Pentax Optio S10 and Z10 Announced

Last week, Pentax announced two new cameras. The first is the Pentax Optio S10. It follows in the trend of the Optio S series of compact digital cameras. It ups the resolution to 10 Megapixels. It also supports the usual raft of face recognition and auto picture modes. It also has a bright 2.5 inch 232,000 pixel LCD screen on the back. According to Pentax, this is also the seventh Pentax camera to support DivX movie recording. More details are available from the Pentax web site. The unique detail on this camera is that it will be only offered through Wal-Mart stores.

The second camera is far more interesting than the more predictable Optio S10. This new camera creates a new niche for Pentax in the compact digital camera market. This new camera is the Optio Z10. While all the other compact digital cameras feature essentially a 3x optical zoom, this camera changes all the rules with a 7x optical zoom. This 7x zoom also does not protrude from the camera. Pentax calls this exciting new feature a refraction lens system. This 7x zoom is equivalent to a 38-266mm lens in 35mm format. This all comes along with 8 Megapixel resolution and a 2.5 inch 230,000 pixel LCD screen. As with most recent Optio cameras, the erroneously named digital Shake Reduction is included as well. I hope we continue to see cameras such as this one. The only thing it is missing is optical Shake Reduction.