My original OptioS died a couple of weeks ago, leaving me without a pocket sized camera.
I was anxious to try out the A10 as a replacement. I stopped by my local camera store, thinking they would not have it yet, intending to have them call me when they arrived. Unfortunately, they were in in stock. I've had it for a few days now and have only had a chance to take a few photos, Nothing that is really a decent test of the image quality. I can make a few initial observations. I like the way the camera's controls and menus are organized. Pentax seems to have a found simple approach to this that many of the manufacturers have missed. The big LCD panel is very nice. I spent a few minutes out in the bright sun. As with most, it's a bit dim, but readable. I will miss the optical viewfinder. I like the ability to assign functions to the four-way controller buttons. I've assigned Shake-reduction on/off, EV compensation, White Balance and Focus Type (wide/spot/tracking) to the four buttons. It uses the same LI-8 battery as the OptioS. That's a plus. The S is dead, but the battery lives on. Compared to the istD, the 8 Megapixel A10 looks like it may suffer from a bit of noise at the higher ISOs. Given the sensor is about 1/2 the size of the D's, and more pixels are packed in, that's to be expected. The noise doesn't seem to show up in prints. But when you blow it up to huge on the computer screen, you can see it in areas like the sky. It looks like the noise you get when you've over-sharpened an image. I haven't played with this yet so don't start rumors. Six megapixels would have been more than adequate in this type of camera. I was happy with three Mp on the OptioS. I'm sure it has 8 because they can put a bullet point on the side of the box. Haven't played with the Shake Reduction yet. Haven't played with the tracking focus yet. Haven't tried the continuous shooting mode or candelight mode yet. It was packed with a cradle that simultaneously charges the battery in the camera and camera and a spare. It has a very short wrist strap. I'm swapping it with the longer one from the OptioS. I've often put the camera in my shirt pocket and hung the strap around my neck as anti-drop insurance. I'll post some photos this weekend when I have time to experiment. Oh, by the way. For any normal, non-pdml, person. This would be a great camera. You know, normal, those people that just want to take pictures. See you later, gs <http://georgesphotos.net>
