Pentax Optio E40 Review

Here you can the camera in "Green" mode. It selects all of the exposure settings, you just simply point-n-shoot, perfect for beginners.

Auto Picture mode is very close to "Green" mode, it is automatic but it does allow you to choose Image size and quality, ISO, EV Compensation, and movie controls.

Program AE mode is geared more toward the novice user, and offers a wealth of camera settings, like ISO, White Balance, Sharpness, Saturation, Contrast, Exposure Compensation, etc.

When the shutter is half-pressed and the autofocus locks, the active AF point bracket will shrink and turn green.

Pressing the OK button toggles the amount of overlay information displayed on the LCD. Here you can see extended exposure information.

Press the 4-way controller "MODE" button to change the exposure mode. Choices are: Auto Picture, Program, Night Scene, Movie, Voice Recording, Landscape, Flower, Portrait, Surf & Snow, Sport, Digital SR, Kids, Pet, Digital Panorama, and Frame Composite.

Record Menu options:

Recorded Pixels - 8M, 5M, 4M, 3M, 2M, 1024, 640
Quality Level - Best (***), Better (**) or Good (*)
White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent or Manual
Focusing Area - Choose Multi, Spot, or Tracking AF modes
Sensitivity - Auto, or User select ISO 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
EV Compensation - ±2.0 in 1/3EV steps
Movie - Adjust movie mode settings (shown below)
Digital Zoom - On/Off
Instant Review - 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 secs. and Off
Memory - Saves shooting function settings when camera is turned off
Sharpness - Hard, Normal or Soft
Saturation - Hard, Normal or Soft
Contrast - Hard, Normal or Soft
Date Imprint - On or Off

The Optio E40 lets you get up close and personal with its Macro mode. Macro covers macro: 0.49-1.64 ft. at wide angle, manual: 0.49 ft. to infinity at wide angle.

To focus manually -- Press the Focus mode button and select "MF". Then press the OK button and adjust the focus distance by using the Up and Down positions of the 4-way controller. While you are actively changing the focus, the center portion of the LCD display is magnified and a distance scale is shown on the left.

You can record 640x480 or 320x320 motion video at 15 or 30 fps with audio. Movie clips are stored as .AVI (Motion JPEG) format video files. While the optical zoom may Not be used during recording, you can preset the desired focal length. The E40 also features Shake Reduction in movie mode, which helps steady the camera as you record movies. The length of these movies is limited only by available memory.

Movie options found under the Rec. Menu:

Record Pixels - 640x480 or 320x320
Frame Rate - 15fps - 30fps
Color Mode - Full Color, B&W, Sepia