It's just our luck that as soon as we review the A10 and the M10, Pentax decides to update them with new models and better specs, putting our reviews kinda out of date. The A20 and M20 are the names of the updates, and updates to the E and T classes are released too - but we'll forgive them for that. Details are below and all cameras will be out in October, but no price details are available.
Pentax A20
In our review we found the A10 to be a worthy flagship to the Pentax compact range, mainly because of its anti-shake capability and ease-of-use. The A20 builds on this by adding in a 10MP sensor, a new image processor (the ASIC - Application Specific Integrated Circuit) for better colour and tone reproduction, SDHC supports and Face Recognition AF/AE. Despite putting these bigger things into the A20 the case is a lot slimmer, and the design is very similar to its forebear which is a good thing. Second incarnations of cameras are usually good things (unlike second albums…) and I'd be very interested to see how the noise problems of the first are fixed in the second. Specification
Pentax E20
In the obviously title E for entry-level class, the E20 is the newest update. It has 6MP, a 2.4 inch LCD, 3x lens and is powered by 2AAs. As it is aimed at beginners there is a mere 6 scene modes including an ultra-simple mode. The design is simple too but in the Pentax style. The scene modes aren't chosen by menu but by an old-school SLR style mode dial on the top. This will make selection really easy but the initial complexity may confuse new users. Specification
Pentax M20
The next camera is the M20, a successor to the M10 that I reviewed in July and was more than happy with. The update brings a 7MP sensor to the camera, SDHC support and a 3x high performance smc Pentax lens. My only problems with the first camera were in terms of the scene choices and it can't be seen yet whether some of the gimmicky scenes are still there, something I'd be interested in checking out. Unfortunately the design has changed a lot - brushed steel is still in but the hard-lines of the M10 have now been curved off. The design of the original was on the edge of beautiful and ugly but it did make it very easy to hold. A shame. Specification
Pentax T20
Last up is the T20, the T standing for touch-screen. With a large 3 inch screen the camera is nearly button-free on the back, and the design is the thinnest of all four - just 19.5mm thick. Inside the camera the spec is suitable; a 7MP sensor, 3x optical zoom lens (housed in the lens through folding technology meaning it doesn't protrude into the camera - hence it's so thin) and 12 shooting modes. Specification
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