Today, Pentax announced a new D-SLR, the K10D, which is the company’s first D-SLR to include a 10.2MP CCD sensor. With such a high megapixel count, Pentax’s K10D joins three other recent consumer-grade 10MP D-SLRs: the Nikon D80, Sony Alpha A100, and Canon Rebel XTi.

Although Pentax has attempted to differentiate the K10D, it doesn’t stand out all that much from the other three, although it’s certainly a competitive product. It includes 11 AF points, a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, has a top ISO sensitivity of ISO 1600, shoots at 3 frames per second, and includes an SD card slot for SD memory cards. Some of the newer technologies the company has built into the camera include a Shake Reduction system, an image-stabilization technology that counteracts camera shake (which causes blurry photos) by oscillating the CCD. In this respect, it’s similar to the Sony Alpha A100 (which continues the Konica Minolta sensor-based image stabilization).

Also, the K10D uses a Dust Removal system, a feature found on Olympus D-SLRs, the Alpha A100 and on the new Canon Rebel XTi. In addition, it will have a weather-resistant body that the company claims will allow photographers to shoot in dusty or rainy environments.

The camera is scheduled to ship in November of this year and will list for just under $1,000 with the 18-to-55-mm DA zoom lens ($900 without it), making it slightly cheaper than the Nikon D80, around the same price as the Sony Alpha A100, and more expensive than the Canon Rebel XTi.

Along with the new D-SLR, Pentax has also announced a new point-and-shoot digital camera: the Optio T20, a 7MP ultracompact digital camera with a 3-inch touch screen LCD. One nifty feature is that users can decorate images with drawings, stamps, picture frames, and more using an included stylus and the camera’s My Drawing mode. In addition, there are 12 more traditional shooting modes, such as Portrait, Landscape, Flower, and Night Scene. The camera will also have video capabilities (VGA at 30 fps) along with a built-in movie-editing function.

Look for the Optio T20 to be available for around $350 in October 2006.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 15th, 2006 at 1:12 pm and is filed under Digital Camera. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.