My impression of the Pentax Optio A10

I love the size and light weight of it. I am having a little difficulty keeping some of the shots clear since I used to use the view finder on the HP 715. I guess having it pressed up against my face and the sheer weight of it helped to steady my shots. The lightness of the Pentax and the lack of a viewfinder isn't making it easy to keep it steady. The anti-shake feature helps a great deal, but you lose a bit of quality. Not as much as if the entire picture was blurry though. Take what you can get.

The mode feature is clear and easy to use. It has very simple names for some of the shot options. Like flower instead of macro. Surf and Snow instead of bright light and candlelight instead of low light.

This is flower mode. I wanted to see if it could handle dark colours too since I have seen some dark colour macro shots that are a touch blurred. It passed the dark colour grade. Suzanne, that's with the camera held about 5-6" above the mitt. Click on the picture to see how well it did.

It passed the clarity test. Again on flower mode. Apollo's fur is very clear even where it is on the edge of the lens. I am about 10-15" above his shoulder with his head down just a little.

This is the surf and snow feature and I am about 6 feet from the spot I focused on and zoomed in about 3/4 of the way. If you click on the picture you can see some of the individual flakes and a hint of their shape.

This is the candlelight feature. I turned off the lights and it is twilight outside. Pretty good shot since the flash is about 20" from the candle. Note that the glitter on the edges of the candle didn't blur at all.

This shot though, this confirmed that the Optio A10 was an excellent choice for me. This is the flower mode again and the lens cap for the old camera is just over 2" from the lens of the new one. The ball of yarn is exactly 5" away. Holy clarity, Batman!

The only issue I have is distance in candlelight mode. I had to get the Mr. to hold still so I could get this shot as clear as it is. He isn't big on this picture. He says he looks "real bright". Isn't he hot doing dishes like that? You've got to love a secure man.

I think the best thing about this camera though is the price. The camera, extra memory and fabric carrying case was under $500.00CAD after a 14% tax was added. That makes it very affordable for the features and the ease of use.

If I manage to get out today for a walk, I'll have some more pictures with the surf and snow feature. I don't know how well that is going to work out though, I have the little Mr. all day and my sister and kids are still in town so it's been pretty busy around here. If not today, I'll post some outdoor shots tomorrow.

Knitting tomorrow. I hope to have those fingerless mitts featured above finished. I had to merge two patterns to get what I wanted and I am pretty happy with how they turned out.