Pentax Optio T10

Reviewed May 2006

Test Photos

STILL LIFE

This subject is photographed in a room that has a mix of fluorescent and incandescent light, but which is not brightly lit. The camera's flash is used to add fill light. The backdrop is 1.95 m (6.5 ft) from the camera.

The reach of the Optio T10's built-in flash is limited when the sensitivity is set to 80 ISO. Therefore, to obtain a brighter image the sensitivity is set to Auto, which allows the camera to boost it to 160 ISO. Nevertheless, some light fall-off can be seen in the corners of the image.

Seen at full scale — at 100% — on a monitor, the image shows practically no noise. A slight yellow cast is detectable, probably due to the influence of the incandescent lighting on the Auto white balance. And sharpness is a bit soft as some of the smaller details in the image have lost some definition.

ZOOM PHOTO

Now we zoom in on the on the centre of the image above to gauge the sharpness of the image at the zoom's maximum setting. The camera remains at the same distance as in the preceding photo.

Zoomed in, the maximum aperture available to the T10 is f5.2, smaller than at the wide angle end, and to boost the effect of the flash the camera increases the sensitivity to 320 ISO.

The colour rendition of the image is comparable to the wide angle shot; while noise is limited to the darker areas of the image. Seen at 100%, a soft focus can seen throughout the image.

Using the Optio T10's Macro mode, causes the camera to automatically lock the zoom at the wide angle end. At this focal length, the lens is able to focus on a subject 15cm (6 inches) from the front element of the lens, producing an image that has a field of view of approximately 14.5 cm (5.8 inches).

At this focal length, a fair bit of barrel distortion can be seen in the image when there are image element with straight lines aligned to the edges of the frame.

BUILDING PHOTO

This image is our "outdoor" test. The architecture of the building, in particular the angled girders, immediately show the presence of jaggies. The shadowed entrance can also often reveal the quality of the exposure.

The default multi-pattern metering of the T10 captures a perfectly exposed image of the building, but overexposes the pale blue sky slightly. Still, the image reveals an excellent level of detail in the shadow areas such as the entrance. And, as can be seen in the image below cropped from the full-size frame, there is no chromatic aberration, and the barrel distortion observed with the macro mode is not perceptible with this subject.

ZOOM PHOTO

Zooming in on the entrance of the building, the shadowed entrance takes on a greater importance for the metering and can cause an overexposure of sections that are directly lit.

Zoomed, the camera yields another very well exposed image, balancing areas that are directly lit and those in the shade so that both zones show detail. The result is an image that clearly shows the inscription on the right side door, and yet shows a great deal of detail in the much darker area behind the glass doors.

As with the wide angle shot, no chromatic aberration is detectable, nor is there any pincushion distortion.

NIGHT PHOTO

As this camera is capable of a long exposure, a photo taken at night is included.

The Night Scene mode of the T10 is the only mode that allows an exposure time longer than 1/4 second, extending the maximum exposure time to 4 seconds. Moreover, the Night Scene mode offers control over the white balance — making it possible to set it to tungsten to obtain more accurate colours — and control over the ISO sensitivity.

With this flexibility, it is therefore possible to obtain reasonable night photos.