Pentax K20D Leads Resurgence
Pentax Announces A Significant New Model DSLR, Soon For Release
The technical specifications are important, the most significant feature has gone almost unnoticed, Samsung as the source of the new sensor for Pentax's flagship K20D.
The K20D’s impressive megapixel count gives Pentax the leadership in DSLR technology, eclipsing market leaders Nikon and Canon. The best these two market leaders can manage is 12 megapixels in a top of the range pro model in APS sized sensor models.
The technical achievement is impressive, signaling Pentax is set to regain at least some of the territory it has lost over the years since Nikon, and then Canon, joined the Asahi Optical Company (Pentax) in the SLR market. The key is their partnership with Korean electronics company, Samsung.
The first products of their partnership only produced Pentax cameras with Samsung badges. The K20D, and the corresponding new Samsung model, feature the new Samsung developed CMOS sensor rather than outsourced sensors shared with other camera manufacturers. This partnership promises to combine Pentax’s optical expertise, backed up by new owner Hoya, with Samsung’s electronics wizardry to keep producing DSLR cameras comparable to or better than their competitor’s efforts. Now Samsung branded DSLRs do contain a significant contributions from the manufacturer with their name on the camera.
The Samsung sensor is the main new feature of the K20D, building on the proven features of the K10D body. Rather than cosmetic changes to justify a new model, the exterior and controls are similar while the heart of camera is significantly new.
“The K20D builds on the technology of the award winning K10D and is ideal for the advanced photographer seeking maximum resolution from their camera as well as complete control over how the camera captures images,” said Ned Bunnell, president, PENTAX Imaging Company.
Apart from the impressive megapixel count that will please the marketing division, the new senor contains some interesting performance gains for photographers. The change from the more common CCD sensor to a CMOS device brings a number of benefits, an area where Canon have led the way. CMOS uses less power than CCD giving the obvious benefit of longer battery life, important in a portable device. Lower power consumption produces less heat in the sensor and heat is one of the causes of electrical noise in electronic devices.
CMOS v CCD
Designers can incorporate more circuitry on a CMOS chip, particularly in the analog sections, to apply better noise correction techniques at the source. Another advantage of CMOS in sensors with higher pixel counts is they are less prone to signal leakage between pixels in bright light conditions. The Samsung sensor in the 20D has an ISO range from 100 to 6400, suggesting the designers are confident of good noise performance, despite packing in more pixels than normal.
The first real product of the Samsung-Pentax alliance looks to set return Pentax as a leader in SLR cameras rather than a quirky curiosity. This commitment to developing their own technology should encourage serious photographers to make a long term investment in Pentax cameras and lenses.
Reference:
- Hewlett Packard, Image Sensor Technology: CMOS vs. CCD
