Pentax Canada Inc. has introduced two new digital cameras: a compact super-zoom and an unusual compact model with customizable cosmetics. Both are due in October; Canadian pricing TBA.

Available in black and white finishes, the Optio RS1000 has a removable transparent acrylic panel on the front of the camera body. Users can insert supplied design sheets between the body and panel to create their own look. A tracing stencil is supplied, so that users can produce their own designs using photographs or illustrations.

Behind the customizable front, there's a 14-megapixel sensor, 4x wide-angle zoom lens (27.5-110mm equivalent) and three-inch 230,000-dot LCD. Other features include Auto Picture mode, which automatically selects the scene mode most suitable for the subject; face detection auto-exposure and autofocus; tracking autofocus; smile capture, which automatically releases the shutter when your subject smiles; and digital panorama mode for automatically creating panoramic pictures from as many as three images.

The Optio RZ10 features a 14-megapixel sensor and 10x wide-angle zoom (28-280mm equivalent), and CCD-shift Shake Reduction to compensate for camera shake during long exposures.

Pentax says the camera's face-detection function can detect up to 32 faces in a frame, then set focus and exposure in 0.03 seconds. Related features include smile detection and blink detection, for capturing portraits with smiling faces and open eyes. There's also a pet mode for getting accurate focus and exposure on portraits of dogs and cats.

Available in a variety of bright finishes, the RZ10 available in black, orange and green finishes.

Both cameras can also record HD video at 1280x720 pixels (720p). Users can extract 1280x720-pixel stills from any frame of a video clip. The Movie SR (Shake Reduction) mode compensates for camera shake during shooting.

Article Tags:  Pentax, Optio, RZ10, RS1000, digital camera, digicam, superzoom