While we're still awaiting news on the future of Pentax's compact camera range, its digital SLR range continues to expand in interesting directions, with the launch of the latest semi-pro model. The K20D has been developed in partnership withSamsung who are responsible for the camera's powerful new 14.6-megapixel CMOS sensor. It replaces the 10.2-megapixel K10D, launched last year, and joins the K200D and K100D Super in Pentax's current range.Pentax is one of the original "Big Five" Japanese camera companies, alongside Nikon, Canon, Minolta (RIP) and Olympus, and has a history dating back to 1919. Traditionally Pentax's core market has been the amateur enthusiast photographer, with a long series of affordable but high-qualitySLRs such as the Spotmatic, ME Super and P30, although it has also produced some outstanding professional models over the years, including the current 645NII and 67II medium-format film cameras. Pentax has always played second fiddle to market leaders Nikon and Canon, and even now has a much smaller share of the digital SLR market than any of the other major players. However the brand's rich history of quality and innovation is still apparent in the current models.
The K20D has a range of features that put it into the top bracket of current semi-pro DSLRs. As well as the most powerful sensor of any camera this side of Canon's £2,500 full-frame EOS 1Ds Mk III, it has a tough weatherproof alloy body, body-integral sensor-shift image stabilisation, 2.7-inch 230k LCD monitor, expanded dynamic range function and even live monitor view. The K20D costs around £769 body-only or £899 in a kit with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, which compares very favourably with other high-endDSLRs . Arguably the closest matches in terms of specification are the Nikon D300 (£1,100 body-only) and the Sony Alpha A700 (£1,000 body-only), both of which have 12.2-megapixel sensors, but the Pentax comfortably beats both models on resolution and more importantly on price. The only fly in the ointment is the GX-20, from Pentax's business partner Samsung. The GX-20 is virtually identical to the K20D, but costs about £20 less for the same kit. Of course the Samsung badge on the front doesn't have quite the same cachet as the Pentax name, so maybe that's worth the extra.

Despite having recently reviewed the Canon EOS 40D and Nikon D300, the Pentax K20D still managed to impress me straight out of the box. It's one of those few cameras that immediately feels right as soon as you hold it. Like most previousPentax SLRs it's very light and compact compared to its rivals, measuring 141.5 x 101 x 70mm and weighing 715g minus battery or card. Compare this to the Nikon D300 (147 x 114 x 74 mm and 825g) or theEOS 40D (145.5 x 107.8 x 73.5mm and 740g) and you get some idea of how easy the K20D is to handle. The only recent semi-pro model that is lighter is the Sony A700 (142 x 105 x 80mm and 690g).
The body design is based on the K10D, which is no bad thing. It has a large and comfortable hand-grip with a textured rubber coating that is repeated on the back for the equally ergonomic thumb-grip area. The body feels very tough and durable, and the card and battery hatches have locking catches and water resistant rubber seals. The control layout appears complex, but is actually very intuitive and self-explanatory for anyone with any SLR experience. Main exposure and metering modes are selected by a simple dial on the top left, including a preset User option and an X-sync flash setting. It also has a feature which is, as far as I know, unique to Pentax cameras, a sensitivity-priority exposure mode. On the right of the top plate is a large and well-lit LCD data display with a range of shooting information, although I would have liked to see a bit more information on this, such as a permanent display of ISO setting or colour space.
Like most high-spec DSLRs it has a dual control wheel system for exposure and setting adjustments, with a separate D-pad for menu navigation. The menu system is divided into two parts; a quick function menu for custom colour settings, white balance, flash mode, ISO setting and drive/timer mode, and a main menu for all other camera settings. Also in common with other high-endDSLRs the K20D has a huge range of customisable features so you can set the camera up just how you like it. Options include four different JPEG compression settings, a choice of eitherPEF or Adobe DNG RAW modes, multi-exposure, interval shooting, and sRGB or Adobe RGB colour space.

The K20D is equipped with Pentax's moving-sensor image stabilisation system, which has shown itself to be one of the best on the market. Pentax claims that it offers four stops of extra shooting stability, but this is a little optimistic. Using the kit 18-55mm lens supplied, at the longest focal length of 55mm, conventional wisdom says that you need a shutter speed of at least 1/60th of a second for hand-held shooting, so adding four stops to this would give a shutter speeds of 1/8th of a second, but shots taken at this speed show very visible movement blur. Speeding up by one stop to 1/15th of a second produces shake-free shots fairly reliably, which is a three-stop advantage. It may be that the shake reduction works better using lenses with a longer focal length, but with the standard three stops is the limit. Mind you three stops isn't at all bad, and compares well with the performance of lens-based IS systems used by other manufacturers.
Dynamic range enhancement is becoming a must-have feature on high-spec digital cameras, and especially on DSLRs. All the main manufacturers include something of this type; Sony has it's DRO system, Nikon has Active D-Lighting, and so on. Naturally Pentax has such a system, called Expanded Dynamic Range, which is activated from the ISO setting menu. It is pretty straightforward, simply selectively altering the sensitivity to enhance shadow detail and reduce highlight clipping. As such systems go it is very effective and has no noticeable negative impact on image quality.

The other essential feature for any modern DSLR is monitor live view. The K20D has this feature too, although like the EOS 40D it is a bit limited. It doubles as a stop-down preview, so the image will be very dark at narrow apertures, and of course autofocus is not available while in live view mode. Still, it is a useful feature under some circumstances despite its limitations.

The K20D's performance is very good, although it's not as fast as some of its rivals. It has Pentax's newly improved SAFOX VIII autofocus system, with 11 focusing points spread widely across the frame. Nine of these sensors are of the more accurate cross type, and I was suitably impressed by the speed and accuracy of the system. The only camera I've seen recently with a better AF system is the much more expensive Nikon D300.
Shooting speed is also fast. In single shot mode it can take a picture just as fast as you can press the shutter button, at least two shots a second. There are two continuous shooting modes, a high-speed setting that captures three frames a second, but is limited to 38 shots in JPEG mode or 14 in RAW PEF mode, and a low-speed mode that can shoot at 2.3 frames per second but can carry on until the memory card is full. That may not sound too fast compared to the EOS 40D's 6.5fps, but it's fast enough for most purposes, and is pretty impressive when you consider that it is writing JPEG files that average around 10MB each, and RAW files of over 23MB.

Those huge file sizes translate directly into image quality, and here is where the K20D really shows its worth. Quite simply it produces the sharpest, most finely detailed pictures of any current semi-pro DLSR. Dynamic range performance is outstanding even without the Enhanced Dynamic Range feature, and colour reproduction is as good as ever. However it is not without its problems. I found that exposure metering was often inconsistent, and often under-exposed by as much as a stop. This isn't as much of a problem as over-exposure, and is easily corrected in RAW post-processing, but it really shouldn't be happening on a camera of this quality. I also noticed some inconsistency in white balance from shot to shot, especially at higher ISO speeds. High ISO noise control is very good though, with little sign of noise until 800 ISO, and perfectly usable images at 1600 ISO. Even shots at the 3200 ISO maximum are far from hopeless.
The quality of the supplied 18-55mm lens is better than most kit lenses, and produces good edge sharpness with little distortion, but it is a bit prone to chromatic aberration in the corners. This lens has been in use now for over eight years and it is beginning to look a bit weak by modern standards. If I was to buy a K20D (if only I could afford it!) I would buy it body only and buy the rather lovely SMC PENTAX-DA 16-45mm F4.0 ED/AL instead.

Verdict
With the launch of the K20D Pentax is taking on the top players in the semi-pro DSLR market. It has a class-leading specification, with build quality, handling and performance to match, and has exactly the sort of features that will appeal to advanced amateurs and semi-professionals. The slight problems with exposure consistency are annoying but not fatal, and the breathtaking detail of that 14.6MP sensor more than makes up for it. The K20D is a very accomplished camera and exceptional value for money.

Labels: Pentax

I have to wonder if the Pentax Optio A40 is jinxed. It was originally supposed to be launched in November 2007, but a fire at the factory making the batteries delayed the launch by five months. The A40 is now available in Europe, but its launch has been overshadowed by even worse news. There is an ugly rumour circulating that Pentax is soon to phase out production of its Optio range of digital compact cameras. Since Pentax is due to merge with optics manufacturer Hoya this month, and co-develops its digital SLRs with Samsung, the end of the Optio range could mean the end of Pentax as an independent camera manufacturer. We've had no official response from Pentax Europe yet, but they haven't denied it so far. There's also no word on how this will affect other areas of Pentax's business, such as binoculars, CCTV systems, surveying equipment and surgical endoscopes, but the illustrious 90-year history of one of Japan's major camera brands could soon be coming to an end.
This is a great shame, because the Optio A40 deserves a much happier fate than to be the Optio range's swan-song, although at least it would end on a high note. The A40 is a high quality 12-megapixel ultra-compact camera with an f/2.8-5.4, 3x zoom lens equivalent to 38-114mm. Features include a 2.5-inch 230k wide view monitor, face detection, moving-sensor image stabilisation and the new Dynamic Range Adjustment function, which reduces burnt out highlights and murky shadows. It succeeds the excellent Optio A30, and shares a number of features including the lens, monitor, autofocus system and metering system, although the A40 does have a new body.
Currently priced at around £190, the Optio A40 is not a cheap camera even when compared to other 12-megapixel compacts. The Fuji F50fd is currently selling for around £143, both the Panasonic FX100 and the Sony W200 are about £165, the Casio EX-Z1200 is just under £170, and even the Nikon S700 is available for under £180. The price of the A40 will undoubtedly come down over the next couple of months as more stock becomes available, but right now it's a very expensive camera.

If cameras were sold on looks alone, the A40 would certainly be worth the money. Pentax pretty much invented the ultra-compact digital camera, and over the years it has refined its design down to a fine art. The A40 has a robust all-metal body finished in either matt black or silver, with chrome trim and controls. The design incorporates a small textured thumb grip on the back, and the small raised flash detail on the front also provides some grip, so despite its exceptionally compact dimensions the camera feels solid and secure to hold. It measures just 57 x 89 x 23.5mm and weighs only 150g including battery, and its smooth-cornered shape slips easily into a shirt pocket.
The control layout is basically identical to the Optio A30 and several previous Pentax ultra-compacts. The power button and shutter release are on the top panel, while on the back are the D-pad, playback and menu buttons, the zoom control and the Green Button, the instant easy-mode control found on all of the Optio range. The zoom control is a relatively chunky rocker switch positioned under the right thumb, but it is stiff enough that it isn't easy to operate it accidentally. It's not the most sensitive control in the world though, and the zoom is stepped with seven positions from wide to telephoto, so precise framing is going to mean some moving backwards and forwards.

In common with most high-spec compacts the A40 offers some manual exposure control, in the form of shutter priority or full manual modes. The only available aperture settings in manual exposure mode are minimum and maximum (f/8.0-f/15.4), although shutter speeds from four seconds to 1/2000th of a second are available in 1/3EV increments, so there is some room for creativity. The menu does also offer some degree of picture control, with adjustable contrast, saturation and sharpness, but there is no control over noise reduction. It does offer some other creative features though, including multiple exposures on the same frame, and a wide range of scene modes.

The Dynamic Range Adjustment feature is similar in function to Sony's DRO system. It proportionally increases the sensor gain in darker areas and reduces in in highlights, reducing the occurrence of black featureless shadows and burned-out highlights in high contrast shots. It has four settings; off, weak, strong and automatic. I found that it didn't do much about the highlights, but was able to pull out about a stop and a half of extra shadow detail without significantly increasing image noise, which should go some way towards alleviating the inherent dynamic range limitations of the 12MP 1/1.8-inch sensor.
Pentax's moving-sensor image stabilisation system is well-proven, and I found I was able to take sharp hand-held shots at full zoom at 1/25th of a second, a gain of about two and a half stops. This is approximately the same performance and Panasonic, Canon and Sony's optical image stabilisation systems.

The A40's overall performance is very good. It starts up in just under three seconds, which is a little slow, but not intolerable. It shuts down again a bit more briskly in 2.5 seconds. In single shot mode the shot-to-shot cycle time is very quick at about 1.2 seconds, while in continuous shooting mode it can maintain a speed of just under two frames a second, not bad for a 12MP camera. The autofocus system is a lot quicker than some of Pentax's previous efforts, and although it isn't as fast as Casio or Canon AF systems it isn't painfully slow, and also doesn't slow down much in low light or at longer focal lengths. Low light focusing is very good, and the AF assist lamp means it will focus fairly reliably in total darkness at a range of about three metres. Flash exposure is also very good, producing even exposures at close range and filling a large room easily. Battery duration isn't too bad either, managing to squeeze about 200 shots out of the small 710mAh Li-ion battery.
Image quality has never been a major problem for Pentax's high-spec cameras, and here the A40 shows its class. Focusing, exposure metering and colour reproduction are all excellent. The lens quality is also up to Pentax's usual high standard, with superb sharpness from edge to edge and no chromatic aberration. It does produce some barrel distortion at both ends of the zoom range, but it is fairly even. Noise control is about average for a 12MP compact camera, with very good picture quality up to 200 ISO, and then progressively lower quality from the just-about-printable 400 ISO to the pretty ugly maximum of 1600 ISO. With the Dynamic Range Adjustment set to strong or automatic, the A40 coped very well with high contrast lighting, keeping a good amount of shadow detail and not too many blown highlights.

Verdict
Hopefully the Optio A40 doesn't represent the last generation of Pentax compact cameras, because despite its ultra-compact size it is packed with clever technology, including effective image stabilisation and dynamic range improvement. Build quality, design, performance and image quality are all very good, and the camera is easy and satisfying to use. It may be expensive at the moment, but it offers a very complete and attractive package, and compares well in quality and performance with the very best of the competition.

Labels: Pentax

Pentax has announced it's new enthusiast level DSLR, the Pentax K20D, set to replace the K10D of 2007. Like that camera, the camera is the result of a collaboration with Korean electronic Samsung. We are told that the electronics are produced by Samsung, while design and camera know-how comes from Pentax. As with the K10D, Samsung has also announced an almost identical model, the GX20.
I recently joined Pentax at the cameras launch in Dubai and spent a couple of days using a pre-production model. While this camera is pretty much the final version, there will probably be final firmware updates before the final release, so we can't give a full review at this time.
At the cameras heart is a newly developed CMOS sensor, produced by Samsung, with an effective resolution of 14.6 million pixels. This places the camera at the top of the tree in regards to resolution, surpassing that of the recent models from Nikon, Canon and Sony. In fact the only DSLR to top the resolution is Canon flagship EOS 1DS Mk III.

The sensor is APS-C sized and at full resolution will produce images sized at 4672 x 3120 pixels. In print terms this equates to approximately 15.6 x 10.4 inches at 300dpi. File sizes are approximately 45MB when opened and around 6MB for a closed JPEG. Files can be saved as Raw in Pentax's own PEF format, DNG, or JPEG. There's also the obligatory RAW+JPEG option.

Like the K10D, the new model has an opto-magnetic 3D-Sensor image stabilisation system. This in-camera system allows users to use standard Pentax K-mount lenses at slower shutter speeds. Pentax claims up to 4 stops slower shutter speeds can be used with the newly improved system. Furthermore the sensors sensitivity covers ISO 100-6400, allowing photography in a range of lighting conditions. Pentax has added a new Dynamic range function allowing +2EV extension for improving highlight and shadow details.
The moving sensor also allows dust to be shaken from the sensor, to be caught by an adhesive pad in the base of the chamber, while an anti-static coating over the sensor reduces the chance of dust adhering to the sensor in the first place.
The camera body maintains a similar look and feel to its predecessor, with a steel chassis and weatherproof seals, while Pentax's design ethos ensures the camera remains small and light, weighing just 800g with battery and SD card. As with other Pentax DSLRs, the K-mount allows compatibility with older Pentax lenses, as well as the new DA range, while an adaptor is available for using Pentax 645 and 67 series lenses. It is also compatible with Samsung and new Schneider lenses.

The LCD screen has been enlarged to 2.7" with 230,000 dots resolution, which fails to match the size or resolution of the Nikon D300 OR Sony A700, but it does now incorporate Live View so images can be composed via the monitor. The monitor is fixed though and lacks the multi-angle hinge found on the Panasonic Lumix L-10 or Olympus E3, which I personally prefer.
Button placement follows a similar pattern to that of the K10D, with easy access to the main functions, while a function button quickly opens the menu to change flash modes, WB and ISO. A rotating scroll wheel is used to change the 11 AF points, while a pair of front and rear command dials offer natural and quick exposure control.

It's not a hard camera to use, feels very comfortable with all of the main fuctions one would require of a semi-pro model. Like other cameras at this level it lacks scene modes, but does offer a range of picture options settings, which can also be customised in the menu.

The menu in particular has seen a few changes, with a better tyoe face and importantly much clearer labelling of some of the functions. One of my criticisms of Pentax cameras in the past has been their somewhat esoteric naming conventions. The sensor cleaning function for example, is no longer named ‘Switch dst msr pt'.
In the playback menu there are a number of direct image manipulation options, including a range of colour filters, an HDR function and colour extract tools. The camera also follows the K10Ds lead by providing in-camera Raw processing. Whenever any of these functions are performed, a new image file is created and saved, leaving you original file untouched. Personally I don't use too many of these functions, but for some, especially if you intend on printing directly from the camera, they can prove very useful.

One welcome improvement is the new 11 point AF with 9 cross sensors. In conjunction with the new standard smc PENTAX-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II zoom, the AF speed and accuracy shows an improvement over the previous models. However, again, the camera fails to match the AF specification of rivals such as the Nikon D300 and Canon EOS 40D.

Pentax is happy for us to show images from the pre-production model, but it should be reiterated that this is not the final firmware version, and there may be some changes to the final output.

My main criticism is the cameras exposure system. This has been a consistent failure of Pentax, and like earlier models the camera has a tendency to underexpose. This is disappointing as accurate exposure is a fundamental requirement of a camera, and there really is no need for poor metering in this day and age. Having said that, the cameras histogram feature in playback allows the user to assess the images better than simply viewing the monitor, and I found that by using exposure compensation of +1EV, exposures were much improved. Other features such as the dynamic range expansion proved useful, but less so than the Sony A700.

White balance is consistent and produces pleasing results even under mixed lighting. I occasionally needed to switch to a preset from Auto, but that's usual. Colour and tone in general is very good with nice punchy images at the default settings.
The noise at higher ISOs is impressive too, with excellent results at ISO 3200 though images get a little too speckled at ISO 6400, but they are usable and Raw images should be easily fixed in Adobe Camera Raw or similar processing. Unfortunately at the time of review, no Pentax Raw software was available.

A sensor with this many pixels has a distinct advantage, of course, and that is image sharpness. The K20D does produce sharp images, especially when viewed on A4 prints, or on screen. You need to be careful to keep the camera steady however as the closely packed pixel population will show up and amplify the effect of any movement.

Verdict
Pentax (and Samsung) has produced a solid mid range camera with many features that match its rivals. On top of that the densely populated, class beating CMOS sensor is sure to prove popular and give the K20D an edge of its rivals.

The camera is fun to use, without being intimidating and it's backlog of compatible lenses will prove to be useful to existing Pentax users.

On the downside, the inaccurate metering is a disappointment, though easily remedied by anyone with a basic understanding of the principles of exposure, but it really should be better. The price of £899 is very good indeed and should definitely be an incentive to new users to pick the K20D over it's rivals.

Labels: Pentax

A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the Nikon Coolpix L10, the entry-level model of Nikon’s compact camera range. This week it’s the turn of Pentax’s bottom-of-the-range model, another low-cost camera using AA batteries for power.

The Pentax Optio E30 is a budget-priced 7.1 megapixel compact camera featuring a 3x zoom 6mm-18mm f/2.7-4.8 lens (equivalent to 36mm-108mm in 35mm format), a 2.4-in LCD monitor, and a fairly basic specification. It is available from online retailers for just under £95. There are a surprising number of 6-7MP entry-level cameras with AA battery power available, but most are more expensive than the Pentax. For example the Canon PowerShot A550 is around £140, the Nikon CoolPix L11 is £119, the HP Photosmart M627 is £159, the Samsung DigiMax S730 is £109 and even the Kodak EasyShare C653 is £100. Of cameras from the major brands only the Fujifilm FinePix A700, the Olympus FE-210 and the 6MP Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS60 are about the same price.

Initial impressions of the E30 are not massively encouraging. Its appearance looks quite dated by recent standards. Measuring 61.5 x 94.5 x 35.4mm it looks positively bulky next to the ultra-slim M30. However even with two alkaline batteries inserted it somehow manages to feel rather light and insubstantial, which is odd since it weighs a fairly hefty 185g.However a closer examination reveals that despite its plastic body it is solidly put together with no creaks or groans even when squeezed. The comparatively large handgrip, the larger-than-average size of the controls, and particularly the large shutter button might make it a suitable camera for someone with limited flexibility in their hands and fingers, something which I imagine would be a serious problem with many of today’s ultra-compact cameras. Likewise the battery hatch and card slot are very easy to open, with a simple sliding hinged cover that has no latch. This does mean it can be prone to accidental opening, in which case your batteries will fall out, but if easy access was the intention then it has succeeded.

Like many Pentax compacts, performance is not exactly a highlight. It starts up in just over three seconds, which is a bit on the slow side, and shuts down again in just under two. In single-shot mode it can average one shot every 2.5 seconds, which is a little on the slow side even for a low-cost camera. In continuous shooting mode it can manage a burst of three shots in just over one and a half seconds before it has to pause for about seven seconds to write them to the memory card. Focusing speed isn’t bad though, and is one of the areas where it appears to be significantly quicker than the M30. It struggles a bit in low light though, and since it has no AF assist lamp it doesn’t focus at all once light levels fall below a certain point. The zoom control is a bit hit or miss as well, since it only has five steps from maximum to minimum focal length.

The E30 is a bit short on features even for a budget camera. It does have infinity and manual focus, and a two-speed self-timer (2 or 10 sec). It also has 15 modes, but these include the movie and sound recording modes. There only 12 actual scene modes, including all the usuals, such as portrait, landscape, sports, flowers, snow, sunset, food etcetera. It also has the unusual Pentax Pets mode, with separate settings for cats and dogs, and of course the much admired Frame Composite mode. Even the usual Pentax playback modes such as colour filters are absent from the E30. The movie mode is adequate, shooting in 640 x 480 pixel resolution at 28 frames a second with mono sound, although the audio quality is very poor.

The LCD monitor is quite low resolution by recent standards, with only 110,000 pixels. It is also very reflective and not very bright, which makes it difficult to see in sunlight. The angle of view is also much lower than in many cameras I’ve seen recently. Really, I thought we’d seen the last of problems like these five years ago.In its promotional blurb Pentax claims around 200 shots on a set of alkaline AA batteries as though this was somehow remarkable, whereas in fact that’s a fairly average performance for a modern AA-powered compact. Unfortunately it may also not be true. Using the AA alkaline batteries supplied with the camera I was only able to take 65 shots before the battery ran out, although to be fair they were undated Chinese imports so there’s no way to know how long they’d been sitting on a shelf in some Beijing warehouse.

It’s hard to avoid comparisons between the E30 and the Nikon L6 that I reviewed a few weeks ago. That camera was smaller, lighter, better looking, had double the battery duration and had many more features for about the same price. It may have only been 6 megapixels, but it was a much better camera. There was a time a few years ago when Pentax was the undisputed king of ultra-compact cameras, but I have to say that these days most of the Optio range is lagging a long way behind the competition and is overdue for a major shake-up. About the only recent camera I can think of that the E30 beats is the dismal Fuji A700, and that’s not saying a lot.
The E30’s one saving grace is its picture quality, but even that has its limits. The lens performs well, providing good corner-to-corner sharpness with minimal distortion, and colour rendition and exposure are very good. Dynamic range is fairly limited, but then it frequently is with cameras in this class. As long as you manually set the camera to 80 ISO and only ever use it at this setting then noise control is also very good, but as soon as the ISO gets even as high as 160 there are image noise problems, which by the camera’s maximum setting of only 400 ISO are so bad the pictures are unusable. All in all a rather disappointing camera from one of the big name brands.

Verdict
The Pentax Optio E30 has little to recommend it besides its price. Build quality and handling are of an acceptable standard, but performance and features do not match up to similarly priced models from other brands. Optical quality is good, but let down by limited dynamic range and poor noise control at all but the lowest sensitivity.

Labels: Pentax

t’s been a while since I’ve reviewed any of Pentax’s Optio pocket compacts, so today I’m taking a look at one of the most recent, the super-slim Optio M30.

Announced in January along with the more sophisticated T30 and the AA-powered E30, the M30 is a mid-level 7.1-megapixel ultra-compact with a 3x zoom lens, a 2.5-in 115k pixel monitor screen and a maximum sensitivity of 3200 ISO. Affordable pocket compacts have always been something of a Pentax speciality, so although it has a list price of £149 the M30 is available from several online retailers for under £125, which compares extremely well with other recent 7MP ultra-compacts such as the Olympus FE-230 (£129) Casio Exilim EX-Z70 (£149), Samsung Digimax NV3 (£164), Nikon Coolpix S200 (£179), Canon IXUS 70 (£209), Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX30 (£234) and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T50 (£269).

Measuring a diminutive 57 x 97 x 18mm and weighing in at only 135g including battery and card, the M30 is one of the slimmest and lightest cameras on the market. However despite its delicate appearance and low weight, it is a solidly made camera with Pentax’s usual excellent build quality. The body is all metal, an attractive anodised aluminium case that resists finger marks, with chrome trim which does show up fingerprints but is easy to wipe clean. Only the battery/card hatch is made of plastic, but even this has metal hinges. The shape of the body flares out slightly toward the right hand side, so despite its slim profile it is easy to grip securely. There is a small textured area on the back to provide a thumb grip.The LCD monitor is large and bright, but with only 115,000 pixels it’s not the sharpest around. It also lacks the useful feature of a non-reflective coating, so glare can be a problem in bright sunlight.

As you might expect from its low price, the M30 has a distinctly limited range of features. It only has automatic exposure, and a fairly small list of program scene modes which covers only the bare essentials of portrait, landscape, sports, night scene, flowers, surf & snow, kids, pets, food, and of course that old Pentax favourite, the risible “Frame Composite” mode, which puts cheesy borders around your pictures. It also has a mode optimistically called “Digital SR”, or shake reduction. This simply increases the ISO setting to around 1000 to increase shutter speed, reducing the effects of camera shake and movement blur at the cost of increased image noise.

There are one or two additional features though, including optional manual focus and adjustable contrast, sharpness and saturation. There are a few more features available in playback mode, particularly another Pentax favourite, digital colour filters, including colour exclusion filters that will reduce a picture to monochrome with the exception of a single colour, sometimes referred to as the “Schindler’s List” effect.

Overall performance has previously been something of a bugbear for some Pentax compacts, but the M30 shows significant improvements in this direction. It starts up in a little over two and a half seconds, which is about average for a camera in this class but a lot quicker than some previous Optio models. Shut down time is a bit quicker at just under two seconds.

In continuous shooting mode performance is rather more encouraging. It can shoot at a rate of one frame every 0.7 seconds for the first ten frames, but then slows to about one frame a second, which it can maintain until the card is full. The movie mode is also up to scratch, shooting at 640 x 480 resolution and 30fps.The AF system is very good in normal light, finding focus in well under a second at average ranges in daylight, but once light levels drop the focusing time gets a lot slower. In average indoor lighting it takes around two seconds to focus, and in pub/club lighting it often won’t focus at all since it has no AF assist lamp, although the default focus setting is usually adequate for group photos. The flash is good though, with a quick recharge time, excellent frame coverage and a big 5.5m range at standard ISO settings. Flash metering is good, and it doesn’t over-expose at close range.

Battery life is also good. The camera is powered by a small 740mAh Li-ion rechargeable battery, for which Pentax claims 230 shots on a full charge. I took about 150 shots before the charge meter dropped from three bars to two, so this claim sounds reasonable.

In maximum quality mode the M30 produces files that are around 2.5MB in size, which is very small for a 7MP camera, allowing around 280 pictures to fit on a 1GB card, or just over 15 minutes of video shooting.

Unfortunately this heavy file compression does nothing to help with picture quality, which is a pity because the M30 needs all the help it can get in this department. Unusually for a Pentax camera the main cause of image quality problems is the lens, which causes heavy barrel distortion at wide angle, and pincushion distortion combined with appallingly bad corner blurring at medium zoom settings and close range. At ranges longer than a few metres optical performance is better, but still far from good. I hope that this isn’t a general problem with Pentax’s updated sliding lens system, because it is used on many other cameras in the company’s current range. I’ve got the Optio E30 to test next week, so I’ll be looking out for it.

Also causing major problems in many shots was our old friend the purple fringe, although this appeared inconsistently, sometimes present on one shot but not on another similar shot. There were also some strange red fringes on a few pictures, which didn’t look like chromatic aberration. Possibly this could be some filtering system to reduce purple fringing.

Noise control however was very good, producing quite acceptable results up to ISO 400, and usable shots at 800 and 1600 ISO. At the maximum 3200 ISO the noise levels were too high to be used, but the same is true of most cameras offering this high sensitivity setting.

Apart from the lens quality issues, overall exposure was fairly good under most circumstances. There were one or two few hiccups when shooting in very high contrast situations, when the limited dynamic range of the sensor caused many burned-out highlights, but on the whole the camera coped fairly well with most usual circumstances. Colour rendition was also reasonably good, with detail visible even in areas of bright colour.

Verdict
The Pentax Optio M30 is the latest in a long line of low-cost, easy-to-use and extremely stylish pocket compacts. It is well made, well designed and has reasonably good performance, but it is let down by poor low-light capability and some worrying image quality issues, particularly very bad lens distortion under some circumstances. If you want an ultra-slim 7MP camera, save up a bit more and get the Casio EX-S770 instead.

Labels: Pentax

Pentax has an unusual approach to the digital camera market. While the other manufacturers have a wide range of models in all the different categories – ultra-compact style cameras, standard zoom compacts, superzooms, semi-pro “bridge” cameras and DSLRS – for several years now Pentax has poured most of its resources into just two of those categories, ultra-compacts and DSLRs. This might seem like a risky strategy, but perhaps Pentax figures that it’s better to be the master of two trades than Jack of all.

As a result the Pentax digital camera range currently consists of three DSLRs and no fewer than sixteen 3x optical zoom ultra-compact cameras. Within the range are many variations on the basic theme, with sensor resolutions ranging from 5.0 to 10.0 megapixels, some cameras powered by AA batteries and others by rechargeable Li-ion cells, and also the W-series of waterproof cameras, including the W20 that I reviewed last week. If you’re looking for a compact digital camera with a 3x zoom lens, the chances are that Pentax has something that will suit your needs.

One of the latest is this, the Optio T20. It’s a 7.0-megapixel model featuring a big 3in high resolution monitor and an innovative touch-screen menu system. Launched late last year with a list price of £249.99, it is currently available at retail for around £185. This puts it at about the mid point in the price range for 7-megapixel compacts, compared with such models as the Casio Exilim EX-Z70 (£140), Olympus mju 700 (£140), Sony DSC-W70 (£160), Canon IXUS i7 Zoom (£190), Ricoh caplio R5 (£205), Kodak Easyshare V705 (£209), Nikon Coolpix S7c (£215) and Canon IXUS 850 IS (£244).

Like its siblings it features Pentax’s 6.2-18.6mm (37.5mm-112.5mm equiv.) Sliding Lens System, which folds down flush with the camera’s body. This allows the T20 to be just 19.5mm thick, making it one of the slimmest cameras available. It has a very sleek and minimalist appearance, with a simple rectangular shape rounded off on the top and bottom edges. The body is all aluminium alloy which feels nice and sturdy, and build quality is of a very high standard. Weighing 135g it is nice and light and won’t make much of a bulge in your shirt pocket.

Because of its touch-screen control system there are only two buttons on the back panel, so despite the large monitor there is plenty of room to grip the camera, with a large textured thumb grip area on the back.

On the top panel there is only the on/off button, the shutter release and the zoom control, which is a rotating bezel around the shutter button. The controls are clearly labelled and easy to operate, although the on/off button is recessed to prevent accidental activation.

Touch-screen operation isn’t a new idea, and I’ve used several cameras in the past that have made use of it, but few of them have been successful. Pentax’s version however works very well, and makes the camera very quick and simple to operate. In shooting mode a single finger-tap of the screen brings up the main shooting options, eight finger-sized icons for shooting mode, flash mode, drive mode, AF setting, ISO, picture size and quality, and metering mode. Tapping any of these brings up a sub-menu, so changing any of the settings usually takes no more than three taps.

The menu button likewise brings up a series of touch-buttons for the usual menu options, some of which duplicate the shooting menu, but also include things like adjustable saturation, contrast and sharpness.

One useful feature of this system is that the bottom row of shooting mode buttons are user-defined, so you can choose whichever four menu functions are most useful to you. This is handy, since exposure compensation is not included in the default set, but can be added by the user.

The shooting mode palette has fewer options than most of Pentax’s range, with just twelve choices. However these cover all of the most useful options, including portrait, landscape, sports, surf & snow, night scene, food, and of course the inevitable “Frame Composite” mode. It also has a “Pets” option, with three different options for light, mid and dark coloured coats.

In playback mode there are some neat features, including automatic red-eye correction, and the ability to draw or add clip-art directly onto your pictures using the touch screen, although this is a lot easier if you use a stylus of some sort.
So far so good then, but nearly every camera has a weakness, and for the T20 it’s performance. Start-up time is just over three seconds, which might not sound like a lot but is well below average for a modern compact. Continuous shooting is also slow, shooting at approximately one frame every two seconds. However it’s the AF system that really lets it down. It’s one of the slowest I’ve seen in a couple of years, taking well over a second to achieve focus even in good light. Although its low-light focusing ability is very good thanks to a nice bright AF lamp, in the dark it’s focusing is even slower.
It also has one massively annoying trait. When you press the shutter button to focus, the scene on the monitor freezes until the AF system locks on, so trying to frame a moving subject is almost impossible. In continuous shooting mode this effectively means that the monitor is useless, because it only shows the shots that have been taken, without showing what you’re trying to frame.

Battery life is also extremely poor. The T20 uses the same small 710mAh Li-ion battery that Pentax has used in most of its compacts since the original Optio S four years ago, and it simply isn’t powerful enough to cope with a complex technological camera like the T20. Even Pentax’s own spec sheet only claims 130 shots on a full charge, and to be honest I think this is an over-estimate. Reviewing pictures or heavy use of the touch screen depletes it even faster.

This is a shame, because in other respects the T20 is a nice enough camera. Image quality, while not brilliant, is at least above average, with good exposure metering, decent colour reproduction and reasonable high-ISO noise control. Low light flash photography is very good, with a maximum flash range of 4.5m and excellent frame coverage. File size at maximum size and quality is around 3.2MB per shot, with a 1GB card providing enough space for approximately 283 pictures. The movie mode is also good, shooting at 640 x 480 resolution and 30fps, with a 1GB card providing nearly 22 minutes of shooting.

Verdict

The Pentax Optio T20 could have been a much better camera. It is stylish, well made and the touch-screen technology is well implemented and has some genuinely useful features. However very slow performance, severely limited battery duration and the annoying AF monitor-freeze are major handicaps that are impossible to ignore.

Labels: Pentax

I can tell from the pounding of my head that it must be roughly January 1st, so a Happy New Year to all of you. Being early January of course, it is traditional at this time of year for Pentax to send me its latest waterproof camera to test. In previous years this has involved risking frostbite in near-freezing rivers and lakes, but this year the camera arrived a few days early, so I was able to subject it to the ultimate test of both camera durability and photographer’s stamina; the New Year’s Eve Pirate Party.

Down here in Devon we’re rather proud of our pirates, and what better way to celebrate this heritage than getting about 200 people all dressed up like the crew of the Black Pearl, singing an assortment of sea shanties to the accompaniment of a local band, fuelled by copious quantities of ale and a heightened sense of the ridiculous. Shiver me timbers, splice the mainbrace, avast there ye scurvy dogs etc. Honestly, it’s not embarrassing at all if everyone else is doing it too.

The camera that was unlucky enough to be subjected to this mayhem was the Optio W20, the latest in Pentax’s successful line of waterproof compacts. Previous models include the WP, WPi and W10, all of which, both 6-megapixel models, have been reviewed here. The W20 was launched in August 2006 and sells for around £220 on the high street, or around £170 online.

The W20 improves on the specification of the W10 only marginally, adding only a 7-megapixel sensor, a larger internal memory (22MB rather than 10.5), higher maximum sensitivity (1600 ISO over 800 ISO) and compatibility with the new SDHC (High Capacity) memory cards. Other than those changes the two camera are very similar. Even the body design is virtually identical, although the W20 adds a slight flare to the front of the case on the handgrip side, making the camera slightly more secure to hold.

Unchanged are the 2.5in 115,000-pixel monitor, the 3x optical zoom non-protruding lens, and the ability to survive immersion in water to a depth of 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes.

The W20’s body is mostly plastic, with an aluminium inset front panel. Build quality is very good, and although it doesn’t have the shock-proof abilities of the Olympus mju 725 SW it still feels sufficiently robust to survive a few knocks. The shape is smooth and sleek with no protrusions to catch on clothing or get snapped off.

Like the previous Optio W models the W20 is designed for casual outdoor use in wet weather or for activities such as skiing or sailing, rather than for serious underwater use. It can survive immersion in water and even has special modes for shooting stills or video clips underwater, but there’s no point pretending that it is a real diving camera. If you want something to use while SCUBA diving, you would be much better off with a normal zoom compact fitted with an underwater case, which are usually waterproof to at least 40 metres and have larger controls. While the controls on the W20 are sensibly laid out and easy to use, they are slightly too small to be easily operated while wearing gloves.

The internal electronics seem to have been slightly improved for the new model, although to be honest there’s no dramatic improvement so it’s hard to tell. The camera starts up in about 1.5 seconds, which seems to be a little quicker than the previous model, but the AF system is still a bit slow when compared to many other current models. However, like the W10, despite lacking an AF illuminator the W20 has a remarkable ability to focus in very low light conditions. At one point last night someone turned the lights out for a laugh, but I was still able to take photos with little difficulty, apart from a side-to-side slight swaying motion, possibly caused by the notoriously rough seas of the Spanish Main. Fortunately the improved high-ISO capability helped to cope with this.

The W20 has two continuous shooting modes, a normal one that shoots at around one frame every two seconds, and another that fires off five frames in two seconds, but then has to pause and write them to the memory card. This is about average performance for a current compact. The movie mode is also up to current standards, offering VGA resolution at 30fps.The W20 is, at heart, a simple compact snapshot camera, and it has a range of options to match. Its standard mode is Pentax’s useful Auto Picture mode, whereby the camera will attempt to select the best shooting mode automatically. Pressing the Mode option on the D-pad reveals a selection of 25 shooting options and scene modes, including the usual selection of program auto, landscape, portrait, sports, surf & snow, fireworks and flowers, as well as some Pentax favourites including Synchro Sound Recording (recording the ambient sound for a few seconds when a shot is taken) and the ever-amusing Frame Composite mode, which allows you to add one of three hilariously awful frames to your pictures.

There are three pages of menu options, although for some reason the often-used exposure compensation is relegated to the second page. There are several useful entries though, including an interval timer and adjustable contrast, saturation and sharpness.

Picture quality is, to be fair, no better or worse than average for a 7MP compact. Also to be fair, with the incredibly awful weather we’ve had recently it’s difficult to take a good picture even with the best camera in the world, so bear that in mind when you look at the sample shots.

There’s not a lot of improvement in detail between 6MP and 7MP, so the major difference between the W20 and W10 in terms of image quality is of course the higher sensitivity. The Auto ISO setting has an upper limit of 400, and at this level the image quality is generally very good. The picture quality of the W20 at 800 ISO is roughly the same as the W10 at 400, so there’s a 1-stop advantage in shutter speed, enabling some low-light shots to be taken without the flash. The very highest setting, 1600 ISO, is very noisy and should only be used when there’s no alternative.

The W20’s lens appears to be the same excellent folded-optics unit as on the W10, and again it produced good edge-to-edge sharpness and very little distortion at wide angle. Colour rendition and exposure were both as good as the dreadful lighting conditions would allow, and the level of detail in the test shots was good, although there was some evidence of over-processing and noise reduction.

Verdict

If you need a camera that can withstand immersion in water, your choices are basically limited to the Pentax Optio W20 or the Olympus mju 725 SW that I reviewed last week. The Pentax is cheaper, smaller, takes slightly better pictures, and looks more like a normal compact than the Olympus, but lacks the shock-proof credentials.

Labels: Pentax