Pentax M50 Review

Pentax M50 Intro

The Pentax Optio M50 is an ultra-compact digicam with a flare for style and fun. It's thin and sleek, and is the perfect companion for busy consumers who want to take good snapshots at a moment's notice while letting the camera do all the work.

Pentax M50 Features

The Pentax Optio M50 has an eight megapixel CCD imager coupled with a Pentax-branded 5x optical zoom lens. A high-resolution 2.5-inch LCD display caters for image framing and reviewing, and the M50 has 51MB of built-in memory plus SD / MMC card storage. Power comes from a proprietary Lithium-ion battery. The Pentax M50 also features a Smile Capture function, which detects smiles on a subject and automatically releases the shutter.

Additional Pentax M50 features and details (adapted from the press release):

• High-quality Images
  With a high resolution of 8.0 effective megapixels and a high-performance Pentax lens, the Optio M50 offers clear images.
• 5X optical zoom lens
  The Pentax Optio M50 is equipped with a 5X optical zoom lens (angle of view equivalent to 36 to 180 mm lens in 35 mm format). A perfect zoom for portraits, landscapes, and other settings, the camera also features a digital zoom function (approx. 1X to 5.1X) for a maximum zoom equivalent to 25.5X.
• Three Color Options
  The Optio M50 will be available in the United States in a choice of three colors: silver, pink and blue.
• Generous 2.5 Inch LCD Monitor With Wide Viewing Angle
  The Optio M50 features a large, 2.5 inch IPS LCD monitor with approximately 230,000 dots resolution for easy viewing of the screen during photography, playback and for easier camera operating and setting. With a wide viewing angle of approximately 170 degrees from all directions, the monitor also makes it easy to confirm images even from the side or when viewing images in a group.
• Face Recognition AF & AE
  Featuring Face Recognition Auto Focus and Auto Exposure, the M50 can automatically detect and focus on up to 15 faces and set the optimum exposure. In addition, a Smile Capture function distinguishes smiles on a subject and automatically releases the shutter.
• Evolved Auto Picture
  Unique to Pentax cameras, the Auto Picture mode allows the camera to automatically determine the shooting conditions and program settings for Landscape, Portrait, Night Scene, Normal, Flower and Sports mode.
• Digital Shake Reduction
  Digital Shake Reduction mode reduces camera shake and blur by adjusting sensitivity automatically to as high as ISO 6400 to match the brightness of the subjects. This feature allows photography at faster shutter speeds with less blur.
• Movie recording function with shake reduction enabling high image quality rivaling camcorders
• Mode palette provides quick access to 16 shooting conditions and 15 playback modes
• Panorama mode for stitching three photographs into 1 panoramic picture
• Auto-Macro allows for close-up photography as near as 5 inches (10cm) without changing the normal focusing mode
• Auto-tracking AF continuously focuses on a moving subject
• Date imprint function for easy image categorizing
• Approximately 51.1MB of built-in memory
• FotoNations red-eye compensation function for flash shots
• Includes the ACDSee for Pentax 3.0 image viewer/image management software that supports Windows Vista™
• Support PictBridge, DPOF functions, Exif Print, and PRINT Image Matching III

Pentax M50 Pricing and Availability

The Pentax M50 ships from March 2008 in silver, light blue and pink variants, priced at about US$230.

Similar to the M50 but smaller lighter larger sensor cheaper But ...

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Sony W830

$128.00 (9% less)

20.1 MP (60% more)

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Panasonic TS30

$168.50 (17% more)

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Canon 180

$166.98 (16% more)

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Nikon A300

$136.95

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Canon 360 HS

$346.00 (60% more)

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Ricoh WG-50

$232.95 (40% more)

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Sony WX350

$288.00 (51% more)

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Canon 190 IS

$189.00 (26% more)

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Fujifilm XP120

$119.00 (18% less)

16.4 MP (51% more)

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Fujifilm XP130

$109.00 (28% less)

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Nikon W100

$156.95 (11% more)

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Fujifilm XP140

$229.00 (39% more)

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Ricoh WG-80

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Ricoh WG-6

$336.95 (58% more)

20.2 MP (60% more)

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Canon SX620 HS

$319.00 (56% more)

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Nikon W300

$386.95 (64% more)

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Sony WX500

$348.00 (60% more)

18.2 MP (56% more)

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Ricoh G900

$796.95 (82% more)

20.2 MP (60% more)

Also lacks viewfinder

53% larger

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Sony HX90V

$448.00 (69% more)

18.2 MP (56% more)

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42% larger

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Sony HX80

$368.00 (62% more)

18.2 MP (56% more)

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42% larger

3x zoom (83% more)

M50 vs HX80

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