Its newly designed, large-aperture, 4x optical zoom lens (with the maximum aperture of F2.0 at wide-angle end), high-sensitivity, back-illuminated 16 megapixel CMOS image sensor, and sensor-shift Shake Reduction system ensure sharp, high-quality, low-noise images.

ENGADGET: Pentax expands ruggedized series with Optio WG-3, Target-exclusive WG-10

In addition to daily use as a "pan-focus" lens featuring a wide angle, fixed f8 aperture and shallow depth of field, it is compatible with manual focusing using a lever and capable of close-up shooting as close as 30 cm.

ENGADGET: Olympus E-PL5 and E-PM2: Micro Four Thirds cameras with OM-D-like focusing, performance boosts (hands-on)

The lens' wide F2 maximum, 9-bladed circular aperture enable beautiful background defocus ('bokeh') effects to rival or exceed professional-class DSLR camera lenses.

ENGADGET: Sony's Cyber-shot RX1 compact camera packs a full-frame sensor, 'fits in your palm' (hands-on)

The PENTAX MX-1 features a 4X optical zoom lens offering a large maximum aperture of F1.8 to F2.5 and 28mm wide-angle coverage (in the 35mm format).

ENGADGET: Pentax launches brass-bodied MX-1 point-and-shoot: 12MP with 4X zoom (update: now with hands-on photos)