Announced in August 2007, the 8-megapixel Pentax Optio Z10 stepped into the digital camera market with a $249 retail price tag. Its main draw is its internal 7x optical zoom lens, covered by a metal sliding door when powered down. Other perks include faster face detection and 52 MB of internal memory.
Front (8.0)
The Optio Z10 is the first in the Pentax line of pocket cameras to feature a sliding lens cover. The cover has a large chrome Pentax logo and a small chrome protrusion meant to double as a rudimentary finger grip.
When the door is pushed to the left the camera turns on and exposes the 7x optical zoom lens with the specifications typed on the bottom of the outer lens: “6.3mm-44.1mm.” The camera promotes its homemade lens with an engraved label along the top edge: “Pentax Lens.” Just above the lens and its sliding cover is a tiny hole for the microphone. To its left is the flash unit. There is a small indicator light to the left of the flash that is hardly visible.
“7x Optical Zoom” is printed below the lens. The camera’s resolution is shown in the lower left corner of the front: “8.0 Megapixels.”
Back (7.0)
The back of the Pentax Optio Z10 has a 2.5-inch LCD screen on the left side that is nearly flush with the camera body and framed in black. In the upper right corner of the back is a silver oval-shaped button with a scooped center: this acts as the zoom toggle. It rocks to the left to zoom out and right to zoom in. A small indicator light sits just below the wide end of the toggle; it flashes red when the camera is reading and writing to the memory card.
Below the tiny light is a rectangular playback button surrounded by a small silver frame, perhaps to differentiate it from the other controls. The multi-selector is below; four trapezoidal buttons surround the central OK button. Each button navigates through menus in its respective direction, as well as doubling to access another function outside the menu system. The top button turns on the Self-Timer, the right button activates the Macro Focus, the bottom button opens the Exposure Mode menu, and the left button accesses the Flash modes.
There are two buttons along the bottom edge of the camera. The menu button on the left has a long, skinny oval shape and the delete/green button on the right has a shorter, skinny oval shape.
Left Side (7.5)
This side is quite dull. There is a chrome stripe running down the middle of the black body. “7x Zoom” is engraved into the stripe.
Right Side (7.5)
The right side also has a chrome stripe running down its center, but it has more features on it. There is a protrusion in the middle that serves as the wrist strap eyelet. At the top and the bottom are tiny doors with tinier finger grips to pry them open. They are attached with thin rubber strips. The top opens to the AV-out/USB jack, while the bottom accesses the DC-in power adapter port.
Top (7.75)
The chrome stripe on the left and right sides connects along the top, too. There is a small speaker grill near the left side, along with an “Optio Z10” logo engraving. On the right side of the top is the large shutter release button.
Bottom (5.0)
The bottom of the Z10 has a small plastic door beneath the right side where the SD card hides. The tiny battery fits into a small door on the opposite end. There is a plastic tripod socket directly below the lens.
