Pentax

Episode 20: Unboxing the Microsoft Surface tablet

This week, we got a new production assistant, Nic Henry (welcome, Nic!). And Nic got a pretty fun assignment: go down to San Francisco's Westfield mall at 8 a.m. and find a way to get in line at Microsoft's Surface pop-up store on the second floor. Then, Molly will roll in at 9:30 all cheerful to take your place in line and buy some tablets! It's good to be the talent.

Nic did a great job, though, and interestingly, ended up second in a line that grew to probably about 50 people while we waited … Read more

Best waterproof rugged cameras and camcorders compared

The number of waterproof rugged cameras has exploded over the past few years. The segment was basically owned by Pentax and Olympus, but now all of the major compact camera manufacturers have a rugged model, if not two or three.

The upside to that is there is something for just about everyone at various price points, starting at just more than $100. The more money you spend, the tougher the camera, though, so make sure you get something that meets your needs.

And if you're more interested in shooting video than photos, check out the two minicamcorders that follow the camera list. … Read more

Pentax debuts adventure-ready, $850 dSLR

I have to admit: the $900 Pentax K-30 dSLR sounds like a pretty promising replacement for the K-r. Rugged on the outside with the potential for the same excellent photo quality as the K-01 mirrorless ILC, claimed faster autofocus performance than the already fast K-5, and a 100 percent coverage viewfinder that you usually only see in more expensive models all add up to a possibly great start to the Pentax-Ricoh era.

Though it's not "durable" in the same sense as bodies like the Nikon D4 or Canon EOS-1D X, with parts designed to withstand heavy photographic abuse, the K-30 offers weather-and-dust resistance, with claims of usability down to 14 degrees (most cameras only guarantee down to 32 degrees); that said, Pentax makes no claims about battery life at those temperatures. The next least-expensive camera making similar claims is the Olympus E-5 at $1,699. And none of them come in Pentax's selection of colors, which include white and blue in addition to standard black. It has a rubber grip for improved security in adverse conditions. … Read more

Pentax reveals high-end, compact K-01 camera

Pentax fans will be delighted to know they won't have to make do with the ill-starred Pentax Q when it comes to higher-end compact cameras.

Thanks to a gun-jumping announcement by camera retail powerhouse B&H Photo Video, details on the rumored Pentax's K-01 have now emerged. The camera uses the relatively large APS-C-sized sensor and corresponding K mount lenses from Pentax's SLR line, but omits the bulk-inducing flip-up reflex mirror used for SLRs' optical viewfinders.

Update 5:10 p.m. PT: Pentax has officially announced the camera, and B&H's specs were spot … Read more

Best mirrorless cameras for less than $1,000

Editors' note: This story was originally published in January 2012. The latest update reflects the addition of the Sony Alpha NEX-6 and NEX-5R.

The category of interchangeable-lens cameras subsumes a variety of capabilities and designs. There's the familiar dSLRs, large-bodied models that use a reflex mirror to enable the use of a through-the-lens optical viewfinder. Then there are Sony's SLT (Single Lens Translucent) models, which incorporate the same phase-detection autofocus system as dSLRs, but whose fixed mirror requires the use of an electronic viewfinder (EVF) rather than an optical one. And then there are the mirrorless models, which … Read more

Pentax Optio RZ18 gets you 18x closer

We've seen a lot of compact megazooms announced this year and, well, here's one more. The 16-megapixel Pentax Optio RZ18 packs an 18x f3.5-5.9 25-450mm lens in a body that's only 4.3 inches wide by 2.4 high inches by 1.4 inches thick. That's roughly the same dimensions as the Nikon S9100, which has a lens with the same specs. It's impressively small given the size of the lens.

Other key features include sensor-shift image stabilization; a high-resolution 3-inch LCD; fast burst shooting capturing up to 40, 5-megapixel photos at up … Read more

Ricoh announces Leica M mount for GXR series

Despite the news that it's acquiring Pentax, and likely specifically for its interchangeable-lens cameras (encompassing both the as-yet unshipped Q and its dSLRs), Ricoh seems to be moving on with support for its sort-of competing GXR series.

For those unfamiliar with the GXR--likely quite a few of you--it's Ricoh's twist on interchangeability; instead of swapping lenses, though, you swap modules containing both the sensor and lens. The latest announcement, for a module dubbed "A12" sort of turns the GXR back into a plain old ILC: it's composed of a 12.3-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor … Read more

How small should ILC sensors get?

To me, one of the defining characteristics of a mirrorless ILC--like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 or Olympus PEN E-P3, just to name two recent ones--aside from the interchangeable lens, is that it produces better photos than a point and shoot. As far as I can tell, people see the lens flexibility as a bonus, but for the extra couple hundred dollars they want better photos.

Which is why I'm confused by the trend toward even smaller sensor sizes in this space as evidenced by Pentax's Q with its 5.5x multiplier and the rumored forthcoming 2.7x-multiplier size from Nikon. (As an aside, I find the easiest way to internalize differences in sensor sizes is by the multipliers and assume that pixels shrink correspondingly. For a comprehensive visualization, check out this Sensor Size Cheat Sheet.)

Some people complain that even the Four Thirds sensor (2x), which uses the Micro Four Thirds mount in Panasonic and Olympus' ILCs, is too small. … Read more

Hoya sells off Pentax digital camera business

Japanese company Hoya has agreed to sell its Pentax digital camera business to Ricoh, the companies announced today.

According to Japanese publication Nikkei Business Daily, Ricoh will pay Hoya 10 billion yen ($124 million) to acquire its Pentax operation.

Pentax is widely considered an also-ran in the digital camera business. The company's worldwide market share last year, according to IDC, stood at just 1.5 percent. For the most part, Pentax's digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras lack advanced features found in the leading options from Nikon and Canon. However, Pentax cameras are typically quite affordable compared to their … Read more