Hasta La Gadget!

The first thing you’ll notice about Pentax’s new K-x DSLR is the color — fire-engine red (it also comes in navy-blue, white and black). Get underneath the ridiculous look-at-me skin and you’ll find that it has some definite improvements over the cheaper K2000, while coming in at just $200 more.

First, it shoots movies. HD movies, at 720p resolution and 24 frames per second. Second, it has a larger 12.4 megapixel sensor (the K2000 has 10.2), which can pump its pictures through the Prime II processor and onto the SD card at 4.7fps.

Then there is the usual slew of features, from shake-reduction to face detection, but the interesting part is the HDR feature, which grabs three shots with bracketed exposures and melds them magically into a single, high dynamic range image, theoretically retaining detail in both shadows and highlights. It’s nothing you can’t do in post, but having it in camera, as with other Pentax models, certainly makes it quicker and easier.

It looks like a capable camera, although it doesn’t offer much that you can’t get elsewhere — and pretty much any DSLR these days will take great pictures. If you are thinking of getting into the DSLR game, the best thing to do is forget about the camera to begin with, and think about lenses. The camera you buy today will last for a few years. The lenses you buy will last you forever.

Kit with 18-55mm lens, $650. Available October.

Product page [Pentax. Thanks, Michelle!]