From the Sony imx183 (SamsNXmini) up to Sony imx078 (PentaxQ, Q10) both Dima & Sony Calculation methods show a ~43% increase in Sensitivity, a ~43% increase in Sensitivity is as opening Aperture from f/5 up to ~f/4.2 ! For Q-Q10 Sony Calculations : 3574 and 3354 are averaged to 3464 value. ~> Sensor's main page for Fully Detailed informations : SensorCompare.html One can see that it's Not its Big Pixels that make the Sensitivity of a Sensor ! It's rather the Precision of 1st the Lithography process 2nd the Etching process, down to 90nm for its brother imx118, that let Sony maximising their Fill-Factor.
~> Sony imx078cqk BSI Exmor Sensor Specification Sheets to DownLoad : DownLoad the 2 Sony Specs Pages with *Digit Value zipped to imx078cqk.zip 25 years ago, you'd have to be a Fortunate Professional Researcher to get a BSI CCD sensor with High Energy Waste, and High Dark Current level, and No possibility to get the Signal Cleaned, then Digitized "on chip" : The Exmor Bonus ! Right-Click, View-Image to enlarge these DSSO pics : Deep Sky Small Objects Q10-DSSO x3pentaxforums/forums/136pentax-Q/212387-Astro-Q-club-p10 Q10-DSSO x1pentaxforums/forums/136pentax-Q/212387-Astro-Q-club-p11 Q10-DSSO x3pentaxforums/forums/136pentax-Q/212387-Astro-Q-club-p12 Q10-DSSO x2pentaxforums/forums/136pentax-Q/212387-Astro-Q-club-p13 At the end of that P.13, orio posted a nice Clownface-Eskimo-Nebula Ngc2392, Honesty forces me to say that IR-Cut Removal is Not a plus for that Blue Nebula . Drawbacks of Pentax Q-Q10, despite its 1/2.3" Fabulous imx078 BSI sensor ~ Drawbacks in yellow could certainly be Fixed by a FirmWare Hack/Update ... Please read : PentaxQ10FWdisassembly.html ~ Bulb + Manual Mode limited to 30 sec. Exposure w/ Pentax K2Q Adapter ~ ISO 1600 => Amp-Glow at the Bottom-Left of the frame + random LENR ... 2-4 min. Long Exposures at ISO 800-400 to avoid Amp-Glow and LENR ... Please read : SamsungNXminiTopIR.html ~ No way to set the LENR, Long Exposure Noise Reduction, fully ON or OFF ~ Camera Temperature Not Recorded in EXIF Data for Exposure > ~10 sec. ~ IR Remote Control doesn't work with Bulb, nor Intervalometer – Multi-Exposure Mode outputs a JPEG file, not a RAW file – No Wired Remote Control Port on Pentax Q, Q10, Q7, Qs1 – IRcut removed, the Auto/Manual-Focus doesn't work w/ 5-15 mm zoom lens ... except for subjects at (very) Short Distances. Ditto to expect from 15-45 mm – Tiny Pixels are in Love with the Highest Precision from Belt-Driven-Eq-Mount ... I only own an Old Black HEQ5, thus being forced to Trash ~50% of my subs pentaxforums.com/frms/136pentax-q/212387-astroQclub-13.html#post3274556 One, 1 arc-second = 1/1 296 000 of a Circle... IOW 1/3 600 of 1 Degree... 1 degree is ~half your thumb's nail width, your arm held out to the sky... you'll have to draw 7 200 parallel fine lines on your thumb's nail ! ... That is, looking from your arm's full length... Good luck ! . Bill Claff's Photo Dynamic Range ranking : Sony 1" BSI, Pentax Q10, Nikon 1" ... FSI, some older Classic APSc cameras, iphone7 : https://photonstophotos.net Clic Image, Ctrl+ to enlarge more . More Advantages to the Pentax Q, Q10 over other 1/2.3" BSI cameras – Q - Q10 are unique 1/2.3" BSI cam. to support Interchangeable Lenses. – K-to-Q optional Adapters open the Q & Q10 to the whole K Lens System – Q-Q10 have a 1000 mAh Battery, it lasts 1 summer night in precise conditions – the Q-10 is a CostLess camera : I bought mine for €170 in spring 2014 – the IR-Cut filter inside the Q, Q10 is Easy to Remove (read next) https://www.dpreview.com/galleries/tags/pentax-q10
IR-cut Filter removal to increase Red + IR SNR
How to Remove the IR-Cut filter from the inside of the Pentax Q / Q10 Please, don't begin doing it if you don't feel able to achieve it... It's Your Own Full Responsability to do it... Or not to... – 0) Remove the Battery and the Lens on a clean well lit clear surface... – 1) Lock the IR-Filter-Box on 4 sides with 4 bent paper-pieces... – 2) Draw 4 Lines at 1.2 mm from 4 sides of the IR-Filter-Box... ... same as the dotted-lines seen on Q10cmosIRcut.png – 3) Gently Cut the Plastic following the 4 lines... ... it's ~1 mm thick and Easy to cut. – 4) Separate and remove the Plastic Rectangle you've just cut off... – 5) Here is the IR-Cut filter, maybe you'll have to Cut a little more plastic to free it... – 6) the IR-Cut filter & its Bellows will jump out, to store in a clean paper wallet... ... to separate the Filter, Cut its Flat-Wire x2 that Powers the Piezo Element. The Density of the IR-Cut filter is about ~1.2 Ev. Careful : No things on sensor ! . Clic Image, F11 to enlarge . For those who want to replace the original IR-Cut Filter with a Clear Glass or... another IR-Cut Filter at 680 or 720 nm, here are its exact Dimensions : - Thickness : 0.6 mm - Height : 12.6 mm - Width : 13.1 mm
