Remember the Pentax Q7 I bought back in Japan? I haven’t talked about it recently but I’ve been silently shooting it ever since I picked it up last December. It’s a very versatile camera, the smallest mirrorless interchangeable system around. I still go to Drink and Clicks and I thought I would cover last week’s with the Q7 since it was sorta sponsored by Pentax.

The challenge I have these days is that I shoot with so many cameras and I’ve fallen way behind in the blogging department so I don’t get to talk about all the fun gear. The Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II tends to get the most coverage since it’s my newest digital camera. But I’ll need to circle back to all the neat cameras I’m using, including a slew of film ones.

I originally got the Pentax Q7 for doing my urban HDRs. It works great for that but it’s the black and whites that I really like. I shot these photos with the Q7 in JPEG using a custom in-camera black and white preset. I’ve tweaked a few of the photos, ever so slightly, in post — all I did was brighten the shadows a tad. I used the 01 Prime Lens which gives me f1.9 at a 40mm equivalent.

You may recall back in February, I also shot a Drink and Click with this camera. Last week’s performance didn’t disappoint. While I also shot my Olympus E-M5 Mark II, today it’s all about the Pentax. Perhaps I’ll sneak in some Olympus photos in a future post.

Jessica from Pentax brought the entire line but it was the medium format digital 645Z that was the most popular. I opted not to shoot it. I figured I might be able to borrow one in the future, when I was in the mood and I wanted others to get their chance. I had my own Pentax for the night anyway and many were curious about my small Q7.

Just by chance I ended up at a table with a whole bunch of Olympus shooters. Jerry, the owner of Precision Camera was playing with the E-M5 Mark II, I had mine, Kelly, pictured above, was shooting hers. A bit later, Brett and Charles from Olympus also showed up. All told we had like 5 OM-Ds around. Not that it mattered. I think you know that I like and shoot a lot of different brands.

Pentax hired Kasey, a professional model for the event. She probably thought it was weird that I was shooting with such a small camera. I’m sure she did’t take me seriously but who cares. I rather enjoy flying under the radar, especially with the Q7. Look that these moody black and whites, I’m really loving it.

The Q7 also has in-body image stabilization like the E-M5 Mark II but not nearly as effective as 5 stop variety in the Olympus. I do get lucky at times as shot this at 1/10 of a second. It was dark inside this bar on Rainy Street. Even at 1/10 of second, I needed ISO 2000 at f1.9. It’s the first time I’ve been to the Bungalow. It had a nice feel to it.

At the back of that bar, there was a giant plate-glass window that made for nice reflections. The Q7 managed to hold its own and I think I captured the feel of the place.

In addition to the official models, patrons also enjoyed posing. Much of the clicking that goes on at these Drink and Click events are portraits. Sally had a nice look that worked great here.

I stayed later than usual and wrapped it up with some candid, street photography style photos. In addition to the black and whites, I really like this camera for unimposing street photography. It’s so small that most are not intimidated by it. But unlike a normal point and shoots, it has capabilities that match the larger enthusiast cameras.