cameraguyd: Honey, I Shrunk The Pentax

or Back To The Future

Pentax istDs on left and Optio I-10 on right

Optio I-10 on left and Auto 110 on right

Pick which ever movie metaphor you like but Pentax has taken a small (no pun intended, really!) detour from the ubiquitous digital camera clones with its uniquely styled Optio I-10. The camera looks like a tiny SLR and is reminiscent of the Auto 110 camera from the 1970s. There is the small bump where the SLR viewfinder would normally be which instead of supporting an optical finder houses the flash on its front side and a speaker on the back.

Other than its clever styling the Optio I-10 does not offer much more than many of the other point and shoot digital cameras in its 12MP class. It sports a 5X zoom lens (28 - 140 35mm equivalent) which is much better, optically, at the long end and a bit blurry around the edges at the “28mm” setting. It also has SR or shake reduction as one of its main features as well as HD video. The HD video actually performs better on my aging iMac G5 than the HD video on my Canon SD780. The Canon HD video seems to require more memory to run smoothly and ironically, I’m forced to reduce the clips to standard video. The LCD screen on the Optio is 2.7” widescreen or 16:9 format. I kind of like the 16:9 format and usually use that as my normal setting. I figure I can always crop the photos later if I want. Compared to the Canon SD780 it seems a bit slower although I never checked any stats. And, although the SD780 is only a 3X (33 - 100 35mm equivalent), the photos seem a tad sharper especially at the short “33mm” end. Also, the "Delete All" function was not obvious to find. I had to actually consult the manual!

Choosing quality over quantity I left the Optio at home and took the Canon SD780 to San Francisco. I really didn’t miss the 5X zoom, although the longer “140mm” might have been nice on occasion. The wide angle “28mm” can actually be annoying since it is the default setting every time you turn the Optio I-10 on. If you like a slightly longer “normal” lens setting like “35mm” you have to zoom in every time you turn the camera on. Instead, I can live with a “normal” default “33mm” on the Canon SD780. The SD780 is also a little smaller and fits very nicely in a pocket.

To sum up the Optio I-10, on the plus side I would have to say I personally like the widescreen LCD, the HD video, the 5X zoom lens and the clever retro styling. The only real negative factor would be the less than acceptable optical quality at the wide, “28mm” setting.

For more details on the specifications of the Pentax Optio I-10 go to:

http://www.pentaximaging.com/digital-camera/Optio_I-10_Black/

All focal length settings are expressed in 35mm equivalents. Sorry, I’m still old school.