Pentax today officially launched their new K7 DSLR which sports a 14.6-megapixel CMOS sensor and the ability to shoot HD video. The Pentax K7’s case is rugged and weatherproof thanks to 77 seals around a magnesium-alloy body, which help the camera resist water, dust and cold temperatures as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 Celsius).

The Pentax K7’s CMOS sensor has been entirely redesigned in order to minimize noise and thanks to the new PRIME II processing engine, the camera offers up to 5.2 frames per second shooting (with a limit of 40 images). The camera features a 3-inch LCD with Live View mode and Face Detection and can fetch a top shutter speed of 1/8000 sec, storing your images on SD/SDHC memory cards.

The DSLR can shoot 1280 x 720 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio) at 30fps and also offers up a couple of other resolutions to choose from such as 640 x 416 and 1536 x 1024. The K7 comes with an HDMI port for easy video playback on HD displays and includes an external microphone input to capture professional quality sound with your videos (if you have a decent mic).

Pentax also debuted the D-BG4 battery grip which gets you double the battery life using either 6 AA cells or a single rechargeable lithium-ion battery and will retail for $230 when it ships in July.

The Pentax K7 (body only) kit is available now for pre-order on Amazon.com for $1,299.95.

Sources:
DPReview (Press Release) and Amazon.com
Via: CrunchGear