Pentax Optio A10 Digital Camera
- Digital Zoom: 4x
- Camera Type: Compact
- Weight: 0.28 lb.
- LCD Screen Size: 2.5 in.
- Resolution: 8.3 Megapixel
- Optical Zoom: 3x
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small package, big benefits
Pros
small form, great quality, great video, ease of use, huge LCD screen
Cons
tricky engaging video, no case included, USB 2.0 doesnt charge camera.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Great camera for the price, numerous features, video capability, voice recording, 8MP, large LCD screen, small form, get this camera on price alone!
OVERVIEW
I purchased this camera at circuit city because my old samsung digimax 2.1 camera was quite a bit dated to say the least. I had not taken a look at the cameras on the market as they have progressed over the years. Once my camera's slow speed started to get to me I had to get a new camera.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
One of the very first things you notice about this camera is DANG ITS SMALL! this was not a big selling factor to me however in the store since many of the cameras that are coming out these days have a very small form factor. What did catch my eye however was the fact that the camera dispite its size has a very large 2.5" LCD display with 232,000 pixels. This is bigger than most cameras of any size, let alone a camera that is as small as the Optio A10 (measuring approx 4" long and 2" tall. The button layout on the camera is somewhat standard with a few exceptions. The physical aesthetics of the camera are stunning to say the least, with it's high quality silver / chrome finish and fasceted trim around the zoom lens as well.
FUNCTION
Once the screen caught my attention, I then turned to the details and quality of the camera. It looked pretty sturdy so I didn't second guess it, and the weight is very convincing, not weighing too much but still providing that "expensive" feel -which the camera is not. One of the few exceptions I was speaking about earlier is the fact that this camera has a built in shake reduction system that can be activated by pressing a tiny button on the top left of the camera. This camera apprently uses an Oscillascope that can detect movement of the camera and adjust the shake the screen sees in order to keep action shots or far zoom shots in the picture frame. This proves to be incredibly useful when using the zoom function and trying to get a small object such as a bird's nest at the top of a tree or someone water skiing. On the back side of the camera is a very easy to use larger sized button with simply the play icon known to many printed on it. This button serves one purpose and one purpose only and you guessed it: to go to the shots you have just taken! this proves to be incredibly convenient not only for your own use, but when handing the camera off to someone who wants to take a quick shot and see the results without having to decode a camera that they are not familiar with. The rest of the buttons are of pretty standard size and function. It is very easy to jump from menu to menu or to review videos and photos you have recently taken on this camera largely due to the fact that the actual speed of the camera's software is fast enough to keep up with every button press. This proves extremely useful when trying to take quick shots, - the selling point of a point and shoot camera.
QUALITY
like I said, the quality of the actual camera itself is very good and seems to be very sturdy. That being said, I have to also compliment the guys at Pentax for fitting such a small camera with an amazingly crisp and clear picture quality, both on the computer screen, photo paper, and the LCD screen itself. This camera is capable of taking pictures all the way down to 640 and 2040 pixels and increases to 2, 3, 4, 5, and finally a whopping 8 mega pixels!. When picking a setting, the menu system is hardly secretive, displaying exactly how many pictures you will get depending on the megapixel setting you choose. I have to say that the 8MP setting produces absolutely stunning pictures that dont show their true merit until they are viewed on a computer where you can digitally zoom as far as seemingly necessary. The zoom is great on this camera and it will handle most anyone's needs from the intermediate to advanced photographer. The camera has numerous picture type settings ranging from portrait, pets, plant life, macro, super macro, moving objects, food, text, Auto picture and many more!. This little camera even includes a voice recorder since it has a built in microphone.
VIDEO QUALITY
If you were already sold on the camera here is the kicker. That's right, it takes video as well. When I say video however I do not use the term loosely as many would with other digital cameras where, the video concept is a novelty at best. Not the case with this camera. With my 1GB memory chip I am able to take a full hour of good quality video that rivals that of some sigital camcorders. Like I said earlier it has a microphone so you can also record sound with the videos. Before taking the video you can actually use the zoom function and zoom to desired depth and then start filming, but you cannot zoom in or out while the video is actually rolling. You have the option of making the LCD display full screen full color high resolution video just as a camcorder would so that you aren't bothered by seconds counting down or other details that dont pretain to video capturing. My only complaint about the video setting is that sometimes it is tricky to get it to start filming in that you have to hold the button down for several seconds and watch for the record icon to come up. Even when it beeps sometimes it does not start recording so double check. Oh yea, the videos are also viewable at the same speed and quality on the LCD screen itself and the AVI format does not take up much space.
BATTERY LIFE
Battery life is pretty dang good. The battery is small, doesn't add to the camera's weight much and fits in the same compartment as the media chip making it virtually invisible. There is no swapping of batteries or recharging pesky AA's that never seem to hold a charge. The camera comes with a dock station that you simply plop the camera down in and it starts charging. On average I would say with medium to light use I can get about three days out of the battery. One thing to note is that when using the video function the battery life goes down signifigantly, but not enough to deter you from shooting high quality videos, cause that would be counter productive right? When you are using the video function sometimes the battery life will go down a notch or two, only to rise again when the camera is turned off for a little bit.
PC USE
It is very easy to transfer pictures and video via high speed USB 2.0 to your Mac or PC. One thing I like is that when you connect it and turn it on the camera does not put out the zoom lens, it simply stays compact just as if it were still off. The only indication of it being on is the light on the power button. One negative aspect I did discover is the fact that you cannot change the filenames for pictures of videos and put them back on the camera and have them still work. In other words, you cant view the videos or pictures again on the camera itself unless you keep the filenames EXACTLY the same as they were coming off the camera - something that proves fruitless if the pic or video is a few weeks old.
BOTTOM LINE
I cannot believe that this camera - with all its features and great picture and video taking abilities can still be priced under $300. In fact I saw it in Wal-Mart last week for I think $270 or so. There are way too many perks to this camera to list here in this review so go out and get one! Also, get a 1gb memory chip you will not be sorry!
I purchased this camera at circuit city because my old samsung digimax 2.1 camera was quite a bit dated to say the least. I had not taken a look at the cameras on the market as they have progressed over the years. Once my camera's slow speed started to get to me I had to get a new camera.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
One of the very first things you notice about this camera is DANG ITS SMALL! this was not a big selling factor to me however in the store since many of the cameras that are coming out these days have a very small form factor. What did catch my eye however was the fact that the camera dispite its size has a very large 2.5" LCD display with 232,000 pixels. This is bigger than most cameras of any size, let alone a camera that is as small as the Optio A10 (measuring approx 4" long and 2" tall. The button layout on the camera is somewhat standard with a few exceptions. The physical aesthetics of the camera are stunning to say the least, with it's high quality silver / chrome finish and fasceted trim around the zoom lens as well.
FUNCTION
Once the screen caught my attention, I then turned to the details and quality of the camera. It looked pretty sturdy so I didn't second guess it, and the weight is very convincing, not weighing too much but still providing that "expensive" feel -which the camera is not. One of the few exceptions I was speaking about earlier is the fact that this camera has a built in shake reduction system that can be activated by pressing a tiny button on the top left of the camera. This camera apprently uses an Oscillascope that can detect movement of the camera and adjust the shake the screen sees in order to keep action shots or far zoom shots in the picture frame. This proves to be incredibly useful when using the zoom function and trying to get a small object such as a bird's nest at the top of a tree or someone water skiing. On the back side of the camera is a very easy to use larger sized button with simply the play icon known to many printed on it. This button serves one purpose and one purpose only and you guessed it: to go to the shots you have just taken! this proves to be incredibly convenient not only for your own use, but when handing the camera off to someone who wants to take a quick shot and see the results without having to decode a camera that they are not familiar with. The rest of the buttons are of pretty standard size and function. It is very easy to jump from menu to menu or to review videos and photos you have recently taken on this camera largely due to the fact that the actual speed of the camera's software is fast enough to keep up with every button press. This proves extremely useful when trying to take quick shots, - the selling point of a point and shoot camera.
QUALITY
like I said, the quality of the actual camera itself is very good and seems to be very sturdy. That being said, I have to also compliment the guys at Pentax for fitting such a small camera with an amazingly crisp and clear picture quality, both on the computer screen, photo paper, and the LCD screen itself. This camera is capable of taking pictures all the way down to 640 and 2040 pixels and increases to 2, 3, 4, 5, and finally a whopping 8 mega pixels!. When picking a setting, the menu system is hardly secretive, displaying exactly how many pictures you will get depending on the megapixel setting you choose. I have to say that the 8MP setting produces absolutely stunning pictures that dont show their true merit until they are viewed on a computer where you can digitally zoom as far as seemingly necessary. The zoom is great on this camera and it will handle most anyone's needs from the intermediate to advanced photographer. The camera has numerous picture type settings ranging from portrait, pets, plant life, macro, super macro, moving objects, food, text, Auto picture and many more!. This little camera even includes a voice recorder since it has a built in microphone.
VIDEO QUALITY
If you were already sold on the camera here is the kicker. That's right, it takes video as well. When I say video however I do not use the term loosely as many would with other digital cameras where, the video concept is a novelty at best. Not the case with this camera. With my 1GB memory chip I am able to take a full hour of good quality video that rivals that of some sigital camcorders. Like I said earlier it has a microphone so you can also record sound with the videos. Before taking the video you can actually use the zoom function and zoom to desired depth and then start filming, but you cannot zoom in or out while the video is actually rolling. You have the option of making the LCD display full screen full color high resolution video just as a camcorder would so that you aren't bothered by seconds counting down or other details that dont pretain to video capturing. My only complaint about the video setting is that sometimes it is tricky to get it to start filming in that you have to hold the button down for several seconds and watch for the record icon to come up. Even when it beeps sometimes it does not start recording so double check. Oh yea, the videos are also viewable at the same speed and quality on the LCD screen itself and the AVI format does not take up much space.
BATTERY LIFE
Battery life is pretty dang good. The battery is small, doesn't add to the camera's weight much and fits in the same compartment as the media chip making it virtually invisible. There is no swapping of batteries or recharging pesky AA's that never seem to hold a charge. The camera comes with a dock station that you simply plop the camera down in and it starts charging. On average I would say with medium to light use I can get about three days out of the battery. One thing to note is that when using the video function the battery life goes down signifigantly, but not enough to deter you from shooting high quality videos, cause that would be counter productive right? When you are using the video function sometimes the battery life will go down a notch or two, only to rise again when the camera is turned off for a little bit.
PC USE
It is very easy to transfer pictures and video via high speed USB 2.0 to your Mac or PC. One thing I like is that when you connect it and turn it on the camera does not put out the zoom lens, it simply stays compact just as if it were still off. The only indication of it being on is the light on the power button. One negative aspect I did discover is the fact that you cannot change the filenames for pictures of videos and put them back on the camera and have them still work. In other words, you cant view the videos or pictures again on the camera itself unless you keep the filenames EXACTLY the same as they were coming off the camera - something that proves fruitless if the pic or video is a few weeks old.
BOTTOM LINE
I cannot believe that this camera - with all its features and great picture and video taking abilities can still be priced under $300. In fact I saw it in Wal-Mart last week for I think $270 or so. There are way too many perks to this camera to list here in this review so go out and get one! Also, get a 1gb memory chip you will not be sorry!
