pentax

Pentax has been really busy this last year. First they celebrated the legacy of their K-series cameras with the K100 and K110 dSLRs, then they unleashed the powerful K10D, now they have unveiled a new line of high performance lenses called the smc Pentax-DA* series. The line debuts with two lenses: the DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL[IF]SDM and the DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 ED[IF]SDM. Pentax won't say what the SDM stands for, but the press release does say that the lenses include a supersonic motor. The samples we saw at the PMA … Read more

Less than a month after their last announcement, Pentax has unveiled two new cameras. The Pentax Optio A30 and the W30 are two compact cameras that respectively offer high-resolution and waterproof shooting.

The Optio A30 is an ultracompact camera that packs a 10-megapixel sensor into a metal body that's just 0.9 inch thick. It uses a fairly standard 3x, 38-to-114mm-equivalent lens with Pentax's Enhanced Shake Reduction digital image stabilization. The camera includes a wide variety of features and modes, including a face-recognizing autofocus and autoexposure mode, a manual exposure mode for more advanced users, and a 30fps … Read more

Pentax announced two new 7-megapixel digital cameras for the spring, the Optio T30 and M30. The high-end T30 sports a 3-inch touch screen as its biggest feature, while the more conventional M30's appeal is in its solid feature set and much smaller price tag.

The Optio T30's touch-screen LCD functions much like the Sony Cyber Shot DSC-T50's, with most settings and features accessible through the touch screen's menus instead of buttons. It also includes a basic paint mode, for editing and drawing on images in the camera itself. Besides the touch screen, the T30 includes face-recognition … Read more

Joining the fray of announcements preceding next week's Consumer Electronics Show, the new 7.1 megapixel Optio E30 compact camera has been announced by Pentax. With a 3x optical, 36mm-to-108mm (35mm equivalent), f/2.7 to f/4.8 zoom lens and a 2.4-inch LCD screen, the Optio E30 is geared toward the general snap-shooter audience. According to Pentax, the camera can shoot up to 760 shots when powered by a pair of Lithium AA batteries, 550 shots with NiMH AA batteries, or 200 shots with alkaline AA batteries. The Optio E30 records images and video clips (up … Read more

Just before Christmas, Hoya and Pentax quietly announced plans to merge their companies into a new entity to be called Hoya Pentax HD Corporation. The deal--which the official announcement is calling "a management integration of the two companies"--is expected to be completed on October 1, 2007. Fumio Urano, currently president and CEO of Pentax, will become chairman of the board of Hoya Pentax HD, while Hiroshi Suzuki, currently president and CEO of Hoya, will be the new company's president and CEO.

In the USA, Hoya is best known for its filters for SLR and video camera … Read more

What is it about anniversaries that makes companies lose all sense of good taste? (If they had any to begin with, that is.) Throw in the term "limited edition" and things are certain to get ugly in a hurry.

Case in point: Pentax's "Asahi LX Gold," to celebrate its 60th year in business. But it didn't stop at the camera's 18k casing--Pentax had to add crocodile-print leather as well, presumably because it needed that extra something to finish it off. Luxist says the camera isn't just all about show and features the &… Read more