Auto Mode (7.25)
Pentax calls its most automatic mode Green mode. It’s easily accessed using the green button in the lower right corner of the camera’s back. The Green mode severely limits what options are accessible: the Recording menu doesn’t show up at all and few options are available on the multi-selector. Self-Timer, Macro and Panning modes, and the Auto flash can be activated. Besides that, the Green mode is completely automated.
Movie Mode (7.5)
The Movie mode is grouped in the Mode menu with everything else. The camera can record Motion JPEG files with mono audio. The video is recorded at 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels; either one can record at 30 or 15 fps. The video resolution and frame rate, among other things, can be set in the “movie” option in the standard Recording menu. Within that option, there is a full submenu that allows users to adjust the quality level with the same three-star compression ratings as on still images. Movies can be recorded up to 2 GB.
Users can also activate “movie SR,” the digital shake reduction system. Continuous autofocus can be turned on and off, along with the 7x optical zoom. The optical zoom is very useful and hardly makes a sound; it is the continuous autofocus with its low-pitched grinding noise that causes the most operational distraction in movies.
There are two Color modes in addition to the standard available from the movie portion of the menu: sepia and black & white. The Color modes go above and beyond what most digital cameras offer in the Movie mode, and are a nice inclusion.
Videos can be played back and edited. The options aren’t elaborate, but users can save low-resolution still images and divide and stitch movies.
There is more info in the Testing/Performance section, but the movie mode generally had good color accuracy in bright and low light. The noise was the difference though: it was nearly absent in bright light, but schizophrenically jumpy in low light. The resolution proved unimpressive, but the Pentax Z10’s movie mode gets an otherwise positive report.
Drive / Burst Mode (4.75)
The Burst mode can be difficult to find. It is accessible from the top portion of the multi-selector. The trick is that the button is labeled only with a self-timer icon, not with any icon that represents a Continuous Burst mode.
The options are single drive, self-timer, standard continuous, and high-speed continuous burst modes. The first option is the default and the second option has two settings: 2 and 10 seconds. These delays are indicated by the tiny flashing red light on the front of the camera. The standard burst mode takes about one picture every 0.9 seconds and does so for three shots before stuttering along at a slower and more random clip. The high-speed mode takes four shots at a quick pace every 0.3 seconds, but does so at the expense of image size: the resolution automatically shrinks to 3 megapixels. This unimpressive burst mode is common on pocket digital cameras though. The Casio V8 has the same 1 fps standard burst mode and a 4 fps high-speed mode that cuts resolution to 2 megapixels.
Playback Mode (8.0)
The Pentax Optio Z10’s Playback mode can be accessed when the camera is turned on or off. When off, users need only push the playback button for a full second. A much shorter push is required when the camera is on. Navigation through images is done with the left and right sides of the multi-selector. This scrolls through individual images, but pushing on the wide end of the zoom toggle shows nine pictures on the screen at a time. Pushing it again shows a calendar view, and pushing the Green mode button while viewing this screen shows pictures organized by folder. Pushing the zoom toggle to telephoto magnifies images up to 8x.
Pushing the top of the selector does nothing. Pushing the bottom, labeled “mode,” enters the Playback menu. This is confusing considering there is another button labeled “menu.” That button accesses only the Setup menu from here.
The Playback menu isn’t the typical menu. It isn’t a list of text; rather, it is a collection of icons similar to the exposure mode menu. Some of the options access functions directly while others go to sub-menus with more options.
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Digital SR
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Overwrite, Save as
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Slide Show
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Interval (3, 5, 10, 20, 30 sec), Screen Effect (Wipe, Checker, Fade, Off), Sound Effect (On, Off)
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Resize
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Recorded Pixels (5M, 4M, 3M, 2M, 1024, 640, 320), Quality Level (Better, Good)
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Cropping
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OK, Cancel
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Image/Sound Copy
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Camera to Card, Card to Camera, Cancel
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Image Rotation
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90 left, 90 right, 180
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Digital Filter
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Black & White, Sepia, Red, Magenta, Purple, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black & White with Red Highlights, Black & White with Green Highlights, Black & White with Blue Highlights, Soft Focus, 3-step Fish-eye, 13-step Brightness
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Movie Edit
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Save as still image, Divide Movies, Stitch Movies
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Frame Composite
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Heart Frame, Floral Frame, Wow Cartoon Frame
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Red-Eye Compensation
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Overwrite, Save as
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Voice Memo
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Record, Stop
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Protect
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Single image/sound, All images/sounds, Cancel
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DPOF
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Single image, All Images, Cancel
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Image Recovery
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OK, Cancel
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Start-up Image
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OK, Cancel
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When scrolling through the many icons in this menu, the text title and a relevant explanation appears for the selected function. There are lots of effects and editing options available such as resizing, cropping, and rotating. Not to mention the many digital color filters and effects. The red-eye compensation is very effective: it eliminated every red eye in the many test shots that were plagued with the off-color eyes.
The voice memo function’s only limit is the size of the memory card. This is different than most cameras that top off their memo functions at five or ten seconds. The Image Recovery feature is interesting, although it has limitations. It can restore accidentally deleted images as long as users are still in the playback mode during the same session. For instance, if users delete an image and instantly recall it through the menu, the recovery will work. However, if users delete an image and then return to the recording mode then there is no hope for it upon return to the playback menu.
Deletion is a chore compared to other cameras that allow batch deletion. The only deletion tool on this camera is the delete button on the back; this makes for a laborious process of one-by-one deletion.
Movies and audio can be played back, histograms can be viewed, and full file info is available in the Pentax Z10’s thorough Playback mode.
Custom Image Presets (7.5)
All of the camera’s exposure modes are grouped in a single menu accessed with the bottom of the multi-selector labeled “mode.” The menu consists of 15 icons that represent different exposure modes. When users navigate through the icons, a text title appears for the selected icon. If users linger for about a second on any icon, further explanation appears overlaid. When the Natural Skin Tone mode is scrolled on, this appears: “Adjusts color and brightness to reproduce skin more beautifully than Portrait.”
These are the 15 modes included in the menu: Auto Picture, Program, Night Scene, Movie, Voice Recording, Landscape, Flower, Natural Skin Tone, Portrait, Surf & Snow, Sport, Digital SR, Kids, Pet, Food, and Frame Composite. Most are self-explanatory, except for the vaguely-titled Frame Composite mode. It allows users to frame their subjects in tacky floral or cartoon frames. Users can also add the same frames in the Playback mode.
The Scene mode selection covers the basics and is easy to find. Some of the modes could have been helped by better features on the camera, though. For instance, the 38mm widest focal length on the lens isn’t complementary to the Landscape mode, and the 1 fps Burst mode isn’t fast enough for a true Sport mode.
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