Pentax Optio M40 Digital Camera Review

Viewfinder (0.0)
Like many point-and-shoots, the Pentax Optio M40 does not have an optical viewfinder. The viewfinder feature is increasingly only found only on higher-end compacts or SLRs. Instead, the LCD monitor is used to frame images.

LCD (6.0)
The Pentax M40 is equipped with a 150,000-pixel, 2.5-inch TFT color LCD monitor. Pentax increased the resolution – the M30 had 115,000 pixels – but it is still substandard. Most cameras currently on the market have 230,000-pixel monitors.

The monitor solarizes at extreme angles. There are seven brightness levels, adjustable through the Setup menu. While in the Shooting mode, the LCD displays megapixel count, quality, white balance, ISO, highlight warning, and a live histogram. In Playback mode, shutter speed and aperture are also displayed.



Flash (6.75)
Pentax claims the Optio M40 has a broader flash range than the M30. The built-in flash system has the following effective range:

	Wide	Telephoto
Auto ISO	0.65 to 26.24 feet	1.97 to 13 feet
Digital SR Mode	0.65 to 50.85 feet	1.97 to 26.6 feet

Pentax hypes the 50.9-foot range while in Digital SR mode, the same distance as the previous camera. While more than 50 feet is a stretch, the flash illuminates long, dark hallways better than most point-and-shoots, which offer a maximum of about 30 feet.

Users can access flash controls through a dedicated flash button on the four-way controller. There are six Flash modes: Auto, Flash Off, Flash On, Auto + Red-Eye, Flash On + Red-Eye, and Soft Flash. Because the M40’s flash is so powerful, it tends to overexpose subjects close to the camera. Soft Flash mode reduces the flash output. It works, but still causes harsh shadows on the sides of a face because it’s next to the lens.

The flash’s close proximity to the lens reduces the occurrence of red-eye. Just in case, though, the M40 offers two Red-Eye Reduction modes: Auto + Red-Eye and On + Red-Eye. A pre-flash fires to shrink subjects’ pupils, preventing the light from the flash from reflecting off their retinas. The flash gains points for its ability to illuminate long distances, but the flash is often overpowering and best used only when absolutely necessary.

Zoom Lens (4.25)
The Optio M40 is fitted with a Pentax 3x optical zoom lens, a standard range for point-and-shoots in the $200 price range. The lens is constructed of 6 elements in 5 groups with 4 aspherical elements. The focal length measures 6.3-18.9mm, equivalent to 36-108mm in the 35mm format. The range allows users to shoot wide group shots without cutting anyone out, as well as close-up portraits. The lens’s aperture ranges from f/3.1 to f/5.9, a fairly narrow F-stop range that limits depth of field and the ability to take photos in low light without a flash.

The lens is controlled by a toggle button at the top right corner of the back face. The lens makes a loud humming sound as it traverses the zoom range. The noisy zoom won’t be picked up by the Movie mode audio, though, since zoom is disabled during video capture. The Kodak EasyShare V803 enables optical zoom in its Movie mode.

The M40 doesn’t have optical or mechanical image stabilization. Optical image stabilization works within the lens to compensate for camera shake, while mechanical image stabilization shifts the sensor to neutralize movement. These types of stabilization systems are being increasingly offered on point-and-shoots and compact cameras. For instance, the Canon A570IS has optical image stabilization and can be found online for around $170. The A570IS has a longer 4x optical zoom lens, too. Pentax’s Digital Shake Reduction (accessed through the mode button) boosts ISO and shutter speed to reduce the chances of blurry photos, but this method is inferior to the stabilization systems mentioned.

In addition to the 3x optical zoom, there is 4x digital zoom for a combined 12x zoom. However, users should be forewarned that digital zoom degrades image quality and should generally be avoided.
The M40’s lack of optical image stabilization and limited aperture range make optics one of the camera’s weakest components. Competitors such as the Kodak EasyShare V803 and Canon PowerShot A570IS have superior optics.