Pentax Optio M50 Review

The Optio M50 features a Pentax 6.3mm - 31.5mm, 5x optical zoom lens with an 35mm equivalent focal length of 36mm - 180mm, the aperture range is F3.5 - F5.6. The lens is all glass and consists of 6 elements in 5 groups (4 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 9-point auto focus system with Multi, Spot AF, Auto-Tracking AF, and Face Priority modes. The focusing range is:

• Normal: 1.31' to infinity (wide), 2.95' to infinity (tele)
• Macro: 0.33-1.64' (wide), 1.97-3.3' (tele)

The built in flash offers Auto, Flash-off, Flash-on, Red-eye reduction; Effective Range: Approx. 14 feet (wide, auto ISO), 9.2 feet (tele, auto ISO).

On the back is a large 2.5 inch LCD monitor with the clarity of approximately 230K pixels. Controls on the back: On top is the Face Recognition button, which turns the Face Detect AF/AE on and Off as well as enables Smile Capture mode. Next we have the zoom controls, 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 Simple Auto (point-n-shoot) mode, in playback it functions as the Delete button.

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

On the right hand side of the camera is the PC/AV port handles both the USB 2.0 (high-speed) connection for download and the audio-video output for TV display.

The Optio M50 is equipped with approx. 51MB of internal memory and has a SD/SDHC card slot on the bottom of the camera for optional memory cards. Data recorded on the internal memory can be copied to SD card. Shown here with the speedy OCZ Class 6 4GB SDHC.

The Optio M50's D-LI78 3.7v 680mAh Li-Ion battery pack provides exceptional battery life at approximately 210 images or 240 minutes of continuous playback time (using CIPA standards for testing.) This battery pack is charged in the D-BC78 AC quick charger, which requires the use of the included AC cord.