14 DAY TRIAL // After teasing them for what seems to be an eternity, Pentax has now finally announced the availability of the K-01 ILC and WG-2 cameras, which the company says are shipping as we speak to retails across the US.
The retro-styled K-01 interchangeable lens camera was sketched out by renowned designer Marc Newson and it’s available in three colors: black, white and Newson's signature yellow.
Beyond its fashionable design, the K-01 comes with a 16MP APS-C sized CMOS image sensor and supports Full HD 1080p video capture at 30 FPS with h.264 compression (60 FPS at 720p).
The camera also includes a high-resolution 3-inch 920,000-dot rear display and is compatible with a wide range of Pentax K-mount lenses.
Other features include an ISO range of 100-25600, 6fps burst shooting, Pentax’s own sensor-shift Shake and Dust Reduction system and an all-aluminum body.
"It's a great honor to have worked with world-renowned designer Marc Newson to bring the Pentax K-01 to market," said John Carlson, sr. manager of Sales and Marketing, Pentax.
"The new K-01 is not only technically superb, it is a design object," concluded the company’s rep.
The K-01 is available for $749.95 USD (about 570 EUR) in a body-only configuration, but is can also be purchased together with the new f2.8 DA 40mm XS lens for $899.95 USD (roughly 684 EUR).
In addition to the K-01, Pentax also announced the availability of the WG-2 and WG-2 GPS rugged compact cameras that have an MSRP of $350 and $400 (266 and 304 EUR), respectively.
Pentax’s WG-2 cams are waterproof up to 40 feet, shock-resistant and dustproof, and include a 16MP back-illuminated CMOS sensor.
The cameras can also record 1080p video at 30fps, which can be played back either on the included 3-inch 460,000-dot LCD or an external display connected via the available micro-HDMI port.
