pentax a10 | sample image
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Details at a glance
Megapixels: 8
Optical Zoom: 3x
Digital Zoom: 4x
LCD: 2.5 inches
Storage: SD/MMC
We clicked with
Green button menu, anti-shake, button layout on the back
Shots in the dark
Jerkiness of digital zoom, battery life, noise
Links
More Pentax information
www.pentax.co.uk
Price Comparison:
Pentax Optio A10
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If you look at Pentax's range Optio of digital compacts, you'll find a series of cameras with a specific role and aim; the W10 (now W20) is waterproof for holidaymakers and outdoors enthusiasts alike, the T10 has a large touch-screen LCD for editing pictures and movies, and the M10 is for those just beginning their photographic adventure. And then there is the A10, the flagship camera in its range, a camera that mixes photography and style together in a surprisingly pleasant package.
Features
At its release in February, the A10 was the first in the Optio series to offer Shake Reduction and it is the standout feature here. It takes the form of two gyro sensors that detect any camera shake and moves the CCD sensor to compensate, so there is less chance of accidental movement blurring the shot. Shake Reduction is really simple to use - it is either on or off (user selected) and it waits in the background for you to take a shot, compensating for any movement when the shutter is pressed. If it wasn't for the little green icon on the LCD you wouldn't realise its there - unless you press the dedicated SR button on the top. This button turns on the SR while you are framing a scene and shows you how much compensation it is making, though this will decrease battery life. Like all anti vibration system, shake reduction cannot completely counteract camera shake, but it goes a long way to reduce even the shakiest hands to slight movement. The button does have uses other than serving my mild curiosity of how it works - when you take landscape photos at the high-end of the zoom range it reduces the amount of shaking caused by zooming that far.
The Green Button, a Pentax hallmark, makes an appearance on the A10, although unlike its stable mate M10's Beginner Mode, it allows quick access to a “function menu” where exposure, sharpness or white balance can be easily changed without having to delve back into the main camera menu. The menu uses the d-pad to make selections, and 4 functions can be attached to the menu, selectable from 10. At first it may sound like just another menu, but in practice its very handy - and it saves the need to have a dedicated button for each function, in turn keeping the back free from button clutter.
One of the hot features at the moment is in-camera editing and the A10 has a good number of options, with red-eye fixing, rotating and trimming edits all allowed. Limited post-processing is also available, with colour and brightness filters available. They aren't Photoshop on camera, but there is a fair amount of manual control which makes them useful.
Handling
As befits the A10's status as the flagship model of the Optio A10, the design is slim and the size is very suitable for a compact - it's not too big to fit in a pocket yet not too small so that it's fiddly to hold. In addition the camera isn't heavy either. The casing is made from light aluminium alloy so it has the impression of robustness, and using a rechargeable battery instead of AAs has saved a lot of weight. The camera oozes style with a good mix of shiny and brushed steel effect, and it certainly isn't a camera you'd be embarrassed to use. The only problem I can find with the styling is on the two connection covers hiding the USB/AV and DC ports, they are made out of somewhat flimsy plastic and give the impression that they will snap off if you aren't careful.
Partly due to the function menu described earlier, the camera has just enough buttons to get by. Only nine buttons join the large 2.5inch LCD screen on the back. That may sound like a lot but if you look at a photo of the back the buttons aren't cramped, and there is even an obvious place to put your thumb for holding the camera.
The buttons on the whole seem logically set out except for two: the on/off and the shutter bottoms on the top right of the camera. I found it very easy to press the on/off button accidentally when taking a shot. Even though the shutter button is three times the size, they are slightly too close to each other. On the other hand, the placement of the SR preview button is inspired, requiring you to hold the A10 with both hands, helping to reduce camera shake in a physical way.
Image quality
The A10 was released before high sensitivity modes became the norm, and the camera only offers a maximum ISO of 400 (relying on its image stabilisation to compensate in low-light). Noise is a big issue however, and the images suffer from it at all levels apart from 50 at the bottom end of the scale. Despite the noise colours and detail are good and at low ISO very sharp.
The camera struggles somewhat with backlit images. The meter is too easily fooled by a bright sky behind the subject and seems a little unwilling to use fill in flash to compensate when in auto mode. Thankfully the A10 shows very little sign of purple fringing, high contrast edges are usually sharp with very little colour change.
Shooting
The A10 is a fairly quick camera, turning on very fast despite having to extend the 3x lens. Menu operation is similarly quick and an instant review time (the brief time that a shot remains on the LCD when it is taken) of just 1 second is more than sufficient to cover up any processing or saving time.
Unfortunately the camera lapses a bit when taking a shot, not in terms of speed but in responsiveness. Many a time I found myself setting up a shot and the auto focus (by pressing the shutter down halfway) only to find that the camera won't take the picture - no matter how hard I press the shutter, and requiring the shot to be set up again. This was a fairly noticeable problem, maybe once in twenty photos and can be an issue when taking photos of fast moving subjects. This unresponsiveness wasn't limited to just action shots, but to all modes and scenes which suggests a problem with how the shutter button differentiates between its half-down auto focus state and all the way down to take a photo.
Even though it's not billed as an entry-level compact, the camera is very beginner friendly with control over manual options like exposure and fifteen scenes - while these don't have an onscreen explanation, the logo makes its function very obvious and the manual is very easy to read too.
What's not to like
The biggest problem I found with the camera was in its zooming, it was very jerky and quite off-putting. While it's natural to have some slight jerking in the optical range as the lens elements move, there is little reason to have five big jerks as you move in the digital range.
Battery life is another issue, with the review model going through batteries in about an hour and a half each. Camera use was fairly intensive in this time, but when some cameras pride themselves at allowing upwards of 500 shots, a battery life this small isn't that impressive. Of course, how often you use the camera depends on how much of a problem this is - if you are using the camera every-once in a while rather than every-day, it's less of an issue.
Camera specification
| Mega-pixels: | 8 |
Photo: | JPEG |
| Optical Zoom: | 3x |
RAW: | No |
| Digital Zoom: | 4x |
Aperture: | f/2.8-5.4 |
| LCD: | 2.5 inch |
Focal Length: | equiv. 38-114mm |
| Dimensions: | 88.5 x 54.5 x 23mm |
Shutter: | 4 sec to 1/2000 |
| Weight: | 125g |
Exposure: | ISO 50 to 400 |
| Storage: | SD/MMC |
Movie: | 640X480@30fps |
| Int. Mem: | 24mb |
Battery: | Li-ion D-Li8 |
| Interface: | USB 2.0, AV |
PictBridge: | Yes |
