Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"The new hotshoe-mounted O-GPS1 module fixes that oversight by recording latitude, longitude, altitude, Coordinated Universal Time and shooting angle. Everyday snappers might find an extra hotshoe attachment cumbersome, but astro-photography enthusiasts could well be enticed by the device's interesting "ASTROTRACER" function."

Pentax might not be up there with Canon or Nikon, but it is certainly not for the lack of trying. This is yet another impressive use of the anti-shake sensor platform: using the sensor to compensate for short movements of celestial objects. This is the second unique use for sensor-based stabilisation; the first was Pentax's automatic levelling feature. Nice to see Pentax exploring other ways to utilise the technology. Available in July for about US$250.

Pentax has announced a new camera rugged Optio line, the Optio WG-1. The WG-1 has two models, one with GPS and one without, but are otherwise the same camera. The WG-1 has by now a pretty basic set of features, including a 14 megapixel CCD sensor, 28-140mm equivalent zoom lens with no stated aperture range, 2.7" QVGA LCD, 720p video at 30 FPS, and of course, a body that is waterproof to 33 feet/100m, shockproof from 5 feet/1.5m, crushproof to 220 lbs/100kg, freezeproof to 14F/-10C, and dustproof to boot. Oh, and see those white spots around the lens? Those are LEDs to light up the subject when in macro mode. The WG-1 will be available in April, with the GPS version priced at US$400, and the non-GPS version priced at US$349.

Also announced is a special K-5 edition, clad in a silver colour, and ships with a special edition of the 40mm f/2.8 DA Limited lens. Is it me or is Pentax starting to go down the Leica route with all these funny special editions? Picture of the K-5 after the break.

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"At first sight the K-5 is virtually indistinguishable from the K-7 (in some markets the K-7 will remain in the Pentax line alongside the K-5). Apart from an additional 'Fx' (which stands for 'flex') label on the customizable RAW button and a subtle redesign of the AF switch on its rear there are no readily significant differences between the K-5 and its predecessor the K-7. However, there is more novelty to be found under the hood - the K-5's most notable new component is a 16.3 megapixel CMOS sensor, which is probably closely related to the sensors inside the Nikon D7000 and Sony SLT-A55."

I know the Pentax K-5 has been covered before, but I thought I would post DPReview's review. You will be surprised by the score it garnered, but I wasn't. Pentax in the past few years has been building up a good lineup of DSLRs, and the K-5 - while a minor update - makes some compelling changes, like the new sensor that is makes a good account for itself. Plus the lenses. Once again, If you get a Pentax, I really do recommend that you save some money for the Limited lenses; they are really a special thing, and something Pentax users are lucky to have.

"The Pentax K-5 is a new semi-professional DSLR camera, based around the same body design as the older K-7 and the same 16.3 megapixel image sensor as found in the Nikon D7000 and Sony A55 cameras. Key new features include a greatly expanded ISO range of 80-51200, Full HD 1080p video at 25fps, 7fps continuous shooting, upgraded 11-point SAFOX IX+ AF system with wider coverage and faster speed, improved High Dynamic Range mode, and a bigger range of in-built digital filter effects."

The Pentax K-5 is an upgrade over the K-7, and while the improvements seem small on paper, it is the new sensor that has been grabbing attention; DxOMark's sensor ranking places it as the best APS-C-sized sensor. Of course, such ratings can be meaningless in real-world use, but the review (and sample photos) here ranks the camera pretty well. Just ignore the ISO 50k setting.

For those considering a Pentax, don't forget to take a look at their Limited lenses, both the DA and FA versions. They are well-made lenses and for me are Pentax's main selling point, and will go very nicely with a K-5.

"Pentax has announced the latest member of its DSLR line-up, the K-5. The new model is based on the Japanese manufacturer's current flagship DSLR, the K-7."

The new Pentax K-5 is an improvement over the K-7, despite the lower number. Notable additions include a 16 megapixel sensor that goes to ISO 50k (twice that of the D7000's, for instance), 1080p video at 25FPS, and a 7 FPS continuous mode. What gets taken away though, is AA battery support; the new camera uses a rechargeable lithium ion battery. At least the in-body lens stabilisation that everyone seems to love is still present, along with the ability to mount just about every K-mount lens out there (with exceptions and different levels of functionality). Though at US$1600 for the body only, it is going to have some stiff competition from the cheaper Nikon D7000. I like Pentax a lot; they have smart UI and design, but what was very competitive (the K7 was designed to match heavy hitting DSLRs like the Nikon D300) is not so now. I hope they can pull through though. Hit the link for a hands-on by DPReview.com

Also introduced is the Pentax smc 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6ED AL IF DC WR (what a collection of alphabets) lens. It's a weather resistant lens meant for APS-C cameras, that basically does the 28-300mm range on 35mm cameras.