pentax: optio rs1500

the pentax ‘optio rs1500’ features customizable skins that can be slipped below the faceplate to change the camera’s look from day to day

pentax‘s ‘optio rs1500‘ digital camera is designed both inside and out for everyday use in a range of situations, featuring interchangeable, customizable skins for its front panel, and offering ‘smile capture’ technology on top of a wide range of shooting modes and visual effects. the camera is similar to the company’s ‘rs1000’ released last year, but pentax has replaced the screw-on faceplate with an easy snap-on system for improved usability.

front view

top view

the 14-megapixel camera features nine effect filters, including ‘toy camera’ and ‘fish-eye’ modes, and fifteen scene modes, along with advanced automatic face detection and ‘smile capture’ technology that automatically releases the shutter upon detecting that the subject has smiled. the shutter speed ranges from 1/2000th of a second to 1/4 second, permitting exposures of up to four seconds in ‘night scene’ mode, with a 4x optical zoom.

capable of recording in 720p HD, the camera also offers ‘digital panorama’ mode, which automatically stitches up to three images together, and 16-image speed burst functionality.

in addition to permitting the interchanging of front skins below the faceplate, the camera features removable lens rings in either black or orange

the camera itself features a 3-inch LCD screen. its dimensions (including lens) come to 9.2cm x 5.6cm x 2.1cm (3.6in x 2.2in x 0.8in), at a weight of 130 grams.

designed to be customizable, the ‘optio rs1500’ is sold with ten designs that can be interchanged below the camera’s screwless faceplate panel, but the online ‘pentax skins gallery‘ offers an expanding collection of user-uploaded skins for download. users can also create their own printable designs at home, using stencils or the adobe air -based ‘pentax personal skin designer’ software. two interchangeable lens rings (in black or orange) offer another way to personalize the device.

rear view