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Pentax Canada Announces Optio RS1000

PENTAX Optio RS1000 lightweight compact camera offers an array of user-friendly features and a customizable body design

Mississauga, ON – September 9, 2010

PENTAX Canada Inc. is pleased to announce the introduction of the PENTAX Optio RS1000 digital compact camera, featuring a unique design which allows the user to customize the look of the camera to reflect their style, or to suit a particular occasion.

The Optio RS1000 offers a unique body design customization feature which allows you to insert one of the included designs or any other design of choice, such as photographs, patterns or illustrations between the body and the transparent front panel. This feature gives the Optio RS1000 unique versatility and flexibility unlike other models, allowing the user to customize the camera’s appearance to match their mood, what they are wearing, where they are going, a special occasion– the possibilities are literally endless!

The Optio RS1000 features a high-resolution 14 effective megapixel CCD, a large 3.0-inch LCD monitor, a high-performance 4X optical zoom lens covering 27.5mm wide angle, and simple, user-friendly operation. With a stylish and lightweight credit-card-sized body, it is compact enough to carry anywhere for every occasion.

The Optio RS1000 will be available in Canada October 2010.

Major Features

1. PENTAX-original Face Change System for personalized design
The Optio RS1000 features a removable transparent acrylic panel at the front of the main body frame. Simply by setting a design sheet between the camera body and this panel, the user can easily and totally change the camera’s appearance. In addition to the alternative design sheets included, the user can also use the Tracing Stencil (included) to produce their own original designs using photographs, posters, hand-drawn illustrations and other sources, to create a one-of-the-kind original camera. If you choose not to personalize the look of your Optio RS1000, the camera’s front face has an attractive fine spindle finish.

2. Exceptional image quality
Featuring approximately 14 effective megapixels assuring exceptional image resolution, a state-of-the-art imaging engine with superior noise reduction and the high-performance smc PENTAX optical zoom lens, the Optio RS1000 delivers brilliant, high-quality images with well-defined details. Even when images are enlarged, the user is assured of sharp, high-resolution prints with edge-to-edge sharpness.

3. Large, easy-to-view 3.0-inch LCD monitor
Despite its compact body, the Optio RS1000 features a large 3.0-inch high-brightness colour LCD monitor with approximately 230,000 dots. This monitor provides large, detailed images and menus, allowing the user to check composition and camera settings with just a quick glance, and easily and instantly make the desired settings and adjustments.

4. Optical 4X zoom lens with 27.5mm wide-angle coverage
The Optio RS1000 comes equipped with a high-performance 4X optical zoom lens covering focal lengths from 4.9mm to 19.6mm (equivalent in the 35mm format to approximately 27.5mm wide angle to 110mm telephoto). Thanks to this wide zoom range, the Optio RS1000 can be used for a wide variety of subjects and scenes — from spectacular landscapes, majestic architecture and group shots within confined spaces, to tightly cropped snapshots from a distance. When coupled with the Intelligent Zoom function, which allows for even tighter zooming in on the subject, the zoom range can be extended to approximately 26.8 times.

5. PENTAX-original Auto Picture mode
The Optio RS1000 features the new-generation Auto Picture mode, which automatically selects the most appropriate shooting mode for a given subject or scene by accurately assessing various photographic conditions. This user-friendly mode instantly selects one of the 15 shooting modes (eight conventional modes, plus seven new modes including Blue Sky and Sunset) and optimizes various camera settings, including sensitivity and shutter speed, to assure the best results with minimal effort by the photographer.

6. Automatic face detection for beautiful, lively snapshots
The Optio RS1000 features the sophisticated Face Detection AF & AE function, which instantly and accurately detects faces within the image field, then automatically optimizes focus and exposure settings. The Optio RS1000 also comes equipped with other convenient features to assist the photographer in capturing beautiful snapshots, including Smile Capture which automatically releases the shutter the moment the camera detects the subject’s smile, and the Natural Skin mode that captures subjects with smooth, healthy skin tone.

7. High-quality HD-proportioned movie recording
The Optio RS1000 captures beautiful, high-definition-TV-quality movie clips (1280 x 720 pixels).* It also comes equipped with the sophisticated Movie SR (Shake Reduction) mode,** which automatically compensates camera shake during movie shooting with the help of exclusive software, making it possible for everyone to enjoy high-quality movie shooting with minimal effort. You can also extract stills at 1280 x 720 resolution from HDTV movies in the camera.

* When the Optio RS1000’s AV output terminal is used, movie clips are output as normal-image-size data. If the user wishes to play back movie clips at high-definition-TV proportions (1280 x 720 pixels), the data must be transferred to a personal computer for playback.
** When the Movie SR mode is selected, the angle of view becomes narrower than normal shooting.

8. An assortment of digital filters for creative expression
The Optio RS1000 offers nine different digital filters, including Fish-Eye, Toy Camera, Retro and Sepia, to add various visual effects to recorded images without requiring a computer. The user can even apply multiple filters to a single image for more inventive visual effects.

9. Other features
(1) Digital Blur Removal function to effectively compensate for camera shake during still-image shooting
(2) Burst Shooting at a speed of 16 images in two seconds (fixed at 640 x 480 pixels)
(3) Auto-tracking AF mode to keep constant focus on a moving subject
(4) Digital Panorama mode to effortlessly create a single panoramic picture from as many as three images
(5) Green mode to automatically optimize exposure and sensitivity settings for a given subject or scene
(6) Frame Composite function (with 20 frames stored in the camera) that lets you apply decorative photo frames when shooting the image or when playing back an image.
(7) Excellent high ISO performance up to 6400 ISO
(8) Manual White Balance available to handle tricky mixed lighting situations.
(9) MediaImpression 2.0 for PENTAX software for image viewing, editing and filing applications (compatible with the latest operating systems, including Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6)

PENTAX Canada Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of HOYA CORPORATION PENTAX Imaging Systems Division of Japan and maintains offices in Mississauga. PENTAX Canada Inc. markets digital SLR and compact cameras, lenses, sport optics, closed circuit television lenses and medical equipment.

PENTAX on the web at www.pentax.ca