Pentax Optio A10 Review

The Pentax Optio A10 comes with an exterior of textured aluminum alloy that will surely feel smooth and elegant in anyone’s hands. Its metal lens ring has improved the casing of this digital camera. The blending of pieces was a great job done by the designers. This baby is one classic beauty.
The users can flip A10 around their hands when waiting to take some shots. It is an ideal camera for travelers. It’s very compact with dimensions 3.5 x 2.1 x 0.9 inches (89 x 55 x 23 mm) and weighs 5.1 oz (145 g).

The Optio A10 has tiny controls that are logically placed. Anyone who has used a digital camera should figure out everything smoothly. The odd thing about this digital camera is its Shake reduction preview button. Placed on top of A10 with a shaky hand as identification, it does not indicate if it is in use or not.

With the absence of an optical viewfinder, Pentax A10 makes up with a 2.5 inch LCD with resolution of 232,000 pixels. Its images looks good in Playback Mode, but it takes time to scroll through. It takes .5 sec to see every shot taken. The users can use the nine-frame selection for easier navigation. The Playback mode offers the user many different choices such as slide show, voice memo, image rotation, color filters, trimming, red-eye compensation, and other basic options.

Its lens come complete with 3.00x zoom features and an efficiency rate of 37-112mm. together with a max aperture of 2.8. It is equipped with macro (close-up) mode. The user can photograph an area up to 2.280 x 1.73 inches (58 x 44 mm) with this digital camera.

From the time the power is turned on, it will take 4.7 seconds for the user to take the first shot. Using its normal auto-focus feature, the time from pressing the shutter button to the camera taking the picture is 1.360 sec (wide angle) and 1.640 sec (telephoto zoom). To reduce the shutter lag, pre-focusing should be done. The user pre-focuses the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before finally pressing it all the way to take the shot. Doing so will reduce the shutter lag time to 0.300 sec.

The shot-to-shot time or time taken between shots is 2.80 seconds. This includes the saving process as best-quality jpeg file. In the continuous mode, it takes 0.47 frames at a given time. A maximum of unlimited shots can be taken. It has an LCD viewfinder accuracy of 101 %. Its distortion wide angle is .08 %, and the distortion telephoto is 0.2 %.

Accessories

- D-LI8 rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack
- Battery charging stand with AC plug cord
- USB cable
- AV cable
- Wrist strap
- Software CD
- Operating manual and registration card

Basic Features

- 2.5-inch color LCD
- Resolution: 232,000 pixels
- Lens: 3x zoom (equivalent to a 38-114mm lens on a 35mm camera)
- Digital zoom maximum: 4x
- Shutter speed: 1/2,000 to 4 seconds
- Maximum aperture: f/2.8 to f/5.4
- Six modes built-in flash
- SD/MMC card storage
- Built-in memory 24MB
- Li-ion battery (rechargeable)
- USB 2.0
- ACDSee software and USB drivers (Windows and Mac platforms)

Special Features

- Shake Reduction System (Built-in)
- Sliding Lens System
- DivX MPEG-4 movie mode (maximum 640 x 480 resolution) with audio
- Anti-shake movie function
- Voice Recording mode
- Normal and Continuous shooting modes
- 11 preset "Scene" exposure modes
- Playback Mode Palette with 15 playback options
- Two- or 10-second Self-Timer for delayed shutter release
- Macro and Super Macro modes
- ISO settings of Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 equivalents
(800 only available in Candlelight mode)
- Image Contrast, Sharpness, and Saturation adjustments
- White balance (color) adjustment with six options, including a manual setting
- Multi-segment, center-weighted, and spot metering
- Five Digital Filter modes
- Automatic exposure compensation
- DPOF (Digital Print Order Format)

Pros: It is great for travel because of it sleek and compact form. Its connector covers are discretely placed. Its color LCD is large enough. Its LCD resolution is 232,000 pixels. It accurately produces skin tone. It can reduce blur through its shake reduction system. It has very easy to access options in playback.

Cons: In its high contrast areas, purple fringing appears. It is hard to shoot subjects that are moving with this digital camera. When in low light, the shake reduction system doesn’t work well. It has slow image playback and scroll features. It also comes with a low battery life.

Overall: The Pentax Optio A10 is an ideal digital camera for travelers. With its small size and compact form, it can easily fit into pockets, backpacks, waist bags, purses, etc. Very user friendly, even the whole family can easily use this digital camera. With the Pentax Optio A10, anyone can become a great photographer with the use of its basic and special features.

Attached Images

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