Here's what $230 will buy you in the point-n-shoot world right now, as embodied by the pleasantly mainstream Pentax Optio M50: a sleek little body (under 4" wide and just over 2" high), a 5X optical zoom lens, an 8-megapixel sensor, and a choice of pink, blue or silver. Little perks like "Smile Capture" make this fun at parties, but no one is going to murder you for it in some dark alley. Come to think of it, depending on where you live it might be a really smart buy. Detailed specs after jump. [Pentax]

The PENTAX Optio M50, with a 5X optical zoom housed in an ultra compact body with fun color options, is the ideal combination of style, function and price for both customers looking to update their camera and new digital users. The camera features a unique Smile Capture function, which distinguishes smiles on a subject and automatically releases the shutter. Available in three color choices including silver, light blue and pink, the Optio M50 will ship in March 2008 for US $229.95.

CAMERA HARDWARE

MODEL: Optio M50
TYPE: Ultra-compact digital camera
PRODUCT CODE:
Silver: 17103, UPC: 027075140400
Light Blue: 17156, UPC: 027075139602
Pink: 17116, UPC: 027075139565

SENSOR
Type: 1/2.35" interline transfer CCD w/ primary color filter
Effective pixels: 8.0 MP
Total pixels: 8.50 MP
Recorded resolutions
Still: 3264x2448 (8M), 2592x1944 (5M), 2304x1728 (4M), 2048x1536 (3M), 1600x1200 (2M), 1024x768 (1024), 640x480 (VGA)
Movie: 640x480 (VGA), 320x240 (QVGA)
Quality levels:  Best,  Better,  Good

LENS
Type/construction: Pentax zoom lens, 8 elements, 6 groups (4 aspherical elements)
Optical zoom: 5x
Focal length (equiv.): 6.3-31.5mm (36-180mm)
Digital zoom: 5.1x
Combined zoom: 25.5x
Intelligent zoom: Approx 6.3x at 5M to 25.5x at VGA
Aperture: f/3.5-5.6

LCD/VIEWFINDER
LCD screen: 2.5" TFT color LCD
LCD coverage: TBA
LCD resolution: 230,000 dots
Wide angle viewable: YES
Optical viewfinder: n/a

FOCUS SYSTEM
Type: TTL contrast detection autofocus
Autofocus: 9 point autofocus, multi/spot/auto-tracking autofocus available
Manual focus: YES
Macro focus: YES
Focus lock: YES, by pressing the shutter release button half way
Focus range:
Normal: 1.31' to infinity (wide), 2.95' to infinity (tele)
Macro: 0.33-1.64' (wide), 1.97-3.3' (tele)
Manual: TBA

FLASH
Type: Built-in series-control auto flash
Flash modes: Auto, flash on, flash off, redeye
Effective range: 14' (wide, auto ISO), 9.2' (tele, auto ISO)

STORAGE MEDIA
Internal memory: 51.1 MB
Removable memory: SD, SDHC

INTERFACES
Ports: USB 2.0 hi-speed, AV out
Video out: NTSC, PAL
Printer interfaces: PictBridge

POWER SUPPLY
Power source: Rechargeable Li-Ion battery D-LI78
Recordable images: Approx 210
Playback time: Approx 240 min
Movie recording time: Approx 70 min
Audio recording time: Approx 300 min
AC adapter available: YES (optional)

PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions (W x H x D): 3.7 x 2.2 x 0.9"
Weight
Without battery or removable memory: 4.1 oz
Loaded and ready: 4.6 oz
Construction material(s): TBA
Operating temperature: 32-104°F

TIMING
Startup: Approx 2.0 sec
Release lag: Approx 0.003 sec

LANGUAGE SUPPORT
English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Russian, Thai, Korean, Traditional/Simplified Chinese, Japanese

IMAGE CAPTURE

IMAGE STABILIZATION
Still: Digital SR Mode (auto up to 6400 ISO)
Movie: Movie SR Mode

METERING SYSTEM
Type: TTL
Multi-segment: YES
Center weighted: YES
Spot: YES
Exposure compensation: +/- 2 EV (1/3 steps)

ISO SENSITIVITY
Auto: 64-6400 (ISO 6400 only available in Digital SR mode)
Manual: 64-6400 (ISO 6400 only available in Digital SR mode)

WHITE BALANCE
Auto preset modes: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent
Manual mode(s): YES

SHUTTER
Type: TBA
Shutter speed: 1/2000 to 4 sec (4 sec available in Night Scene mode)

CAPTURE MODES
Mode selection: Auto Picture (xxxxx, xxxxx, xxxxx, xxxxx), Program, Night Scene, Movie, Voice Recording, Landscape, Flower, Natural Skin Tone, Portrait, Surf & Snow, Sport, Digital SR (5M), Kids, Pet, Food, Panorama, Digital Wide Angle (5M), Green
Green simplified mode available: YES
Face recognition available: YES, up to 15 faces in all modes, smile capture available
P/A/S/M/B: P
Date stamp: YES (not available in Green Mode)
Digital filters (capture): n/a

DRIVE MODES
Mode selection: One shot, self timer, continuous, Frame Composite (3M)
Continuous FPS: Approx 1.45 FPS
Self-timer: YES
Remote control: n/a

PLAYBACK MODES
Mode selection: One shot, index (9 thumbnails), magnification, movie playback, sound playback, histogram, bright/dark indication, folder display, select & delete, calendar
Mode pallet: Digital SR, slideshow, resize, trimming, image & sound copy, image rotation, digital filter, movie edit, frame composite, redeye edit, voice memo, protect, DPOF, image recovery, startup image, face zooming
Magnification: Up to 8x, scrollable
Digital filters (playback): B&W, sepia, color filters (6), color extract (3), soft, brightness
Movie edit: Save as still image, movie divide

FILE FORMATS
Still: JPG (EXIF 2.2), DCF 2.0 (design rule for camera file system), DPOF, Print Image Matching III
Movie: AVI (Motion JPG), 30/15 FPS w/ sound, color/sepia/B&W, Movie SR
Sound: WAV (PCM), monaural

FILE STORAGE MATRIX (BASED ON 1GB MEMORY)
STILL   
3264x2448 (8M) 242 465 701
2592x1944 (5M) 378 714 1014
2304x1728 (4M) 472 924 1297
2048x1536 (3M) 590 1155 1653
1600x1200 (2M) 943 1547 2277
1024x768 (1024) 1801 2873 3657
640x480 (VGA) 3657 5486 7100
MOVIE 30FPS (15FPS)   
VGA (640x480) H:M:S 0:15:10 (0:30:01) 0:20:19 (0:40:14) 0:30:56 (1:00:57)
QVGA (320x240) H:M:S 0:23:56 (0:47:20) 0:32:42 (1:03:51) 0:47:20 (1:31:26)
SOUND H:M:S 12:28:41

COMPUTER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS*
*For device connectivity. Bundled software requirements may vary.
Windows: TBA
Mac: TBA
KIT INCLUSIONS
Optio M50, USB Cable I-USB7, AV Cable I-AVC7, Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery D-LI78, Battery Charge Cradle D-BC78(A), AC Plug Cord, Strap O-ST51, Software S-SW77
OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES
AC Adapter Kit K-AC78U, Battery Charger Kit K-BC78U, PTX-211 or PTX-210, PTC-L45 or PTC-L50, Optio Extended Warranty

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