Pentax Optio S10 Review

The Optio S10 features a Pentax 7.9-23.7mm 3x optical zoom with a 35mm equivalent focal length of 37.5-112.5mm, the maximum aperture is f2.7 - f5.2. The lens is all glass and consists of 7 elements in 5 groups with 2 dual-sided aspherical elements, and 1 single aspheric lens. When the camera is powered down the lens is retracted inside of the body and a built in shutter closes to protect the lens.

It has a TTL contrast detection 5-point AF system with spot, tracking, pan, and face recognition autofocus modes available. It also features an AF-assist lamp for low light focusing. The focusing range in Normal mode is 1.15 ft. to Infinity; Macro mode: 0.39 to 1.31 ft.; Super Macro 0.20 - 0.49 ft.

The built in flash offers Auto, Flash-off, Flash-on, Auto + Red-eye reduction, Flash-on + Red-eye reduction and Soft Flash. Maximum flash range is approx. 23 ft. at wide angle and 11 ft. at telephoto (ISO AUTO).

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

You review and frame your pictures, and navigate the menu system with the 2.5" color LCD. It features 232,000 pixels of resolution, 100% frame coverage and histogram display.

In the upper right hand corner is the zoom control which also functions as the index/magnify control in playback mode. You can also see the built-in speaker. The Play button (blue arrow) allows you to quickly switch to playback mode.

The 4-way controller lets you navigate menus and select images during playback. In record mode you press "Up" to enable remote or self timer mode, "Left" for flash mode, "Right" for focus mode and "Down" calls up the virtual mode dial which we discuss on the next page.

Pressing the MENU button calls up and dismisses the onscreen menu system. The Quick "green" button switches the camera to Green mode (fully automatic), and serves as image Delete in playback.

The I/O ports:

The DC IN jack is for the optional AC power adapter or an external battery pack.







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 S10 is PictBridge compatible for direct printing.

The Optio S10 is equipped with 22MB of internal memory and equipped with a card slot that supports use of SD cards up to 2GB or SDHC cards up to 8GB. Data recorded on the internal memory can be copied to SD card.

The Optio S10 is powered by a proprietary D-LI68 3.7V 1000mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack. Pentax claims the battery life is good for approx. 250 shots, continuous playback time is approx. 240 minutes (using CIPA Standards.)