This entry is image-heavy, so please be warned. 🙂

A couple of months ago I purchased the new Pentax Optio I-10 as a gift. I can’t remember how much I purchased it for, however I do remember that this was the only unit left in the store when I bought it. Looks like a pretty popular point-and-shoot, so it seems.

It’s a 12-MP compact camera and based from what I’ve searched (and from what the salesperson told me), the design was very retro as it pays homage to the design of the Pentax Auto 110. Anyway I thought it’s pretty easy to use, so I thought it’ll do.

Anyway, I hardly use this camera because it’s not mine. I get to play around it for a bit so I’ll be giving a quick review of the unit together with some sample photos.

Ergonomics-wise it actually feels lighter than my Lumix FS7 yet comfortable to hold. I really like the SLR-ish design and I find it very cute. The menu and options are easy to access, and to those who are not very “techie” when it comes to taking photos (meaning to those who get really overwhelmed with buttons) each option provides a description on what it is for. I find that very handy.

The main thing that I don’t like about this camera is that it’s very grainy. It does not perform really well with low-light. The photos are so noisy that you can actually see it on the LCD screen. I am wondering if it really has something to do with the photos or the quality of the LCD. Which is really disappointing because there’s not much difference of a price between this point and shoot and my Lumix FS7. Even my mom’s $140 Sony point and shoot’s LCD screen looks better than this.

Here are some sample photos using some of the shooting options available in the camera. My personal favorite happens to be the Panorama because it stitches three frames without you having to do it in the computer. Neat huh? It’s just a matter of properly aligning the photos in order to have perfectly connected frames.

The resolution’s not so bad, but see the previous low-light photo? You can see the noise and to be honest, digital noise is ugly. But under normal or bright light condition the photos look pretty decent.

As for the panorama photo, click here to see a bigger, 800x resolution. I wasn’t able to stitch it properly as it was too cold outside, but again the photo looks decent. Not the best quality out there, but it’s a good device to use if you need an everyday camera.