Pentax Optio M20

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Optio M20 Prices

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External Reviews
Cameras.co.uk Pentax Optio M20 Review

 

The auto mode of the Pentax Optio M20 is two-parts with both an auto mode setting and a Pentax specific “Green” shooting mode that is more explicitly automatic when compared to the auto mode. First though, let’s examine the auto mode. The auto mode for the Pentax Optio M20 allows users to select pixel count, quality level, ISO, movie mode settings, digital zoom, flash, focus presets and manual focus. The auto mode doesn’t allow for access to settings like white balance or exposure compensation, but the options that are included will at least allow novice users to get their feet wet in the manual control realm. The second, and previously mentioned automatic mode, is the Green mode that restricts the camera controls to two flash settings, three AF options, zoom, and a self-timer setting. This mode locks out the menu systems, manual focus, mode menus and other options.  It’s definitely easy to use, as all one can really do is point and shoot.

The movie mode on the Pentax Optio M20 captures smooth and clean video at 640 x 480 pixels and 30 fps. Audio is simultaneously captured and the microphone is well placed away from fingers so that clean and unobstructed recording is possible. Listening to the quality of the audio on PC is what can be expected from a cheap monaural, in-camera microphone, it is a bit muffled, although, the overall audio content was decipherable and camera noise was minimal. However, playing back audio on the built-in mono speaker isn’t very impressive.

 

Switching to movie mode can be accomplished by pressing the down arrow/mode button and selecting the movie option.  The movie mode settings are located within the standard shooting mode menu in the appropriately named movie sub-menu.  The movie sub-menu allows for the resolution to be set to either 640 x 480 or 320 x 240; three quality settings of ***, **, *; frame rates of 15 fps or 30 fps; three color modes that digitally alter the footage to sepia, black and white or full color; and movie anti-shake activation.

Access to the drive mode of the Pentax Optio M20 is accomplished by pressing the up arrow of the four-way control. The drive mode on the M20 is limited to a single continuous shooting setting that captures images until either the memory card or internal memory is filled. The burst mode wasn’t very fast, and it had a slightly longer delay at the beginning of capture. Achieving a consistent speed was nearly impossible and several trial runs showed that the camera tended to stop shooting at about ten shots unless coaxed and cajoled and delicately engaged.  At times, the speed between shots lagged several seconds - a delay that won’t win this camera any awards.

The playback mode uses a graphic interface that is identical to the mode menu setup. The graphic display is overlaid onto the currently selected picture or video. Accessing the mode options is accomplished by pressing the mode button while the menu button continues to provide access to the shooting and setup menu systems; this can be a bit confusing. The graphic interface is navigated with the four-way controls, and it provides users with a number of in-camera editing and filter options prior to exporting images to a printer or computer. Playback options include slideshow, resize, trim, image/sound copy, image rotation, digital filter, brightness filter, frame composite, red-eye compensation, voice memo, protect, DPOF and start-up screen. Options in the digital filter include black and white, sepia, pink, red, purple, blue, green, yellow and soft, while the brightness control allows for a varying number of +/- steps of exposure; we found +/- 6 steps are available. The only problem with these in-camera features is that there is a near 30-second delay when the user attempts to save these images to memory. 

 

The Pentax Optio M20 includes an option in playback mode to view images as either a single image or a multi-up nine-image display before entering into a calendar display where users can move quickly from day to day.  In addition to these multi-up display settings, the camera is capable of up to 8x digital playback zoom by pressing the telephoto side of the zoom button repeatedly.  Moving through an image in playback zoom can be accomplished by navigating with the four-way controls.

 

The camera's graphic-based system in its playback mode is easy to move through and access its various settings. Other than the delay when writing the changes to memory, the M20 provides a host of options to keep users entertained after capturing the images. 

 

Pressing the down arrow of the four-way control accesses the custom image preset options along with other shooting modes. The scene modes are displayed on this screen in a grid of icons. There are eleven settings that cover situations and subjects that include Night scene, Landscape, Flower, Portrait, Surf and Snow, Sport, Blur reduction, Kids, Pet, Food and Frame composite.  Moving through this screen display is done with any of the four-way controls and when a setting is highlighted for more than a few seconds, a second overlay screen will appear and provide a full text description of when and where this preset could come in handy.  For example, the “kids” mode states that it may be used “For capturing moving kids.  Reproduces healthy and bright skin tone.”  Obviously the preset mode options can be used to capture any scene regardless of the intended subject or situational matter but in most situations sticking close to the proposed content is advised.  If an option is not selected and approved using the OK button, the camera pauses for an extended period before selecting the option itself.  This can be a bit irksome if accidentally leaving the camera in this menu mode while momentarily attending to something else.  However, it is a quick fix since the user merely has to re-enter the mode display and select the appropriate setting.