Test: Pentax Optio A20

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Full specs from BH Photo:

Camera Type
Ultra Compact Point-and-shot Digital Camera

Image Quality

Image Sensor
1/1.8" 10.37 Megapixel interline transfer CCD with a primary color filter

Effective Resolution
10.0 million pixels

Color Depth
36-Bit RGB

Color Modes
Color, Black & White, Sepia, 8 Color, Black & White+Red, Black & White+Green, Black & White+Blue, Soft, Illustration

Image File Formats
JPEG (Best, Better, Good)
Exif 2.2, DCF, DPOF & PRINT Image Matching III compliant

Recorded Resolution
10M (3648x2736)
7M (3072x2304)
5M (2592x1944)
3M (2048x1536)
2M (1600x1200)
0.7M (1024x768)
0.3M (640x480)
During Blur reduction mode, the recorded size is fixed to 5M (2592x1944)?During Frame composition mode, the recoded size is fixed to 3M (2048x1536)

Video Recording
AVI MPEG-4 DivX with Audio (Best, Better, Good)
640 (640x480 @ 30fps)
320 (320x240 @ 30 fps)
Clip length limited only by available memory

Audio Recording
WAV (PCM format)
Audio record time limited only by available memory.

Optics

Lens Type
smc PENTAX Power Zoom Lens (7 elements in 5 groups with 2 dual-sided aspherical elements, and 1 single-sided aspherical element)

Optical Zoom
3x

Lens Focal Length
7.9mm - 23.7mm (37.5mm - 112.5mm equivalent)

Digital Zoom
4x

Minimum Focus Distance
2.4" (6cm)

Maximum Aperture
f/2.8-5.4

Optical Image Stabilization
Yes (CCD-Shift)

Accessory Lens/Filter Mount
No

Focus Control

Focus Type
TTL contrast detection autofocus system (5 point AF, Spot AF, Tracking AF)

Focus Modes
Autofocus, Infinity Landscape, Pan Focus

Focus Range
Normal: 13.8" (35cm) - Infinity
Macro: 4.7" (12cm) - 19.7" (40cm)
Super Macro: 2.4" (6cm) - 5.9" (15cm)
Manual: 4.7" (12cm) - Infinity

Exposure Control

Sensitivity
Auto ISO
User Selectable ISO (64, 100, 200, 400, 800)
ISO 1600 in Blur Reduction Mode

Shutter Type
Programmed AE electronic lens shutter with CCD electronic shutter

Shutter Speed
4 - 1/2000 seconds

Aperture Range
f/2.8-5.4 (max)

Exposure Metering
TTL metering (Multi-segment, Center-weighted, Spot)

Exposure Modes
Picture, Program, Shutter-priority, Manual, Exposure Compensation (+/-2 EV in 1/3EV steps)

White Balance Modes
Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten Light, Fluorescent Light, Manual

Scene Modes
Normal, Green, Night Scene, Landscape, Portrait, Program, Night scene, Landscape, Flower, Portrait, Kids, Blur reduction, Surf & Snow, Candle Light, Text, Food, Sport, Frame composition, Pet, Shutter-priority, Manual

Flash

Built-in Flash
Yes (Auto, Flash-off, Flash-on, Red-eye reduction, Auto backlight compensation)

Effective Flash Range
0.2' (0.06m) - 23' (7.1m)

External Flash Connection
No

External Flash Control
Not Applicable

Performance

Start-Up Time
Not Specified

Shutter Lag
Not Specified

Time Between Shots
Not Specified

Burst Capability
Continuous (Standard & High-speed)

Self Timer
2 seconds or 10 seconds

Interval Recording
No

Date & Time Stamp
Yes

Memory & Power

Built-in Memory
22MB

Compatible Memory Cards
Secure Digital (SD) Card
SDHC Card

Recording Capacity
Includes 22MB of Built-in Memory
Still Image Capacity
 Best Better Good
10M 6 9 12
7M 8 12 18
5M 12 18 25
3M 19 27 38
2M 26 38 54
0.7M 49 71 95
0.3M 90 130 180
Video Capacity
Video Mode Record Time
640 (Best) 59 seconds
320 (Best) 231 seconds

Battery Type
D-LI8 Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery

Power Adapter
D-AC8 AC Adaptor Kit (optional)

Input/Output

Computer Interface
USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed)

Direct Print Capable
Yes (PictBridge)

Remote Control
Remote Control E or F (optional)

Video Output
Yes (NTSC & PAL)

Web-Cam Capable
No

System & Software Requirements
Windows System
• Pentium Processor or later
• Windows 98SE, Me, NT, 2000, XP
• 64MB RAM
• 40MB Hard disk space
• USB port
• CD-ROM Drive (or software installation)
• QuickTime 6.0 or later
Macintosh System
• POWER Macintosh with 266MHz processor or later
• Mac OS 9.2 or later (including OS X) - with the latest CarbonLib
• 8MB of available RAM
• 6MB Hard disk space
• USB port
• CD-ROM Drive (or software installation)
• QuickTime 6.0 or later

Display

Viewfinder
No

LCD Display
2.5" TFT color LCD (232,000 pixels) with Histogram Display

Language Options
English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Swedish, Dutch, Portuguese, Thai

Playback Options
Single, Index (9 image), Magnification (up to 8X), Slide show, Resize, Image Trimming (crop), Rotate, Color Filters, Digital Filters, Brightness Filter, Movie Edit, Red Eye Correction, Voice Memo, Protect, DPOF, Startup Screen, Frame Composition Movie Edit (Save a s still image, Divide, Extract), Erase and Image Protect Modes (Single, All)

Physical

Dimensions (HxWxD)
2.1 x 3.5 x 0.9" (55 x 89 x 23mm)

Weight
4.4 oz. (125g) without battery

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