Pentax Optio Z10 Review

The Optio Z10 features an internal Pentax 6.3-44.1mm 7x optical zoom with a 35mm equivalent focal length of 38-266mm, the maximum aperture is f3.5 - f5.4. The lens is all glass and consists of 12 elements in 9 groups with 2 dual-sided aspherical elements, and 2 single aspheric lens. Because this is an internal refraction lens system, it does not protrude from the body. The lens is protected by a sliding lens cover, which also turns the camera On and Off.

It has a TTL contrast detection 9-point AF system with Spot, Auto Tracking, and Face Priority modes available. The focusing range in Normal mode is 1.31 feet to Infinity; Macro mode: 0.26 to 1.64 feet.

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. 17.7 ft. at wide angle and 13.1 ft. at telephoto (ISO Auto 64-800 mode).

On the top is the built-in speaker 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 170° viewing angle.

In the upper right hand corner is the zoom control which also functions as the index/magnify control in playback mode. 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 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 PC/AV port handles both the USB 2.0 (high-speed) connection for download and the Audio/Video output for TV display. The Optio Z10 is PictBridge compatible for direct printing.







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

The Optio Z10 is equipped with 52MB 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 Z10 is powered by a small proprietary D-LI72 3.7V 700mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack. Pentax claims the battery life is good for approx. 180 shots or a continuous playback time of approx. 150 minutes (using CIPA Standards).