Pentax Optio E50 Review

The Optio E50 features a Pentax 6.2mm - 18.6mm, 3x optical zoom lens with an 35mm equivalent focal length of 37.5mm - 112.5mm, the aperture range is F2.8 - F5.2. The lens is all glass and consists of 6 elements in 5 groups (3 dual-sided aspherical element). When the camera is powered down the lens is retracted inside of the body and a built in cover closes to protect the lens.

It has a 3-point auto focus system with Multi, Spot AF, Continuous AF, and Face Recognition modes. The focusing range in Normal mode is 1.31 ft. (0.4m) to Infinity; Macro get you as close as 0.49 to 1.64 ft. at wide angle.

The built in flash offers Auto, Flash-off, Flash-on, Red-eye reduction; Effective Range: Approx. 20 ft. at wide, 10 ft. at tele, using ISO Auto.

On the back is a large 2.4 inch LCD monitor with approximately 110K pixels. Controls on the back: On top is the zoom control, which also functions as the index/magnify control in playback. Below it is the Playback button. The 4-way controller lets you navigate menus and select images during playback. In record you press "Up" to enable self-timer mode, press "Left" to change flash mode, press "Right" to change focus mode and press "Down" to change recording Mode. The MENU button calls up and dismisses the menus. The GREEN button quickly puts the camera into the "Green" or simple Auto (point-n-shoot) mode, and in playback mode it functions as the Delete button.

On the top is the On/Off power button and the shutter release.

On the left side is the PC/AV port, which handles both the USB 1.1 connection for downloading images and movies to your PC, and the Audio/Video output for TV display. The built-in speaker is also located on this side.

The Optio E50 is equipped with approx. 9.5MB of internal memory and has a SD/SDHC card slot on the right side for optional memory cards. It's compatible with SD and SDHC type memory cards, like the OCZ Class6 4GB SDHC card showed here.

The Optio E50 is powered by two AA type batteries, which means you can use Alkaline, one-use Lithium or NiMH type cells. Pentax claims with Alkaline batteries, you can capture approx. 250 images or 340 minutes of continuous playback time (using CIPA standards for testing.) We always recommend using NiMH AA cells, they last longer and will save you money in the long run.