Optio X: A Look at Pentax's Ultra Thin 5MP Digicam
by Stephen Caston on February 6, 2005 5:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
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The Optio X certainly has a unique appearance with a twistable body and the slimmest in the Optio series. With a stylish black and silver body, the Optio X is one of Pentax's latest feature-packed 5 megapixel digicams. The Optio X features a 3x optical zoom lens and 15 different recording modes as well as movie and voice memo functionality. In addition, the camera offers advanced functions such as manual white balance and 5 different bracketing options.
Click to enlarge.
In our review of this camera, we discovered several strengths and weaknesses. For starters, it isn't the fastest camera available, but in most cases it puts in a decent performance. For example, it has respectable startup and write speeds. Unfortunately, the auto focus can be somewhat slow. In our test, the camera took nearly a full second to focus and take a picture. With respect to image quality, the Optio X generally does a good job taking even exposures with accurate color. However, we found clipped shadows and highlights in some of our samples in addition to jaggies along diagonal lines. Read on for more details of the ultra-thin Optio X.
Product Sample provided by Newegg.com
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vshah - Thursday, February 10, 2005 - link
my dad has the s410, i have the optio x. i have to admit, the canon is faster and has better image quality. usually what i end up doing is setting the res to 4mp, which is still plenty for printing. this speeds up the camera a bit...why use 4mp on a 5mp camera you ask? i just love the design, and this thing is so easy to carry around with you. i end up taking a lot more photos than i would with another camera. my primary purpose for taking photos (with this camera) is to record memories, and it excels at that.
semo - Monday, February 7, 2005 - link
thanks Souka, that camera looks sweethere in the uk it is about £200 btw.
Souka - Monday, February 7, 2005 - link
#4 Look at the Canon S410. Great image quality, small size, li-ion recharageable batt, CF cards, durable, and good software to boot.I see pricing at about $240 on-line from a variety of vendors....
Quiksel - Monday, February 7, 2005 - link
nice pix of NCSU.... :-Di miss my state days... :'(
~niko ^_^
semo - Monday, February 7, 2005 - link
from last paragraph on page:"However, considering all the downfalls and a price tag of $300+, it might be a better idea to consider other cameras."
what other cameras? i'm absolutely clueless when it comes to cameras. all i know is that i don't want a thin (compact) camera because that means high price and lower quality. i don't care too much about video and a rechargeable battery is a big plus for me. any ideas?
kcma - Monday, February 7, 2005 - link
maybe there'll be a cheaper 3/4 MP version that's almost as good in image quality =PSouka - Sunday, February 6, 2005 - link
Why buy a high MP camera if image quality is poor?TinyTeeth - Sunday, February 6, 2005 - link
310 bucks is cheap for a 5 MP camera. Promising, though it seems to lack some image quality.