General Features
Playback and Editing Features
Connections
Battery Information
Supplied Software
General Features
Overview: The Pentax Optio VG20 is a compact digital camera
with a 20x optical zoom for capturing faraway subjects. It has dual shutter
release and zoom buttons, one on top and one on the side, to give you steady
handling for either horizontal or vertical shots. It also has sockets on the
bottom and side for horizontal or vertical tripod mounting.
3.0" LCD Monitor: The camera features a large, bright 3.0" LCD monitor
for framing your shots and playing back recorded still images and movies. The
monitor's 460,000-dot resolution gives you crystal clear images, and features
a wide viewing angle. The camera does not have a separate
viewfinder.
Image Sensor: The Optio VG20 is equipped with a 16-megapixel 1/2.3 CMOS image sensor, which delivers high resolution
image quality with accurate colors and low noise. It has 16.56 million total
pixels and 16.0 million effective pixels.
Lens: The VG20 has a 20x optical zoom, F3.1-4.8 lens with a
focal length of 5-100mm, which is equivalent to 28-560mm in 35mm photography.
Intelligent/Digital Zoom: Beyond the 5x optical zoom, the
camera has an intelligent zoom of 30x at 7M image size up to 144x at VGA. The
7.2x digital zoom combines with the 20x optical zoom to give you a total zoom value of
144x.
Recording Media: The camera can record still images and movies onto SD
Memory Cards, SDHC Memory Cards, and SDXC Memory Cards. In addition, the camera
has a built-in memory of approximately 16 MB which will store images when no
card is inserted. You can copy images and sound files from the built-in memory
to the SD Memory card, or vice versa, at any time.
Still Image Formats: The Optio VG20 can shoot JPEG still images in
three aspect ratios: 4:3, 16:9, and 1:1. Image sizes include:
- 4:3: 4608 x 3456, 3072 x 230, 4640 x 480
- 16:9: 4608 x 2592 1920 x 1080
- 1:1: 3456 x 3456
Movie Recording: High Definition movies can be recorded in
the AVI format (Motion JPEG). You can choose from High Definition movies in 1280 x 720 at 30
or 15 fps. Standard def
movies can also be recorded at 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels (4:3) at 30 or 15 fps.
Focus Modes: The Optio VG20 offers six focus modes:
- Standard AF: When the distance to the subject is approximately
16" to infinity, the camera focuses on the subject in the autofocus area
when the shutter release is pressed halfway.
- Macro: When the subject is 4"-20" away, the camera focuses on the
subject in the autofocus area when the shutter release is pressed halfway.
- 1cm Macro: When the subject is 0.4" to 8" away, the camera
focuses on the subject in the autofocus area when the shutter release is
pressed halfway.
- Infinity: This mode is used for taking distant objects. (Flash is
set to Off)
- Manual Focus: This mode lets you set the focus manually, using
the four-way controller.
AF-Area Modes: You can set the range of the Auto Focus Area
(AF Area) to one of three options: Multiple (normal AF area), Spot (small AF
area), or Tracking (AF area moves with subject).
Drive Modes: The Optio VG20 offers several options for shooting single and
multiple images at once. You can choose from the following Drive Modes:
- Single Frame: Photos are taken one at a time with each press of
the shutter release button.
- Continuous/Burst: Photos are taken continuously as long
as the shutter release button is pressed:
- Continuous Shooting Mode: Photos are taken at up to the highest resolution at approximately 1 frame
per second until the shutter release button is released or the memory is
full.
- Burst Shooting Mode: Resolution is fixed at 5M (2592 x 1944), and
photos are taken continuously in low or high speed bursts.
- 16-Frame Shooting: With one press of the shutter
release button, the camera takes 16 pictures continuously at 1/7.5 frames
per second. Each photo is fixed at 640 x 480 resolution and are saved as a
single 5M (2560 x 1920) image in 4 x 4 rows. Images are played back
continuously like a movie.
- Self-Timer: A single photo is taken after approximately 10
seconds to allow the photographer to get into the picture. A 2-second self
timer can be used to avoid camera shake when the shutter release button is
pressed.
- Remote Control: Using the optional remote control, the shutter is
released immediately after the shutter release button on the remote is
pressed. A 3-second delay Remote Control setting is also available. Pentax
offers the optional Remote Control F, Remote Control E, or Remote Control
Waterproof O-RC1.
- Auto Bracketing: You can take three consecutive images at three
different exposure levels when the shutter release button is pressed once. Three
images are saved with each release, one at standard exposure, one
underexposed, and one overexposed. You can select the exposure change
interval from +/-0.3 EV, +/-0.7 EV, and +/-1.0 EV.
Shooting Modes: The VG20 has a variety of shooting modes
that let you take pictures or record movies and sound in different situations
simply by choosing the right mode for the particular situation from the Capture
Mode Palette. You can select from the following:
| Auto Picture* |
Program |
Natural Skin Tone |
Handheld Night Snap |
| Night Scene Portrait |
Night Scene |
Digital Panorama |
Landscape |
| Blue Sky |
Sunset |
Flower |
Digital SR |
| Kids |
Pet |
Portrait |
Food |
| Fireworks |
Surf & Snow |
Sport |
Fish-eye |
| Sketch |
Miniature |
Text |
Frame Composite |
*The Auto Picture mode automatically selects the
optimal mode for capturing the subject: Standard, Night Scene, Night Scene
Portrait, Landscape, Flower, Portrait, Sport, Candlelight, Portrait Blue Sky, Portrait Backlight,
Portrait Sunset, Group Photo, Text, Blue Sky, and Sunset.
EV Compensation: You can deliberately overexpose or underexpose a
picture using EV Compensation. The compensation value can be set between -2 and
+2 EV in 1/3 EV intervals.
Pentax Shake Reduction: The Optio VG20 offers three types of shake
reduction to ensure sharp, blur-free images and videos, even in dim lighting:
Sensor Shift, Digital (ISO 3200-6400, 5M), and Movie.
White Balance: White Balance is a function for adjusting the color of
an image so that white objects appear white. You can choose Automatic White
Balance (AWB), or a preset White Balance depending upon the lighting source:
Daylight, Shade, Fluorescent Light, Tungsten Light, or Manual.
ISO Sensitivity: You can set the sensitivity to suit the brightness of
the surroundings. The sensitivity can be set to ISO AUTO or manually to ISO 100,
200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, or 6400. The ISO Auto can be set to a range of
100-200, 100-400, 100-800, or 100-1600.
Flash: The VG20 has a built-in flash for use in low-light
situations. There are several Flash Modes to choose from:
- Auto Flash: the flash automatically fires based on brightness of
the scene
- Auto + Red-eye Reduction: the flash fires automatically with a
pre-flash for red-eye reduction
- Flash On: the flash fires regardless of the brightness
- Flash On + Red-eye Reduction: the flash fires regardless
of the brightness with a
pre-flash for red-eye reduction
- Flash Off: the flash does not fire regardless of subject
brightness
Playback and Editing Features
Magnifying Images: Single images can be magnified up to 10 times in
playback mode. You can gradually magnify the image in steps starting at 1.1x.
While the image is magnified, you can use the 4-way controller to move around in
the magnified area.
Slide Show: The Pentax Optio VG20 allows you to play back still images one
at a time in slide show fashion. You can adjust the interval (3 sec, 5 sec, 10
sec, 20 sec, or 30 sec) and the screen effects (fade, wipe, checker, or no effect).
A sound effect can be added during slide transitions, if desired.
Thumbnail: You can display multiple thumbnail images on the LCD
monitor. You can choose the number of images to be displayed in the monitor: 4
or 9. Images can also be displayed by folder or in a calendar
display.
Image Editing: The Playback Mode Palette lets you perform playback and
editing functions on recorded images and movies. Some of the functions include:
Slideshow, Image rotation, Stretch Filter, Small Face Filter, Digital Filter,
Frame Composite, Movie editing, Red-eye Compensation, Resize, Cropping, Image
Copy, Protect,
Start-up Screen, and DPOF.
Connections
PC/AV: The proprietary PC/AV terminal can be used to connect the
camera to your computer via the supplied I-USB122 cable or optional I-USB7 cable. The terminal is USB 2.0
High-Speed compatible. You can also connect the camera to a TV using an optional
I-AVC7 AV cable. The cable has composite video and mono RCA audio plugs. The AV
output can be set to NTSC or PAL.
Battery Information
Lithium-Ion Battery: The Pentax Optio VG20 is powered by the D-LI122
Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery (3.7V/1000mAh/3.5Wh). The battery charges in
approximately 120 minutes using the supplied D-BC122 battery charger. An optional
AC adapter kit (K-AC122) is available from the manufacturer for connecting the
camera to household current, if desired. The recording capacity with a fully
charged battery is as follows:
| Normal Shooting |
Movie Recording |
Playback Time |
| 200 images |
100 minutes |
180 minutes |
Supplied Software
MediaImpression 3.1/2.1: The Optio VG20 comes with MediaImpression 3.1
(2.1 for Macintosh) software
for Pentax on CD-ROM. With the software, view, manage, and edit the images and
movies.
Compatible Operating Systems: The MediaImpression 3.1/2.1 software
for Pentax is compatible with the following operating systems:
- Windows:
- Windows 7
- Windows Vista
- Windows XP (SP3)
- Macintosh: Mac OS X 10.3.9, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, 10.7
