Pentax Optio I-10 Digital Compact Camera In Depth Review

Pentax I-10 Optio Digital Compact Camera In Depth Review

One of the more cleverly designed cameras introduced so far this year, the Pentax Optio I-10 is a digital compact camera offering 12.1 megapixels and a 5x zoom lens. Clearly the most striking aspect to the I-10, and likely its most appealing, is its old-school SLR camera styling, cleverly capturing the nostalgia of yesterday’s film cameras, while at the same time providing today’s latest features, including face detection, HD video, and a number of in-camera digital filters. It’s an interesting marketing decision, with most of today’s camera now featuring very modern looking designs, the I-10 is able to carve out a niche for itself, in effect the product design is actually one of its main features, and some may argue that its current pricing might be based more on the perceived value of its appearance than its actual specifications. Yes it’s a pretty nifty looking camera and it’s surprisingly small, the question is, how is it as a camera?

Competition

As we intimated above, the I-10 doesn’t exactly square up against any particular point and shoot camera. Certainly in terms of pricing alone, it does have a number of competitors, but I’d argue that many of those similarly priced cameras seem intended for a slightly different type of consumer. Instead, the appeal of the I-10 will surely be it’s outward aesthetics, and a quick glance at other compact cameras with similar specifications (12 megapixels, 5x zoom, 720p HD video) indicate that the I-10’s styling does come with a price premium.

Availability

Pentax Optio I-10 Digital Camera (Black) at B&H Photo Pentax Optio I-10 Digital Camera (White) at B&H Photo Get the new Pentax Optio I-10 Digital Camera and support this site at the same time, by making your purchase through the links above at B&H Photo Video. Your purchases there made this and hopefully future articles possible .

Continue Reading This Review:

1. Introduction
2. Specifications
3. Design and Interface
4. Performance and Usage
5. Image Quality
6. Playback and Video
7. Verdict
8. Image Samples

Continue the Discussion

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1. 

   Funkmon says:

   March 24, 2010 at 10:36 am

   . I wonder how many of the criticisms leveled at this camera could be given to all compact cameras, from the G11 to a Kodak Z1475 or whatever…cause the pictures actually looked good to me for a compact. Haha.

   reply
   • 

     Patrick says:

     March 24, 2010 at 9:11 pm

     Funkmon,
     You’re absolutely right that nearly all of this applies to any compact camera (some are a bit better), my issue is that the I-10 simply costs too much to be highly recommended. If it was $99, I’d say buy it right now, but it’s $300, and similar spec’d cameras cost easily $100 less.

     reply
   • 

     Fils-de-Daguerre says:

     March 24, 2010 at 9:13 pm

     The pictures look great! But I hate the form factor. It does not look like an SLR. An SLR has heft to it!

     reply
2. 

   Patrick says:

   March 25, 2010 at 9:17 am

   I am surprised there is no reference to the original Pentax Auto 110 that the new Optio I-10 resembles. I wonder if the size of the two cameras are identical…

   reply
   • 

     Kris says:

     March 25, 2010 at 3:31 pm

     No it isn’t. Although there is a superficial similarity it doesn’t hold up when seen in the flesh. Looks and feels more like a standard compact with a bump on top.

     reply
3. 

   Dennis Fairclough says:

   March 28, 2010 at 8:39 pm

   I often wonder why camera companies do this – put ordinary hardware
   hardware in quite beautiful packages. These days you just can’t get away with it. Consumers are very savvy these days (as are reviewers) so for the most part it feels like a complete waste of time and resources. Imagine if they’d have put a decent sensor in that quite nice little body?
   Dennis F.

   reply
   • 

     Patrick says:

     March 31, 2010 at 9:37 pm

     Dennis,
     To be fair it isn’t a bad camera just an overpriced average camera. It would have been cooler if it were just a bit more thought out, though I suspect that its targeted consumers will like it just fine. I think the body tricks more enthusiast photographers into thinking that there might be something going on under the hood, but really the camera seems totally intended on a young point and shoot crowd (based on some of the playback decorative frame overlays)

     reply
     • Truman Hughes says:

       June 22, 2010 at 6:32 pm

       You can get one of these in the UK for under £110 ‘new’ Which I think is more reasonable than the $300 price tag.

       I did notice that the specs for this are identical to the very simplistic PENTAX OPTIO H90. I would have liked to see something special put inside this so called ‘commemorative’ pentax, I don’t think the addition of a lomo filter is enough.

       reply
4. Gregory Margetis says:

   April 28, 2010 at 8:35 am

   Is there any suggestion for the same price range and specifications? I m about to buy a compact these days but i cant afford a very good right now. I really liked i-10’s style and specifications, but i want also a good value for money choise. I really want to take good photos and because i dont have THE experience on taking photos i’d like the camera to “help” me..

   thanx in advance,
   Greg.

   reply
5. 

   uninspired says:

   June 22, 2010 at 6:50 pm

   I got it a couple weeks ago as a gift for $149 from newegg. Right now the price has gone up a little to $174.

   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830184116&cm_re=i-10-_-30-184-116-_-Product

   Patrick: What’s your recommendation @ $149-174?

   reply
   • 

     Patrick says:

     June 28, 2010 at 7:59 am

     uninspired,
     I just haven’t had my hands on enough budget compacts to really give a solid opinion, though typically I recommend finding a feature set that works for you first, then worry about IQ since all these little compacts take about the same picture. (for the most part).

     reply