Pentax will ship the new Optio S7 digital camera in September 2006 on a limited basis for under $300.00 US.

Pentax USA Press Release

GOLDEN, CO. (July 24, 2006)…PENTAX Imaging Company has announced the PENTAX Optio S7 compact digital camera.  The Optio S7 is the latest model in the PENTAX Optio S series, which is known for slim, stylish, full-featured digital camera bodies. In addition to an upgrade to 7.0 effective megapixels, this model features an easy-to-use Blur Reduction High ISO mode to help reduce the effects of camera shake and subject blurring for sharper images even in dim lighting conditions such as night scenes and indoor sporting events. In this mode, the camera adjusts shutter speeds automatically to an ISO as high as 1600 to match the brightness of the subject.  The higher sensitivities permit faster shutter speeds. Also featured in this newest Optio digital is Face Recognition AF & AE, a function that simplifies portrait-taking by automatically detecting the position of the subject’s face and adjusting the focus and exposure based on the detected position.

Other features of the PENTAX Optio S7 include a 3X optical zoom, a high resolution 2.5 inch LCD monitor, MPEG-4 DivX® Movie Mode, and 23MB internal memory.  In addition, the Optio S7 is the first compact PENTAX digital camera to accept the new SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) memory cards in addition to SD memory cards. SDHC (also know as SD 2.0) is a FAT32-compliant format designed for capacities up to 4GB or more.

PENTAX Imaging Company is an innovative leader in the production of digital and film cameras, scopes, eyepieces, binoculars, lenses, mobile printers, scanners and internet cameras.  For more than 80 years, PENTAX technology has developed durable, reliable products that meet the needs of consumers and businesses.  With headquarters in Golden, Colorado, PENTAX Imaging Company is a division of PENTAX of America, Inc.

PENTAX Optio S7 Features and Facts

Stylish and slim compact body
The thin, compact Optio S7 body features an attractive design that is comfortable and convenient to carry for travel, special events and everyday photography.  A 3X optical zoom lens housed in the slim, lightweight body features the PENTAX original Sliding Lens System* and high-density mounting technology.

*A PENTAX proprietary lens system which offsets the central lens groups from the optical lens axis and houses the lens in two steps in the lens cylinder for minimized overall body depth.

New Blur Reduction High ISO mode reduces camera shake and subject blurring
The Optio S7 is equipped with a Blur Reduction mode,* a new feature that allows photography at faster shutter speeds for sharper images even in dim lighting conditions such as night scenes and indoor sporting events. In this mode, the camera automatically adjusts the sensitivity to as high as ISO 1600 to match the brightness of the subject. The higher sensitivities permit faster shutter speeds that effectively reduce not just camera shake but also blurring caused by moving subjects.

*The image recording size is fixed at 4 MB (2304 x 1728 pixels) when the Blur Reduction mode is selected.

Face Recognition AF & AE for beautiful one-step portraits
The camera includes the new Face Recognition AF & AE* function, which allows you to take bright, beautiful photos of people with perfectly focused faces free of shadows caused by exposing for the background or for the colors of clothing. This useful function automatically detects the position of the subject’s anywhere in the photo frame and then adjusts the focus and optimizes the exposure for the detected position.

* This camera’s Face Recognition AF & AE function uses the Face Tracker face-recognition technology from FotoNation.

Auto-tracking AF continuously focuses on a moving subject
The Optio S7 auto-tracking AF feature continuously focuses on subjects such as kids and pets that move around unpredictably. Since the focus frame automatically follows the movement of the subject inside the photo frame, you can be sure to capture those instantaneous photo opportunities.

High-quality movies with an anti-shake function
The Optio S7 captures movies at 30 fps (frames per second) at sizes up to 640 x 480 pixels with image quality rivaling camcorders. Since it employs the DivX® (MPEG-4 compliant) movie format,* the Optio S7 can record longer, high-quality movies. Camera shake while filming can also be corrected automatically by switching on the movie anti-shake feature.**

* The Optio S7 is DivX® certified. Movie playback is not supported on Macintosh operating systems.
** Using the movie anti-shake function results in a narrower field of view than during normal recording.

Auto Picture mode automatically determines the best settings for the shooting conditions
The Auto Picture mode lets the camera automatically determine the shooting conditions for Landscape, Portrait, Night Scene, and Program modes and choose the optimum settings for each subject. This PENTAX original function makes photography a lot easier for users since it eliminates the necessity of making a number of individual settings.

The image quality of 7.0 effective megapixels permits beautiful, crisp prints even at large-format sizes
The Optio S7 produces clear images with impressive quality thanks to the high resolution afforded by its 7.0 effective megapixels and to its high-performance smc PENTAX lens. This superlative resolution makes it possible to attain prints with crisp details even when the photo is greatly enlarged. Additionally, a high-performance ASIC*6supplies the camera with dramatically more image-processing power, giving more natural tone reproductions and textured portraits.

*Application Specific Integrated Circuit.

Supports the SDHC memory card for greater storage of high-quality images and longer movies
The Optio S7 supports two removable storage media: the conventional SD memory cards and the new SDHC memory cards.*

*SD High Capacity; these memory cards have capacities in excess of 2 GB.

Red-eye correction available after shooting
The Optio S7 comes with FotoNation’s red-eye correction function, which can correct red-eye problems, a side effect of flash photography, after the photo is taken. With the ability to manually select the area to correct, this function allows for more precise correction of red-eye photos.

Other features
  *    Approximately 232,000 pixels high-resolution, 2.5 inch non-glare LCD monitor with excellent outdoor visibility
  *    Mode Palette provides quick access to 16 shooting modes and 15 playback modes
  *    Frequently used functions can be assigned to the Green button
  *    Digital zooming provides up to 4X magnification
  *    Approximately 23 MB of built-in memory
  *    Built-in AF spotbeam (on/off switching possible)
  *    Includes the ACDSee for PENTAX image viewer/image management softwareSupports PictBridge, DPOF functions, Exif Print, and PRINT Image Matching

Specifications

Effective Pixels:  7.0 megapixels
Sensor: 738 megapixels (total pixels) - 1/2.5 inch interline transfer CCD with a primary color filter
Recorded Pixels: Still - 7M (3072x2304), 5M (2592x1944), 4M (2304x1728), 3M (2048x1536), 2M (1600x1200), 640 (640x480)pixels (During Blur Reduction mode, the recorded size is fixed to 4M, during Flame composition mode, the recorded size is fixed to 3M); Movie - 640 (640x480), 320 (320x240) pixels
Sensitivity: Auto fixed (50/100/200/400: Standard Output Sensitivity) (During Blur Reduction mode, sensitivity is compliant to Standard Output Sensitivity 800 and 1600)
File Formats: Still - JPEG (Exif 2.2), DCF, DPOF, PRINT Image Matching III; Movie - AVI(DivX® compatible with MPEG-4), 30 fps, with sound, Movie anti-shake (The input image signal at 27fps is recorded as 30fps); Sound - WAV (PCM), monaural
Quality Levels: Still - ***(Best), **(Better), *(Good); Movie - ***(Best), **(Better), *(Good)
Storage Media: Build-in Memory (approx. 23MB), SD Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card
White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light, Manual setting
Lens: smc PENTAX zoom lens - optical 3X zoom; Focal Length - 6.2mm-18.6mm (equivalent to 37.5-112.5mm in 35mm format); F Value - F2.7-F5.2; Composition - 6 elements in 5 groups (2 dual-sided aspherical elements); Zoom - Electric; Capturing Area - approx. 148mmx111mm to the fullest of LCD (at Macro mode); Lens Barrier - Electric
Digital Zoom: 1X - approx. 4X (up to approx.12X with optical 3X zoom)
LCD: 2.5 inch, TFT color LCD, approx. 232,000 pixels, field of view: approx. 100%, low reflection type
Playback: One Shot, Index (9 thumb nails), Enlargement (up to 8X, scroll available), Movie Playback, Sound Playback, Histogram, Select & Delete; Mode Pallete - Slideshow, Resize, Trimming, Image & Sound Copy, Image Rotation, Color Filter, Digital Filter, Brightness Filter, Movie Edit, Red-eye Compensation, Voice Memo, Protect, DPOF, Start-up Screen, Frame Composite; Color Filter - B&W, Sepia, Color Filter (8 colors), Color extract (B&W with Red, B&W with Green, B&W with Blue); Digital Filter - Soft, Illustration, Special Effect1, Special Effect2, Slim; Brightness Filter - Brightness
Focus: Type - TTL contrast detection auto focus system, AF assist lamp available, 5-point AF Spot AF; Still - Normal: 0.4m to infinity (whole zoom area), 1.31 ft. to infinity (whole zoom area), Macro: 0.15m to 0.5m (at wide setting), 0.49 ft. to 1.64 ft. (at wide setting), Infinity-landscape mode: Infinity (whole zoom area), Pan Focus: 1.3m to infinity (at wide setting), 5.3m to infinity (at tele setting), 4.3 ft. to infinity (a wide setting), 17 ft. to infinity (at tele setting), Manual Focus: 0.15m to infinity (at wide setting), 0.4m to infinity (other than wide), 0.49 ft. to infinity (at wide setting), 1.31 ft. to infinity (other than wide), Focus Limit OFF: 0.15m to infinity (at wide setting), 0.4m to infinity (other than wide), 0.49 ft. to infinity (at wide setting), 1.31 ft. to infinity (other than wide); Movie - Normal: 0.15m to infinity (at wide setting), 0.4m to infinity (other than wide), 0.49 ft. to infinity (at wide setting), 1.31 ft. to infinity (other than wide), Macro: 0.15m to 0.5m (only at wide setting), 0.49 ft. to 1.64 ft. (only at wide setting), Infinity-landscape mode: Infinity (whole zoom area), Pan Focus: 0.5m to infinity (at wide setting), 2.1m to infinity (at tele setting), 1.64 ft. to infinity (at wide setting), 6.9 ft. to infinity (at tele setting), Manual Focus: 0.15m to infinity (at wide setting), 0.4m to infinity (other than wide), 0.49 ft. to infinity (at wide setting), 1.31 ft. to infinity (other than wide); Focus Lock - By pressing the shutter button to the middle
Exposure Control: Metering System - TTL metering: Choice of Multi-segment metering, Center-weighted metering, Spot; Exposure Compensation - +/-2EV (1/3 EV steps)
Capture Modes: Green; Mode Pallete - Auto Picture, Program, Night Scene, Movie, Voice Recording, Landscape, Flower, Portrait, Kids,Blur reduction, Surf & Snow, Sport, Pet, Text, Food, Frame Composite
Movie: Shooting Time - Until the memory card becomes full; Edit Function - Save as still image, divide movies, extract movies
Shutter: Type - Programmed AE electronic lens shutter with CCD electronic shutter; Speed - Approx. 1/2000 sec. - approx. 4 sec.
Flash: Type - Built-in series-control auto flash, automatic discharge under low lighting conditions in auto modes; Modes - Flash-on and Flash-off modes, “Red-eye” reduction function employs a pre-discharge, soft flash; Effective Range - Wide: approx. 0.15‚ - approx. 5.1m (Standard Output Sensitivity Auto), approx. 0.49 ft. -approx. 17 ft. (Standard Output Sensitivity Auto), Tele: approx. 0.4‚ - approx. 2.7m (Standard Output Sensitivity Auto), approx. 1.31 ft. - approx. 8.9 ft. (Standard Output Sensitivity Auto)
Drive Modes: One shot, Self-timer (10 sec, 2 sec), Continuous, Remote Control (3 sec, 0 sec)
Self-timer: Electric
Remote Control: Type - Infrared rays, optional transmitter available; Function - On Capturing: 3sec, 0sec. release, zoom function available with Remote Control E, On playing back: Fowarding image, backwarding available with Remote Control E, on video output; Distance - Within approx. 4m in front of the camera
Clock Function: World time, 71 cities (28 time zones)
Power: Sources - Rechargeable D-LI8 Lithium-ion battery, optional AC adapter kit is also available; Recordable Images - Still: approx. 180?(rechargeable D-LI8 Lithium-ion battery); Playback Time - approx. 130 mins?(rechargeable D-LI8 Lithium-ion battery)
Interfaces: USB 2.0 (HI-SPEED), AV output terminal, DC input terminal
Video Output: NTSC/PAL
PictBridge: Printer - “PictBridge” supported; Modes - Single image, All images, DPOF, Paper Size, Paper Type, Paper Quality, Border; Paper Size - Card, L, 2L, Post Card, 100x150, 4"x6”, 8"x10”, Letter, 11"x17”, A4, A3, Printer Setting; Paper Type - ***, **, *, printer setting; Paper Quality - ***, **, *, printer setting; Border - With, without, printer setting
Dimensions: 85.5(W) × 53.5(H) × 19.5(D)mm (excluding protrusions)
Weight: Body - 100g (without battery and SD memory card), 120g (loaded and ready)
Accessories: Rechargeable D-L18 Lithium-ion battery, charger, AC cable, USB cable, AV cable, software (CD-ROM), strap
Start-up Time: 1.8 sec.
Release Time Lag: 0.13 sec.
Languages: Japanese, English, French, Germany, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Russian, Thai, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese