Pentax Optio E10 First Impressions Review

Model Design / Appearance
Aesthetically, the Pentax Optio E10 is unremarkable and unassuming, but I would not call it ugly. The light gray case is made of plastic, giving the camera a bit of a cheap look, and the camera in hand feels a little less robust than those made of metal or a metal alloy. Although it does feel strong enough to stand up to casual knocks, the Optio E10 may not be tough enough to handle a fall of more than a few feet, or any serious torsion.

Size / Portability
At 3.4 x 2.4 x 1.3 inches, the Optio E10 is a little bulkier than some. The depth in particular is an issue. It’s a little too deep to comfortably fit into a shirt pocket. But it’s still a pretty compact camera that would fit into a coat pocket or small bag with ease. (Then again, what point-and-shoot isn’t?) It’s also lightweight at 6.3 ounces, including battery and SD card, or 4.6 ounces unloaded.

Handling Ability
The thickness of the Optio E10 does have an upside: it gives it a substance that makes it fit comfortably into the hand, with a more solid grip than many of the thinner point-and-shoot models. While the shutter and zoom controls fall under the index finger and thumb, good luck stretching your thumb over to the mode dial on the top without dropping the camera. You really need two hands to operate the other controls.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
The controls on the back of the camera (such as the four-way control dial) really do require two hand use: the 4-way directional control is a too low to be easily reached with the thumb. It’s perplexing why Pentax did this. Perhaps it’s their subtle way of encouraging two-handed, and therefore more stable, shooting? If so, they failed. Sorry, but this design is just awkward.

Menu
The tabbed menu is well structured, but the text can be a little difficult to read; the low resolution of the screen makes the text rather blurry. Most of the functions the user regularly need to access are easily available, however; such as the image size and quality, which can be accessed with a couple of button presses. 

Shooting Menu
Recorded Pixels	Image size
Quality	Image quality (three, two, or one stars)
White Balance	White balance settings
ISO	ISO sensitivity setting
AE Metering	Metering setting
Digital Zoom	Enable/disable digital zoom
Instant Review	Settings for instant review of photos
Color	Color setting
Sharpness	Sharpness setting
Saturation	Saturation setting
Date Imprint	Enable/disable date imprint on image

Setup Menu
Format	Format SD Card
Sound	Sound settings for movie recording
Date	Set time & date
Language	Set language
USB Connection	USB connection setting
Video Output	Video output setting
Brightness	Screen brightness setting
Auto Power Off	Auto power off time setting