Pentax Optio A10 First Impressions Review

Likes

- Compact, stylish design - Includes shake-reduction - Solid construction - Menu system is logically designed and easy to use

Dislikes

- Max ISO of 400 - Appeared to be significant shadow noise at higher ISOs - Very limited manual controls - No way to save and switch between custom setting sets - Battery life is on the short side

Conclusion
The A10 is a small, well-built compact camera, designed to be Pentax's new flagship of their Optio line with the addition of a shake reductrion system. But there are some serious omissions: the lack of access to commonly-used manual controls is a big problem for a camera supposedly designed for more advanced users. There’s no way to manually set shutter or aperture and the manual focus is a pain. The battery life is also on the low side.

But it does an effective job as a point-and shoot camera: the image quality is strong (although we should point out that our testing was limited: further testing in our full review may prompt other conclusions), but thus far, it appears to be a good pick for a user who wants high resolution images in a convenient package. Check back for the full review.