Pentax Optio Z10 Review
Review Date: November 19th 2007
Author: Mark Goldstein
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 8M Best mode, which
gives an average image size of around 3Mb.
Noise
There are 6 ISO settings available on the Pentax Optio Z10 which you can select
at any time if the camera is in the normal shooting mode.
There is no discernible noise at the slowest settings of
ISO 64 and 100, as you would expect, but noise is unfortunately
already starting to appear at ISO 200. There is obvious noise
at ISO 400, and by ISO 800 it is very obvious indeed, together
with blurring of detail. The ISO 1600 and 3200 settings are
virtually unusable, looking good on the spec sheet, but terrible
in reality. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise
levels for each ISO setting:
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop.
The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop.
The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the
default sharpening setting. Alternatively you can change
the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default
look.
File Quality
The Pentax Optio Z10 has 3 different image quality settings available, with Best
being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops
which show the quality of the various options, with the file
size shown in brackets.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Pentax Optio Z10 did suffer from
chromatic aberrations during the review, but it was generally
well controlled. Limited purple fringing was mainly present
around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations,
as shown in the examples below.
Macro
The Pentax Optio Z10 offers a Macro
setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 8cms
away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle.
The first image shows how close you can get to the subject
(in this case a compact flash card). The second image is
a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Pentax Optio Z10 are Auto, Flash On, Flash Off, Auto
+ Red-Eye, Flash On + Red-Eye and Soft Flash. These shots
of a white coloured wall were taken
at a distance of 1.5m.
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Auto
Flash - Telephoto (200mm) |
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And here are some portrait shots.
As you can see, the Flash On setting caused quite a lot
of rede-eye, and the Flash On + Red-Eye option almost removed
it.
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Flash
On (100% Crop) |
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Flash On + Red-Eye (100% Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Pentax Optio Z10's maximum shutter
speed is 4 seconds, which is not great news if you're seriously
interested in night photography. The shot below was taken
using a shutter speed of 4 seconds, aperture of f/3.5
at ISO 64. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show
what the quality is like.
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Night
Shot (100% Crop) |
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Overall Image Quality
The Pentax Optio Z10's image quality is below average. The camera's main drawback
is noisy images, with the relatively slow speed of ISO 200
showing some noise and blurring of detail. The noise gets
progressively worse as you go from ISO 400 to ISO 800 and
finally to the completely unusable 1600 and 3200 settings.
The Pentax Optio Z10 handled chromatic
aberrations quite well with limited purple fringing
effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 8
megapixel images were just a little soft straight out of
the camera at the default sharpen setting, and either require
some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop,
or you could increase the in-camera sharpening level. The
night photograph looked good, although the maximum shutter
speed
of 4 seconds does limit what you can achieve after dark. Macro performance
is not brilliant, allowing you to focus only as close
as 8cms away from the subject. The built-in flash worked
well indoors, with limited red-eye and accurate overall
exposure. Overall, something of a mixed performance by the
Pentax Optio
Z10.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Pentax Optio Z10 have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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