Pentax M20 Review

The Pentax Optio M20 couples a 1/2.5" seven megapixel CCD imager, Pentax-branded 3x optical zoom lens and 2.5" LCD display with 115,000 pixels - but no optical viewfinder - in a compact body with a gently curved handgrip that should make the camera a little easier to hold steady, while remaining pocket-friendly. The Pentax M20, like the M10 before it, is designed for simplicity and affordability first and foremost, and has a list price of just $200. That's $30 less than the previous model, even though additions include a greater shutter speed range, ISO sensitivity to 1600 (where the M10 was limited to ISO 400), and a 30 fps VGA movie mode.

Other features of the Pentax M20 include 22MB of built-in storage memory, and an SD card slot with support for the new SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) standard, which extends the maximum flash card capacity to a theoretical 32GB (4GB cards being the largest at the time of this writing), with sustained transfer rates of up to six megabytes per second. There's also NTSC / PAL video and USB 1.1 data connectivity (rather slower than the USB 2.0 High-Speed connections offered on many cameras these days), as well as a built-in flash and a macro mode that allows focusing as close as 5 centimeters. Power comed courtesy of two AA batteries - either alkaline disposable (included), or NiMH rechargeable (optional). The Pentax M20 goes on sale from September 2006.