Pentax

In a move rare these days Pentax is showing prototypes of cameras it intends to launch much later in the year, presumably at Photokina in September. The 18 megapixel 645 Digital is interesting, and no doubt will produce excellent results, but we wonder if there’s really a market for cameras such as this when digital SLRs based on 35mm film systems are hitting such highs. We’ll have to wait until pricing (which is expected to be ‘competitive’ compared to a Canon 1DS II) is confirmed and we’ve had chance to actually test it to make our minds up on this one. Perhaps aware of the fact that there’s only so many times they can repackage the *ist D as a new camera, Pentax is also showing a prototype of an as-yet-unnamed 10MP digital SLR, the first to be developed in conjunction with Samsung – again expect more detailed information after the summer. Elsewhere the new Optio compacts announced at CES (the A10, with CCD-shift image stabilization and E10) are joined by three new models getting their first airing at PMA, the M10, the ultra-compact T10 and the waterproof W10. It’s hard to get excited about another raft of compact point-and-shoot models, but it’s good to see Pentax with one of their strongest compact camera line-ups for quite some time.