Pentax's entry-level camera is a typical example of the quality and features you can expect for around £85 including VAT. Its best asset is its battery life, which at 557 shots was the best in the group, but you'll need to buy high-capacity NiMH batteries and a charger to achieve similar results. It's the only camera here that offers full manual focus, but the 110,000-pixel screen makes accurate adjustments difficult despite a temporary digital zoom that gives you a close-up view when focusing.
The Optio's
ADVERTISEMENT
performance is pedestrian. It takes around three seconds to power up and take a first picture, and there's a gap of just under three seconds between subsequent shots regardless of lighting conditions, flash settings or whether the continuous mode is selected. The menus are slow to respond to button pushes, but their layout is clear. It's disappointing that there is no high-sensitivity scene preset for low-light shooting without the flash, but this is not surprising given the relatively large amount of noise in images taken at the camera's top ISO setting of 400.
This camera doesn't disgrace itself, but it can't compete with the best models here. Focus and detail were a little soft, and the 15cm minimum macro focus distance is poor compared with the 5cm that most of the cameras can manage. Some shots suffered from over-saturated colours, high-contrast scenes were often under-exposed and skin tones took on a yellow tint with the flash. None of these problems was disastrous, but better quality is available elsewhere. Panasonic's Lumix offers better performance and image quality for the same price.
