Pentax Intros 2 Point-and-Shoots for CES

The Pentax Optio P70 can capture 12-megapixel images and 720p video at 15fps, with a 4x zoom, 28mm lens, and a 2.7", 230,000 LCD for $199.95. The camera will be available in silver, white or red. Aperture settings range from f/2.6 to f/5.8, which is pretty fast for a point-and-shoot lens. It also has a wide ISO range, from 64 to 6400, though ISO 3200 and 6400 are available only at 5-megapixel resolution. Pentax is also talking up their Vertical Snap Mode, which "allows for easy mobile phone style image capture", which means you can take photos using the four-way pad and OK button on the camera's rear, if you want, instead of hitting the shutter. Other handy features include smile and blink detection, image recovery to save accidentally deleted photos, and 90 decorative frames to digitally showcase your pictures. The P70 weighs a svelte 4.4 oz (125g), and measures 3.8"wide by 2.1" high and 0.8” deep (9.7 x 5.3 x 2.0 cm).

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Pentax announces limited edition white K2000

Pentax introduced a limited edition white version of their K2000 digital SLR yesterday. This camera has the exact same specs as the black K2000, except now it comes in what some are calling "Stormtrooper white". The camera will be bundled with a pair of lenses -- the F3.5-5.6, 18 - 55 mm and F4.0-5.6, 50 - 200 mm models, to be exact -- which will also have the special black and white styling. The kit will ship in February "on a very limited basis" for a price to be announced.

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Pentax Optio E60

Pentax's Optio E60 digital camera is designed for value pricing first and foremost, but still manages to fit in a fairly interesting feature set. With the combination of a ten megapixel CCD image sensor, 3x optical zoom lens and 2.4-inch LCD display, the Pentax E60 has a relatively compact body that's just 1.0" / 25mm thick. As well as providing the camera's images, the Pentax E60's 1/2.33" CCD image sensor is also used to offer a three-point contrast detection-type autofocus system.

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Pentax K2000

The Pentax K2000 digital SLR features a 10.2 effective megapixel APS-C sized CCD image sensor, which yields a 1.5x focal length multiplier for 35mm lenses, and passes its data to a Pentax Real Image Engine (PRIME) branded image processor. The imager is mounted on a moving platter, which allows the Pentax K2000 to offer in-body Shake Reduction that is compatible with the majority of lenses that can be mounted on the camera. The Pentax K2000's lens mount is compatible with K-, KA-, KAF-, KAF2- and KAF3- lenses, and is also compatible with lenses featuring SDM autofocusing, which allows for quieter and smoother focusing. The shake reduction mechanism and circuit boards have been redesigned to be more compact. This combination is surrounded by a newly designed body which is said to offer improved ergonomics - partly thanks to a new battery placement and overall more efficient internal packaging.

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Pentax K-m

Richard Butler & Lars Rehm

The fastest-growing part of the camera market is currently being powered by photographers moving from compact cameras to DSLRs. Unfortunately for manufacturers, the added competition this has attracted has seen the prices they can charge being eroded (although it could be argued that the lower prices are spurring some of that growth). Rather than trying to slash the prices on their existing, highly-featured cameras, there has been a trend towards designing simplified cameras that can be made and sold more cheaply, offering only the features that first-time DSLR users will want without appearing too intimidating.

For many years, Pentax was often in the position of offering the least-expensive DSLR on the market with some keenly-priced entry-level offerings. However, the latest generation of down-specced and aggressively-priced models from Nikon and Sony have dramatically changed the price-conscious end of the market. Pentax has clearly been watching these developments closely and has responded with this, the Pentax K-m.

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The Pentax Optio W60

The Pentax Optio W60 is meant to be your foul-weather photographic friend, oblivious to water (whether a splash or a full-on immersion) and freezing cold. You wouldn't know it at a glance, though - the 10-megapixel W60 is as sleekly styled and pocketable as any non-ruggedized compact camera. You do pay a premium price for weatherproofing, though, at $329.95. After running the camera through our complete suite of lab and field testing, we like the W60 for snowboarders and poolside pleasures, but the lack of manual controls and slow shooting performance are concerns. The full review follows.

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Pentax K20D

K20D ISO sensitivity ranges from 100 to 3200, with the ability to extend this range to a maximum of ISO 6400. Burst shooting is possible for around 36 JPEG images at three frames per second. A low-speed continuous mode offers 2.3 frames per second with unlimited burst depth in JPEG mode.

The most significant features in the K20D include:

A newly developed CMOS image sensor to bring out the optimum performance of Pentax interchangeable lenses. Featuring 14.6 effective megapixels and the latest noise-reduction technology, the K20D's sensor assures superb image quality.

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