AF and low light performance in real use

) (Full disclosure : I did this all because I knew it would be a great place to test the Q7 for the camera enthusiasts out there; Imagine having to put myself through this...

Robot Restaurant (Kabukicho)

OTT!

My cousin (who lives in Tokyo) was pretty enthusiastic about bringing me to this place.His words, then he went on describing the place in sketchy detail.he said.I just picked up on the key words that he had just spoken...I was unsure if a serious looking camera would be allowed in Kabukicho and more so in a club, so I opted to play safe that day and just brought the Q7 with me.Well it certainly sort of describes this place.At a cost of US$215 million to setup, I think the bill from the massive amounts of LED and large LCD panels itself would already cost the cover charge earnings per night.Before the show when everyone was seated, an announcement was made that serious cameras would not be allowed (and "no closeups of the performers" .. ok, I did not plan on going there anyway.. )I was a bit apprehensive, cause I was banking on a 2 day old camera to cut the cake.Would it? ? or had I just wasted money and time for the performance on blind faith.......Soon the lights went out and the show started.....Call to the warriors; Robot Restaurant; Kabukicho; Pentax Q7; 01 primeGiant Robots and pretty ladies; Robot Restaurant; Kabukicho; Pentax Q7; 01 primeWhat followed was a miasma of music, dance, lights, costumes, robots.I took shot after shot in the low rapidly changing lights.Sometimes it was quite dark, other times, it was spot lit.The Q7 pressed on, without a sweat.The fast AF was impressive.I need not say more about it (the lighting conditions from the shots speak for themselves)Can't complain about the metering too, which I must say was darn good imho (I basically kept a -0.7 bias on Tv mode since I did not need to expose for the blacks)Sound and Sight; Robot Restaurant; Kabukicho; Pentax Q7; 01 primeKnowing that the movement of the performers would mean that I could not rely on Av mode with auto ISO.I kept the camera in Tv mode (1/80 to 1/100s at -0.7ev metering bias) and let the camera do the rest.The good AF and metering, coupled with good DOF from the small sensor plus the ability to use a high quality fast f1.9 prime was reassuring.I shot in RAW (the only time I bothered to on the Q7 for this whole trip), knowing that I would need the little bit extra mileage RAW would give in such challenging conditions.Generally, I must say that small sensor cameras have come such a long way in most practical aspects of photo taking.I still remember my early digicams and even early DSLR which could not even give a reasonable photo from ISO1600 and up (no photo, not even a smeared painting representation)Nowadays, its almost a wonder what a small camera can do (and it can even change lenses for other photographic options)