Thankfully, my title above is wrong and the new DSLR from HOYA CORPORATION PENTAX Imaging Systems Division still bears the Pentax badge!

You can however see the HOYA culture encroaching: the camera is called a “lens-interchangeable” DSLR. The English in the press release is pretty good, but it’s obviously a translation and it just reads a bit funny.

The new Pentax K-7 catches up with the semi-pro offerings from Nikon and Canon, but is it too little, too late? The body design is a bit more sophisticated, more professionally elegant and staying with the “K” series is a good marketing move. Thankfully gone for good is the unpronounceable “ist” era!

Here are the basics:

• 14.6MP resolution on a 23 x 15.6mm CMOS image sensor
• Continuous Shooting at 5.2fps (max. 40 JPEG images)
• Dustproof, weather- and cold-resistant body
• Dust Reduction System
• Live View with Contrast AF mode
• HD Movie 1280 x 720 pixels 16:9 @ 30fps
• 3.0-in. (920K dots) LCD
• HDR (High Dynamic Range) function creates one composite image from 3 images shot at different exposure settings
• Digital Level function
• Attachment of copyright credits on recorded images
• RAW file format at the press of a button
• 16 Digital Filters (such as: Toy Camera, Slim, Watercolor,…)
• External microphone socket
• SD/SDHC memory card
• Optional Battery Grip D-BG4

The Pentax K-7 is compact, much smaller than its Canon and Nikon competitors. Live View, according to reports from early reviews, is still painfully slow as on most other DSLRs.

Related Articles:

- DPReview Hands-on Preview

PENTAX K-7

A Mid-Class Digital SLR Camera, Aimed at Realizing the Essence of SLR Photography and Equipped with Sophisticated Features for Top-Quality Digital Photography

May 21, 2009

Pentax K-7 DSLR

HOYA CORPORATION PENTAX Imaging Systems Division is pleased to announce the launch of the PENTAX K-7 lens-interchangeable digital SLR camera. Despite its compact, lightweight body, this new model brings together a wide array of advanced functions and user-friendly features with outstanding reliability and operability. This makes it possible to enjoy high-quality digital SLR photography with great ease.

Continue Reading »

A teaser is up on the Pentax Imaging website on the new K DSLR to be revealed May 20, 2009. Let me guess: Full frame, HD Video, Live View, Vari-angle LCD, weather and dust resistant body, superb low noise at high ISOs, incredible wide dynamic range,….

Continue Reading »

Pentax K2000

DigitalCameraInfo has posted their review of the Pentax K2000, a DSLR with 10.2MP resolution using an APS-sized (23.5 x 15.7mm) CCD sensor and ISO in the range of 100-3200. The Pentax K2000 is "a fine camera" and has a large 2.7-in. LCD (230K dots), Integrated Shake/Dust Reduction, Auto Picture mode, 10 Scene modes, and uses 4 AA batteries.

Pentax Optio P70

DigitalCameraReview has posted their review of the Pentax Optio P70 [QuickPrice Check], an ultra compact digital camera that produces "good image and color quality" with its 12MP resolution (1/2.3-in. CCD), 4x wide-angle optical zoom (27.5-110mm equiv.), Pixel Track Shake Reduction, 2.7-in. LCD (230K dots), HD movie (1280×720) @ 15fps, Smile Capture, Blink Detection and Auto Picture mode.

Pentax Optio P70

Steve’s Digicams has posted their review of the Pentax Optio P70 [QuickPrice Check], an ultra compact digital camera that is "easy enough and capable enough for anyone in the family or office to use" with 12MP (1/2.3-in. CCD) resolution, 4x wide-angle optical zoom (27.5-110mm equiv.), Pixel Track Shake Reduction, Digital Shake Reduction, 2.4-in. LCD (230K dots), Auto Picture mode, Smile Capture, Blink Detection, Advanced Face Recognition technology, Vertical Snap mode and HD Movie 1280×720 @ 15fps.

Pentax Optio E70

Steve’s Digicams has posted their review of the Pentax Optio E70, an ultra compact digital camera that produces "poor image quality" with 10MP (1/2.33-in. CCD) resolution, 3x optical zoom (35-105mm equiv.), Pixel Track Shake Reduction, Digital Shake Reduction, 2.4-in. LCD (112K dots), Auto Picture mode, Smile Capture, Blink Detection, Advanced Face Recognition technology, Digital Panorama mode and Movie 640×480 @ 30fps.

Pentax Optio P70

TrustedReviews has posted their review of the Pentax Optio P70 [QuickPrice Check], an ultra compact digital camera that is "extremely easy to use" with its 12MP resolution (1/2.3-in. CCD), 4x wide-angle optical zoom (27.5-110mm equiv.), Pixel Track Shake Reduction, 2.7-in. LCD (230K dots), HD movie (1280×720) @ 15fps, Smile Capture, Blink Detection and Auto Picture mode.