Pentax MX-1 : Tests and Reviews
Pentax MX-1 Review
Pentax MX-1 review: High-end compact with retro appeal delivers competitive sensor performance
Introduction Released just a month after being announced at CES, the Pentax MX-1 enters an extremely competitive enthusiast compact camera market, which has heated up significantly after being dominated by Canon and Panasonic for years. Unlike Pentax’s first foray into the interchangeable lens compact camera market, the Pentax Q, which sported an above-average price with a smaller-than-average sensor relative to its interchangeable lens peers, the MX-1 sports specs that are right on the money for its $499.95 price tag and high-end point-and-shoot market. Like the Olympus XZ-2 ($599.99) and Nikon P7700 ($499.95), the Pentax MX-1 is
Pentax MX-1 side by side comparisons
Pentax MX-1 versus predecessor
Pentax MX-1 versus Canon model
Pentax MX-1 versus Nikon model
Pentax MX-1 versus Olympus model
Pentax MX-1 versus Panasonic model
Pentax MX-1 versus rival model with similar score
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Further readings for the Pentax MX-1
To provide photographers with a broader perspective about mobiles, lenses and cameras, here are links to articles, reviews, and analyses of photographic equipment produced by DxOMark, renown websites, magazines or blogs.
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Sony’s update to the Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 includes provision for a optional EVF and a useful pull-out rear LCD, but the head line news is the inclusion of a newly developed back-illuminated Exmor R BSI-CMOS sensor with superior low-light performance. Read on to see how well the new sensor performs in our labs. |
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The Pentax MX-1 is a 12MP high-end compact camera with a fast 28-112mm equivalent zoom lens - the first camera of its type that Pentax has created. With a rich history in camera design, it seems fair that Pentax would seek to recapture the two-tone camera designs of the last century with its MX-1 enthusiast compact (the MX-1 is also available in an all-black model as well). A metal top and bottom and a leather-like band around the middle provide a gripable surface as well as a classic look. Thanks to the painted brass top and bottom plates, we're told users will enjoy that old tendency toward 'brassing' exhibited in well-used vintage cameras as the MX-1 accumulates wear. We haven't yet bashed the Pentax MX-1 around enough to test this feature, but there's still time. Read the article |
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In the compact camera market manufacturers will go a long way to make their product stand out: Carl Zeiss or Leica lenses for instance offer a certain cachet. The Samsung EX2F has several features that make you want to look closer; it has a Schneider Kreuznach lens, with an f1.4 aperture. It has built in WiFi to help you share or back-up your pictures and it is housed in a chassis of magnesium alloy. Are these things enough in this very tough market sector? |
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Announced this January at CES 2013, the Pentax MX-1 is Pentax’s first foray into the relatively crowded field of high-end-compact cameras. With a 12-megapixel, 1/1.7-inch backlit CMOS sensor, the Pentax MX-1 competes directly with established high-end compacts like the Canon PowerShot S110, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, Olympus XZ-2 iHS, and Nikon Coolpix P7700 among others, many of which have already been through multiple updates and iterations. |