Introduction

Ease of Use

The Pentax XG-1 is a typical bridge camera design, which is to say it looks and handles very much like a small DSLR. Pentax market it as ‘ultralight and compact’, however at 119 x 89 x 97.5mm and 567g ready-to-shoot, it’s actually a fairly typical size and weight for a bridge camera with this much zoom range. Build quality is good with no obvious weak points, whilst the plastic casing is up to the same high standard as Pentax’s entry-level DSLRs. Rubber grips on either side of the camera do a great job and making the XG-1 feel secure in the hand, but whilst there is also a rear thumb grip, its small size and lack of sculpting don’t give you much to hang on to here, especially when wearing gloves.

Front of the Pentax XG-1

Getting aquatinted with the XG-1 is a pretty painless process thanks to its predominantly logical control layout. The camera has a straight-forward automatic mode, plus a program auto mode where you can set exposure compensation and ISO sensitivity. It’s tricky to work out how to adjust the latter, as there’s no ISO button or menu option. Instead, you have to press the exposure compensation button (located between the mode dial and shutter release) which displays a separate menu overlay for adjusting exposure compensation and ISO sensitivity, as well as aperture or shutter speed options when you’re in aperture or shutter priority mode.

Once you’ve nailed the ideal set-up for a particular scenario, you can save everything to the Custom Setting mode for quick recall. There’s also a scene mode for applying optimal shooting settings for particular conditions, or if you’re shooing a night-time scene, select the dedicated Handheld Night mode on the mode dial. Shooting flattering portrait shots is also a breeze thanks to the XG-1’s Face Beautifier mode.

Rear of the Pentax XG-1

There’s no automatic panorama capture mode though, but given that many cameras with such a feature only turn out low resolution results anyway, you’re usually better off snapping multiple overlapping stills and using computer software to stitch them together.

Just in front of the mode dial is a button for selecting between single shot or continuous shooting. The Pentax XG-1 is capable of recording 10 full-resolution shots at 4.7 frames-per-second. This can be upped as high as 60fps by reducing image size to a measly 640x480 VGA size, or a 30fps when shooting at 4MP resolution. The button also reveals a basic but useful time-lapse feature that enables the XG-1 to automatically shoot at pre-set intervals until you press the shutter release again.

Side of the Pentax XG-1

Sticking to the top of the camera and we find the first annoying aspect of the XG-1. Many bridge cameras have a manually-ejected flash, so if it’s shut you can rest assured the flash won’t fire when you’re not expect it. The XG-1 on the other hand can automatically eject its flash, and it’s very eager to do so. You can of course deactivate the flash in the camera’s menu, but turn the camera off and on again and it’ll revert back to auto mode, popping up when you’d rather it didn’t.

A more pleasant surprise can be found just behind the flash in the shape of an electronic viewfinder. It’s a welcome feature that you don’t always find on mid-range bridge cameras and is useful when very bright conditions outshine the LCD screen. The EVF’s 200k-dot resolution isn’t particularly crisp though and the resulting pixilation doesn’t make the EVF pleasant to use for long periods.

Front of the Pentax XG-1

The LCD screen is also a bit underwhelming. It’s 460k-dot resolution is average at best, but it’s adequate and not particularly annoying. What’s more irritating are the screen’s restricted vertical viewing angles which severely compromise colour and contrast accuracy if you tilt the XG-1 up or down. The screen isn’t touch sensitive either, and you’ll need to press a fairly fiddly button to switch between LCD and EVF as there’s no automatic eye detection, however both these omissions are acceptable at the XG-1’s price point.

Move to the right of the screen and we find a typical directional dial doubling as controls for macro focussing, AF mode selection, flash modes and the self-timer. Directly above this are two buttons which don’t have immediately-obvious functions. The control on the left, labelled ‘i’, displays the XG-1’s extensive selection of effects filters when in the camera is in program auto, semi-automatic or manual modes. To the right of this is the menu button. Press it and an overlay of common camera settings appears. Scroll to the bottom of the list and you can access the XG-1’s main menu where more advanced camera settings can be altered. The layout and visual style is a departure from Pentax’s traditional menu design, and though the new system is no harder or easier to use, it is more aesthetically pleasing.

Top of the Pentax XG-1

When it’s time to snap a shot, the Pentax XG-1 isn’t exactly quick out of the blocks, taking just over three seconds from switching on to firing a shot. Fortunately the rapid autofocus system soon speeds things up, focussing almost instantly in good light and only slowing fractionally when the going gets dim. However, whilst low light rarely confuses the camera, shooting close subjects can cause trouble. The XG-1 does have a 1cm macro focus ability, but this is only applicable when the lens is set to maximum wide angle. Zoom in even slightly and you’ll soon have to back away from your subject to get the camera to focus, and when you do, you still won’t be able to zoom in as tight as you may like. This is a trait common to any camera, but the XG-1 autofocus system seems fussier than most in this respect, making it tough to shoot close-up shots with a shallow depth of field.

Battery life is also somewhat disappointing at 240 shots from the 1100mAh rechargeable Li-ion cell. Many ultra-compact cameras can get close to this figure, so it’s a pity the big XG-1 doesn’t pack more power, especially as rival bridge cameras can often achieve at least 300 shots per charge.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4.5Mb.

In good light the Pentax XG-1’s 16.0MP 1/2.3” back-illuminated CMOS sensor generates high quality images with attractive yet accurate colour reproduction. The camera’s auto white balance and exposure metering are excellent, producing accurate colours and well-balanced exposures. That’s not to say the overall dynamic range is particularly high though, as highlights are prone to overexposure, whilst shadows still look slightly dim. Things do appear worse immediately after snapping a high contrast shot, however, such is the poor colour and contrast accuracy of the XG-1’s LCD screen.

Detail is impressive at lower sensitivities and when shooting at wider focal lengths, but images can look a little soft when zoomed in, as the camera needs to shoot at higher ISO sensitivities to maintain a fast enough shutter speed to counteract camera shake. Shooting landscapes can often cause small-sensor cameras like this to smear detail, but the XG-1 maintains reasonably good sharpness.

Noise is very well controlled up to ISO400, with very little evidence of grain and only minimal colour speckling visible in shadow areas. Grain becomes more apparent at ISO800 but is not distracting. By ISO1600 grain noise is clearly visible, whilst neutral tones can look distinctly blotchy. This worsens considerably at ISO3200 where blotchiness and colour speckling are obvious in shadow areas, even when viewing at 25% image size.

Fortunately the lens’ slightly wider than average f/2.8 maximum wide-angle aperture helps let more light through to the sensor, reducing the need for higher ISO settings. The lens also has good corner sharpness and only negligible wide-angle barrel distortion. Chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is apparent in very high-contrast areas, but only when viewing at 100% image size.

Noise

The Pentax XG-1 has six sensitivity settings available at full resolution, ranging between ISO100 and ISO3200. In automatic mode the camera can chose any sensitivity, e.g. ISO503, but other modes the scale is in conventional 1EV steps.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

ThePentax XG-1’s 52x optical zoom lens gives you a focal range of 24-1248mm (in 35mm-camera terms). This can be upped to a whopping 4992mm-equivalent telephoto range using 4x digital zoom, which Pentax claims not to compromise image quality. However, this is simply untrue as images taken with full digital zoom are extremely soft.

24mm	1248mm

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 just a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

File Quality

The Pentax XG-1 has three file quality options: Best, Fine and Normal. File sizes are relatively small for a 16MP camera, averaging around 4-5MB, 2-3MB and 1.5-2.5MB respectively.

Best (4.21Mb) (100% Crop)	Better (2.48Mb) (100% Crop)
Normal (2.00Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Pentax XG-1 handled chromatic aberrations excellently during the review, with very limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the example below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)	Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

A 1cm macro focussing distance gives good scope for close-up shots, however this only applies when the lens is set to maximum wide angle. The further you zoom in, the more you’ll need to back away from your subject. Whilst this is the case for all cameras, the XG-1 requires more distance than most when zoomed in.

Macro	Macro (100% Crop)

Flash

The Pentax XG-1’s built-in flash includes six modes: Force Off, Flash Auto, Force Flash, Slow Sync, Slow Sync+Red-Eye and Red-Eye Reduction. It produces very little wide-angle vignetting when shooting from a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (1248mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (1248mm)

Our testing revealed that the XG-1 successfully avoids red-eye with and without red-eye reduction.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Red-eye Reduction	Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Handheld Night mode

Use this mode to shoot a night-time scene without the need for a tripod. The camera quickly shoots four frames and combines them into a single, clear image. The end result is ‘only’ an 8MP image, but there’s enough clarity to make an A4 print.

Off	On

Shake Reduction

Pentax’s Shake Reduction sensor-shift stabilisation system does a great job at ironing out the effects of camera shake and is essential when using the majority of the XG-1’s focal length range. Unfortunately this isn’t active when shooting video, and though the camera does employ an electronic stabilisation system instead, it’s nowhere near as effective.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/10th / 220mm

HDR

The Pentax XG-1 includes a multi-shot HDR mode to increase dynamic range when shooting high-contrast scenes. Some cameras can produce cartoony results, but Pentax have erred on the side of subtlety and the XG-1’s HDR images look realistic. Unfortunately images are only recorded at 8MP when HDR is active.

Off	On

Digital Filters

The Pentax XG-1 sports no less than twenty digital effects activated by pressing the ‘i’ button on the rear panel. Choose from: Normal, Vivid, Japan Style, Italian Style, French Style, Punk, Black and White, Sepia, Partial Color (Red, Blue, Yellow & Green), Negative, Dreamy, Vignetting, Salon, Fish Eye, Reflection, Grids, Sketch.

Normal	Vivid
Japan Style	Italian Style
French Style	Punk
Black and White	Sepia
Partial Color Red	Partial Color Blue
Partial Color Yellow	Partial Color Green
Negative	Dreamy
Vignetting	Salon
Fish Eye	Reflection
Grids	Sketch

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Pentax XG-1 camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Best JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Pentax XG-1

Front of the Pentax XG-1 / Pop-up Flash

Side of the Pentax XG-1

Side of the Pentax XG-1

Rear of the Pentax XG-1

Rear of the Pentax XG-1 / Image Displayed

Rear of the Pentax XG-1 / Main Menu

Top of the Pentax XG-1

Bottom of the Pentax XG-1

Side of the Pentax XG-1

Side of the Pentax XG-1

Front of the Pentax XG-1

Front of the Pentax XG-1

Memory Card Slot / Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Pentax XG-1 is a case of less is more. It may lack features like Wi-Fi, GPS and a fold-out or touch-sensitive screen, but it easily makes up for this with decent image quality. Detail, colour and noise levels are all impressive up to ISO1600, although it’s a shame the 16.0MP sensor doesn’t produce better dynamic range. The XG-1 isn’t short on creative effects filters or manual control though, making it appealing to novice and experience photographers alike.

It’s a pity the XG-1 doesn’t have a better quality LCD screen and experienced photographers won’t take kindly to the annoying automatic pop-up flash with its relentless need to fire. Equally irritating is the camera’s relative reluctance to focus on close-range subjects when zoomed in, making it tricky to achieve a shallow depth of field. The low-resolution electronic viewfinder isn’t ideal either, but it’s still a welcome feature nonetheless. You may also find some of the controls take a while to get used to, however once you do, the camera’s button layout and menus are fairly logical and easy to operate.

If you’re after a camera with more performance than frills, the Pentax XG-1 makes a good case for itself. Other cameras may zoom in slightly further, but we challenge you to find a scenario when 52x reach isn’t enough. It’s certainly not perfect, but the XG-1 doesn’t have any major shortcomings and performs well for the money.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	4
Ease-of-use	3.5
Image quality	4
Value for money	4

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Pentax XG-1.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Pentax XG-1 from around the web.

Specifications

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