Picture Quality / Size Options (8.0)
Outfitted with an 8-megapixel 1/2.5-inch interline transfer CCD, the Pentax Z10 offers a full range of image sizes and compressions. The following image sizes are available: 3264 x 2448, 2592 x 1944, 2304 x 1728, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 1024 x 768, and 640 x 480 pixels. Each of these are available in best, better, or good JPEG compression represented by one to three stars in the menu. Pictures can be resized in the Playback menu to any resolution and compression smaller or less than the one used on the image. The files can also be cropped in the Playback mode.
As the resolution is reduced, there is more room on the memory card and there are a few more features available. The “intelligent zoom” uses the entire image sensor when the resolution is reduced to digitally zoom without degrading image quality.
Picture Effects Mode (8.0)
The Z10 is loaded with picture effects in the Recording and Playback modes. In the Recording menu, there are three image adjustments that can be made: saturation, contrast, and sharpness. All of these come with low, normal, and high options. The Frame Composite scene mode is also a sort of picture effect. It allows users to select from three frames and record pictures within them. One frame has colorful flowers, another has a pearly beaded heart shape, and the last has a cartoon girl saying “Wow!” in a word bubble. These are incredibly tacky and should be limited to making locker signs for teenagers and other such cheesy projects. These frames can also be added in the Playback mode.
There is a healthy set of picture effects available in the Playback mode. There are scores of color filters: Black & White, Sepia, Red, Magenta, Purple, Blue, Green, and Yellow. There are also three additional Black & White color modes that allow green, red, and blue highlights to remain. There is a Soft Focus filter that makes the whole image look foggy – a little too soft, in our opinion. There is also a three-step fish-eye lens effect and a 13-step brightness adjustment that is perhaps the most useful editing feature among the bunch.
