scene mode: Options are: Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Moving Object, Night Scene Portrait, Sunset, Blue Sky, Night Scene, Night Scene HDR, Night Snap, Food, Quick Macro, Pet, Kids, Forest, Surf & Snow, HDR, Backlight Silhouette, Candlelight, Stage Lighting, and Museum.

 Blur Control mode: Attempts to simulate the shallow depth-of-field effect of a large-sensor camera. Three strength levels are offered.

 Program mode: Includes a Program Shift function to bias the overall exposure towards your desired shutter speed / aperture, if using a lens with built-in shutter. Can also be configured to switch to full Shutter-priority or Aperture-priority shooting, instead of using Program Shift. Green button resets to metered exposure. Toy and Fish-eye lenses, which lack a built-in shutter and have a fixed aperture, don't offer Program Shift or Priority shooting, but shutter speed can be biased by adjusting ISO sensitivity.

 Shutter Priority mode: Abbreviated as "Tv" for Time value. Shutter speeds range from 1/2,000 to 30 seconds if the attached lens has a built-in shutter. Toy and Fish-eye lenses lack this, and have a fixed aperture. For these lenses, shutter speeds are 1/8,000 to 30 seconds, and the shutter speed cannot be adjusted manually, but can be biased by adjusting ISO sensitivity.

 Aperture Priority mode: Abbreviated as "Av" for Aperture value. Toy and Fish-eye lenses have a fixed aperture.

 Manual mode: Includes Bulb mode, albeit limited to 32 seconds and ISO 1,600. Green button can reset shutter speed, aperture, or both to the metered value. Bulb mode isn't available when shooting with Toy or Fish-eye lenses, which have a fixed aperture, and the slowest shutter speed with these is limited to two seconds.

 Movie mode: Allows either Program or Manual exposure, and both Custom Image and Digital Filter functions are available for video shooting. Shutter speed range is 1/30 to 1/8,000 second, and the lens aperture is fixed with Toy or Fish-eye lenses.

Playback Mode

The Playback button on the top panel accesses Playback mode, where you can review captured images. The left and right arrow keys scroll forward and backward one image at a time, while the down key calls up the Playback Mode palette, from which you can edit and develop images, view side-by-side comparisons, etc. By rolling the E-dial to the right, you can enlarge captured images, while rolling it to the left displays them first in index format, then grouped by folder. You can select the number of thumbnails to display in the index, or alternatively, select a calendar view.

Pentax Q Menu Details

Pressing the Menu button provides access to the camera's full menu system. The following options are available in most camera modes as menu tabs at the top of the display:

Record Menu 1:

Record Menu 2:

Record Menu 3:

Movie Menu:

Playback Menu:

Setup Menu 1:

Setup Menu 2:

Setup Menu 3:

Custom Menu 1:

Custom Menu 2: