Pentax has added two new compacts to its Optio line-up.
First off the blocks comes the M20, a 7MP model designed to meet the needs of everyday family snappers. The camera features a 7MP CCD, 2.5-inch LCD and 3x optical zoom. Additional handy features include an Auto Tracking Auto Focus function, Face Recognition AF and AE and a new blur reduction mode that ustilizes higher shutter speeds and sensitivity up to ISO1600 for crisper shots.
An Auto Picture mode is also on hand that enables the camera to automatically determine the shooting conditions for Landscape, Portrait, Night Scene, and Program modes and choose the optimum settings for each subject.
A further new model comes in the shape of the Optio A20, a compact camea that features a 10MP 1/1.8-inch CCD and shake reduction technology. As part of Pentax?s premium A series, the camera offers three types of image stabilisation, including CCD shift, increased shutter speeds and ISO modes and shake reduction for movie mode.
In addition the compact offers 3x optical zoom, a 2.5-inch LCD and manual exposure modes. A smc PENTAX zoom lens provides optical capabilities while a new ASIC processing chip is on hand for image processing. This latter addition claims higher levels of tone reproduction and colour correction based on data from hundreds of real photos.
Hitting stores this Autumn, the Optio A20 will be priced around £279 and go on sale from early October. The M20 arrives in September at a guide price of between £229 and £249. Visit www.pentax.co.uk for full details.