Pentax Optio E60
Digital Camera Review
Sep 22, 2008
- By Tim Barribeau
The Optio E60 is Pentax's new ultra-low-budget point-and-shoot. It's a very, compact 10-megapixel camera with only the barest of features and settings, its appeal resting instead on extreme affordability. This low price manifests itself not just in the minimal features and controls, but in an overall feeling of cheapness. It's very light, has only a 2.4 inch LCD screen, and feels like it will fall apart under a stiff breeze. On the plus side, it has competent face detection, uses easy-to-find AA batteries, is lightweight for travel and won't cause exquisite agony if lost or damaged. The Optio E60 is priced at $140.
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Model Design / Appearance
The E60's design is very simple, with large buttons, clear labeling and no unnecessary flourishes. The problems we had with the design is the inclusion of chromed areas, which easily become smeared with fingerprints, and the fact that the camera feels cheap and shoddily constructed.
Size and Handling
It was hard for us to fully judge the handling of the unit, as it was tethered by a very strong retractable cord during our hands-on session. What we did notice, however, is that E60 is light to the point of ludicrousness. It almost feels like a toy in the hands of an adult. It is quite small, 3.9" wide x 2.3" high x 0.98" (9.9 x 5.8 x 2.5cm) deep, and weighs only 6.2oz (176g). This lightness and size do make it small enough to easily toss into a backpack or tuck in a pocket.
Lightness can either be a blessing or a curse, depending on your preference.
Menu
Pentax's menu systems tend to be quite well organized and laid out. The menus are divided into shooting and settings, with two pages of each. Since there are so few options available to alter, working through the pages takes next to no time. There's also a nice little feature called Memory, where you can set which options will reset when the camera is turned off.
Ease of Use
The E60 is extraordinarily simple to use. Rather than offering an Auto mode with some flexibility, Pentax insists on using "Green Mode" activated by the green button. This mode completely removes any settings control from the user's grasp, though it does but makes it an utter breeze for those who don't want to learn the ins and outs of their cameras.
