Color (5.56)
We tested this digital camera’s ability to reproduce colors by photographing an industry standard color chart manufactured by GretagMacbeth. We uploaded the Pentax W10’s images of the chart into Imatest Imaging Software, which compared the camera’s colors to the original colors of the chart. The software program provided us with the following chart, which is a modified version of the GretagMacbeth chart that shows the W10’s colors as the outer square of each tile and the ideal color as the inner vertical rectangle within each color tile.
The same information is depicted below in a graph. The squares represent the ideal colors in the spectrum. The circles represent the Pentax Optio W10’s version of those colors. The closer these shapes are to each other, the better.
Many of the shapes are far from each other, showing the W10’s colors to be quite exaggerated. Colors were over-saturated by 6.1 percent and had a mean color error of 9.29. Perhaps this exaggeration is done to glorify landscapes or accentuate the color of the fish scales in those underwater shots, but it will also make Great Aunt Beatrice’s dress look an even brighter shade of hot pink. The Pentax Optio W10 received a disappointing 5.56 overall color score.
Still Life Scene
It's always a happy moment when we use a test camera to photograph our still life. We hope the mélange of plastic sushi and a plush cow toy brings joy to your day as well. Click below for a full-resolution image to add to your collection.
Click on the above image for full resolution version
Resolution (3.57)
The Pentax Optio W10 advertises more resolution than the preceding waterproof models. It packs a 6.18-megapixel, 1/2.5-inch CCD beneath its hood. To see how effective it is at capturing sharp images, we took several pictures of an industry standard resolution chart at various focal lengths and apertures. The sharpest shot, pictured below, was captured with a focal length of 16 mm and an aperture of f/3.9.
Click on the chart to view a full resolution version
The picture above is quite sharp except for its corners, which are slightly soft and even a little dark.The darkness was not due to uneven lighting either.
Imatest output quantitative resolution results in units of line widths per picture height, which is a theoretical measurement of how many tiny alternating black and white lines could fit across the frame. Vertically, the camera can resolve 2048 lw/ph while over-sharpening 40.5 percent. Horizontally, the camera resolves 1784 lw/ph while over-sharpening 38.6 percent. In terms of line widths per picture height, the Pentax Optio W10 scores pretty well. However, much of this is due to its in-camera sharpening; its 40 percent over-sharpening in the test is quite a lot even for a compact model.
Overall, the W10 received a resolution score of 3.57. The camera will suit point-and-shooters well if they will be using the direct printing capability. More advanced users who want to tweak the picture in an editing program will be disappointed though. The massive amounts of in-camera sharpening prevent additional sharpening in post-processing.
Noise – Auto ISO (3.13)
We tested the Pentax Optio W10’s automatic ISO setting to see if it selected an appropriate sensitivity and to see how much noise it produced. The camera metered the scene well and set the ISO to the lowest sensitivity, which is good news. The bad news, though, is that even the lowest ISO setting produces way too much noise. Still, the W10’s overall automatic ISO noise score of 3.13 beats out the Pentax WP’s 2.28 score.
Noise – Manual ISO (5.35)
We tested the individual manual ISO settings to see how much noise was produced at each one. The results can be seen in the chart below, which shows the 80-800 manual settings on the horizontal axis and the noise levels on the vertical axis.
There is a reasonably steady curve throughout the sensitivity range, although the amount of noise at the lower settings is still higher than on other compact digital cameras. Still, for its effort the Pentax W10 received a manual ISO noise score of 5.35. This is much better than the WP’s 4.18 score and the newer W10 also offers a wider range that extends to ISO 800.
Low Light (3.25)
We tested the W10’s ability to capture images in low light by dimming the lights on our color test target. The first low light test was done at 60 lux, which is roughly equivalent to the lighting conditions in a living room after dusk softly lit by two lamps. The second test was done in 30 lux, which is about the amount of light from a single 40-watt bulb. The last two tests were done with 15 and 5 lux of lighting, which is uncommonly dark for photography but shows any limitations of the image sensor. Below are the images from the tests.
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60 Lux
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30 Lux
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15 Lux
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5 Lux
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The images are progressively under-exposed as the light dims. The final image at 5 lux is almost completely black, showing that this image sensor does indeed have clear limitations. This is still better than the Pentax WP’s performance, which bottomed out at 30 lux. However, almost anything is better than that camera’s performance. Its recent competition, the waterproof Olympus 720SW, performed far better in low light.
The Pentax Optio W10’s ISO 800 setting was used, but the camera automatically chose relatively short shutter speeds. Below is a chart showing the chosen shutter speeds on the horizontal axis and the noise levels on the vertical axis.
There is an incredible amount of noise with the “longer” shutter speeds, which really only last a quarter of a second. The noise isn’t the only thing to ruin low light shots. Colors were already inaccurate in optimal lighting; it only gets worse as the light wanes. This is bad news for photographers who frequently take portraits and pictures indoors without the flash. Overall, photographing in low light will be tricky with the W10. Users should either avoid it or use the built-in flash.
Dynamic Range (6.0)
A camera that can capture detail in both bright and dark tones in a single image – for example, in a picture of a black dog in the snow, showing detail in the fur and the white snow – has good dynamic range. One with poor dynamic range might show the dog as pretty much a black silhouette or the snow as pure white.
We test dynamic range with a standard process, photographing a test chart that shows a range of tones from very bright to very dark. We then analyze the images with Imatest software, which yields results for high quality and low quality dynamic range. Both measures are important. The extended range at low quality may not show smooth, perfect detail, but maintains texture in bright and dark areas. High quality measures the range at a level that users will want in the main subject of their pictures.
The Optio W10 is unusual because its dynamic range is below average at its lower ISOs of 64 and 100, but doesn't get worse at ISO 200 and 400: it’s a pretty fair performer at those ratings. Its ISO 800 performance is significantly worse – most users will do well to avoid this setting.
Speed / Timing
Start-up to First Shot (6.38)
Our best time for getting the Optio W10 to start up and take a shot was 3.22 seconds. That's a long time, really – too long to wait to snap a quick candid. Many compact cameras take longer than 2 seconds to start up, frustrating compact camera users who miss shots. It's particularly frustrating when the camera has to start up again because the energy saver has turned it off.
Shot to Shot Time (9.77)
Shooting bursts of images is often a good strategy for getting spontaneous shots. The Optio W10 has two continuous shooting modes. HS shot 5 frames in roughly 1.4 seconds for us, yielding a 3.6 frames per second shooting rate. It took several seconds to write those images to memory and get ready to shoot more, but that's respectable performance for a compact. The W10's regular burst mode shot 1.3 frames per second, but continued indefinitely – it's a slow rate, but it never overloads the buffer.
Shutter to Shot Time (7.8)
Of all the frustrations for compact camera users, the most-often mentioned is shutter lag – the delay between hitting the shutter release and actually getting the shot. The Optio W10 is worse than average, with an average delay of 0.6 seconds – long enough to miss the kid jumping in the pool, blowing out the candles on the birthday cake, sliding into home, kissing the groom, etc. W10 users will need to anticipate the action peak significantly and press the shutter well before the shot arises.
