Peter wrote: PA> You must be kidding. Every SLR they've introduced since 1987, except for PA> LX and K1000 variants were highly dependant on electronics and PA> software, (usually in the form of firmware). The days of PA> mechanical or even electro-mechanical cameras with a bit of add on PA> electronics in the form of meter have been over for a long time. PA> The MZ/ZX series of cameras are highly sophisticated computers PA> with plastic camera shaped shells wrapped around them.
Image transformation routines are a bit more CPU intensive than exposure calculation and power management. Previously 4 bit data channels and 1 KHz system clocks were more than enough to drive a film camera. The hardware demand peaked with the F5 that included a 16 bit processor. Nowadays you can't even touch a megapixel in real time without processors ticking in MHz. I believe that Henry is right: Pentax needed a stronger foothold in electronics. That 0.01s shutter lag in Optio-S must be largely due to the Sanyo components. Servus, Alin
