Release Issued by Pentax:
Taking the Benchmark Optio 'S' style and creating an all-new flagship standard
04 January 2006 - Building on the success of the established and award winning Optio 'S' family, Pentax continues to set the standard amongst compact digital cameras with the launch of the Optio A10. Featuring a proprietary Shake Reduction system, the Optio A10 also boasts 8.0 effective megapixels and a 1.8-inch CCD to create the sharpest images yet.
Style-conscious novices and photographic enthusiasts alike will benefit from the superior features that the Optio A10 offers. Despite a tiny size of 88.5 x 54.5 x 23mm (w x h x d), the Optio A10 offers an unrivalled user experience that will produce exceptional picture quality, regardless of the photographer's level of ability or the environmental conditions.
The Optio A10 combines a stylish, compact design with exceptional features and shooting capabilities. The lens unit has been completely redesigned and an anti-vibration mechanism has been added to absorb camera shake. Weighing a mere 125g, the camera offers superior imaging capabilities without compromising on style.
It is anticipated that the camera will be available from February 2006. Exact timings and price will be confirmed at a later date, along with the availability of review units.
Major features
High quality images
The Optio A10 has a 1/1.8-inch CCD and 8.32 effective megapixels. With about 1.6 times the light receiving area of preceding conventional compact camera CCDs, this large CCD offers superior tone reproduction, texture delineation and noise reduction.
Shake Reduction system
The newly designed Shake Reduction system is particularly useful in shooting conditions that are sensitive to camera shake, such as telephoto shots or indoor shots without a flash.
High-performance smc PENTAX zoom lens
The newly developed smc PENTAX zoom lens is constructed from seven elements in five groups, including three double-sided aspherical lenses. This design corrects effectively for spherical and other aberrations and the original coating cuts out ghosting and flare.
High-quality MPEG 4 movie mode
The Optio A10 captures moving pictures at 30 frames per second, using the MPEG-4 format. Camera shake can also be corrected automatically by switching on the movie Shake Reduction feature.
Ultra-compact, lightweight body
Despite redesigning the lens unit, enlarging the CCD and adding an anti-vibration mechanism to absorb camera shake, the Optio A10 remains as slim as possible. The Pentax sliding lens system enables the minute specification of 88.5 x 54.5 x 23mm (w x h x d) and weighs a mere 125g.
Intuitive mode palette
The mode palette, which lists various modes on the LCD monitor, enables the quick navigation through 15 shooting modes and 15 playback modes.
High-definition, easy-to-view LCD monitor
Despite its compact size, the Optio A10 features a 2.5-inch LCD monitor with the clarity of approximately 232,000 pixels. The monitor is easy to see, even in bright locations, due to its backlight and low-reflection design. As a result, it's easier to navigate menus, select settings and compose shots.
Other key features
- precise autofocus with a tracking AF function feature
- approximately 24MB of built-in memory and supported by external SD memory cards
- USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed) compatible
- DPOF functions, Exif Print and PRINT Image Matching III compatible
- PictBridge compatible
www.pentax.co.uk
