Pentax has announced the release of a new compact digital camera model. The Optio RZ18 is packed with features, including one that may appeal to pet owners frustrated by blurry picture collections.
The camera packs a substantial 18x optical zoom lens, equivalent to 24mm-450mm in 35mm terms. The image sensor is a 16-megapixel unit. Pentax Shake Reduction image stabilization helps keep images blur free at high zoom levels.
The RZ18 comes equipped with 9-point autofocus, 4cm super macro mode, and Face Detection. Our favorite feature? The Face Detection software also has a dedicated pet face recognition capability.
Pentax says the Optio RZ18 features the latest version of the Pet mode, which comes in handy when taking pictures of dogs and cats. This unique mode not only detects the faces of dogs and cats with great accuracy, but it also gives priority to three pre-registered pet faces over unregistered ones, so that users can effortlessly focus on and expose for their own pets when in a group of pets.
In other words, if you have squirmy, camera hating pets, the RZ18 could improve your results dramatically. We have yet to test one for ourselves, but if it works as advertised, you may see one making its way into our own camera collection.
Additional Optio RZ18 features include:
- Multiple PENTAX Shake Reduction (SR) image stabilization options, including sensor-shift SR, for sharp images in any lighting.
- Large 3-inch LCD with HVGA resolution (460,000 dots).
- Powerful automatic shooting modes such as Auto Picture and scene modes take the guesswork out of great photography.
- Creative special-effects filters add artistic flair to the common snapshot.
- Advanced 9-point autofocus with a 4cm super macro mode.
- Widescreen HD video in 720p at 30 frames per second.
The Optio RZ18 will be available in black, pearl white or metallic orange for $299.95. Coming to a retailer near you in October.
