Pentax debuts compact Optio Z10, S10 cameras

Pentax on Wednesday announced two digital compact cameras including the 8-megapixel Optio Z10 with a 7X optical zoom lens and the small, stylish 10.0 megapixels Optio S10 (pictured at right). The Pentax Optio Z10 offers a 7X optical zoom lens, the highest magnification among current Pentax compact digital camera models. The camera is designed with a refraction lens system so the lens never protrudes from the camera while zooming; it covers a broad range, from wide-angle to telephoto zoom, and offers an ultra high-magnification of up to approximately 35.7X when combined with digital zoom. Delivering 8.0 megapixel resolution, the Optio Z10 also features high speed detection time Face Recognition for improved portraits and digital Shake Reduction that allows ISO to 3200 to capture sharper images in low light settings. The sleek, stylish Pentax Optio Z10 body design also features a sliding lens cover for extra protection that also operates the on/off camera setting.

The Optio Z10 zoom lens covers focal lengths from 6.3 to 44.1mm (equivalent to 38-266mm for 35mm format) and is compatible with SD memory cards and SDHC memory cards. The camera offers 52MB of built-in-memory and is equipped with a Face Recognition AF&AE function that automatically adjusts the focus and sets the exposure. In addition, this function can detect the faces of up to 15 people at once, and the detection time has been reduced to approximately 0.03 seconds at minimum. The Optio Z10 also features a high resolution 2.5-inch LCD monitor with approximately 230,000 pixels and a wide viewing angle of 170 degrees.

Stylish Pentax Optio S10

On Wednesday, Pentax also announced the stylish Pentax Optio S10 compact digital camera with 10.0 effective megapixels. Billed as one of the smallest, lightest 10-megapixel digital cameras in the world, the latest model in the popular Pentax Optio S series offers digital Shake Reduction and a high-speed Face Recognition AF&AE function for fast, high-quality portraits. Pentax noted that the Optio S10 is the seventh DivX Certified digital camera from the company. With new digital Shake Reduction technology, the DivX format enables users to create high-quality video files that can be played back on a wide variety of DivX DVD players and other devices. It captures movies at 30 fps (frames per second) at sizes up to 640x480 pixels with "image quality rivaling camcorders," according to the company. (Movie playback, however, is not supported on Macintosh.)

The S10 offers 22MB of built-in memory and is also compatible with both D memory cards and SDHC memory cards. It integrates FotoNation's red-eye compensation function for flash shots and delivers support PictBridge, DPOF functions, Exif Print, and PRINT Image Matching III.

Both cameras are priced at $250 and are expected to ship in September. The Pentax Optio S10 will be available exclusively at Wal-Mart Stores in the United States.