I think that most reviews are only a minor guide. Half of what they say, I don't necessarily agree with.
I can say, in practice, that all P&S cameras that I have owned or tried, are fairly poor compared to the DSLR's out there. But the real trick is to consider what the camera is and what it is targeted for. In the case of the A10 - my wife absolutely loves it. She used to have the original Optio S before that and before that one, she wouldn't use a P&S regularly because they were too big and clumsy. What she likes on the A10 - SIZE, SIZE, SIZE. It is basically the same size as her old Optio S (Altoids tin) camera. What this means to her is that is sits in her purse all the time, ready for any quick shot that happens. She is trying to record history and make memories of our family life. So the camera that actually is at the events, is the camera that gets used. An example - she has to run one of the kids to school - as she gets there she finds out that the child is being given a little award in class. So she stays for a few extra minutes, pulls out her camera and records the event. It is one thing to take a camera to a planned event, it is quite another to be ready for the little moments. She also takes just as much video with it as stills. While the video is not the most superb quality, it is good enough for the purpose. It even has image stabilization while videoing (helpful for my wife) and stores in mpeg 4 (43 minutes per gigabyte in 640X480 X 30 FPS). So perhaps the angle I work from is that the purpose of a P&S camera, to me, is to have something that can be easily pocketed and pulled out for those times when you can't plan for a bigger, more powerful camera. All the little cameras suffer from similar problems. If you learn how to work with them a bit, then it is not a real issue. I think what happens is the reviews have to be comparative - without providing any weight to the things being compared. If a P&S was ready to shoot from power on in .1 sec versus 1.0 seconds, in the real world of use for the intended user, it is insignificant. If you learn how to focus lock before firing, then focus lag is not a big problem. (All P&S cameras that I have tried are fairly mediocre on focus) It is really a matter of using a camera the intended way and see how it works. The A-10 has been a worthy upgrade to the original Optio S. When I bought it from my local camera store (primarily a Nikon shop), the clerk said they sell them a lot more than the Nikon P&S cameras. They obviously sell the SLR's on the Nikon way more than Pentax. I'm not really trying to defend the Pentax A10 against the reviews, only that I find the camera quite adequate for it's intended use. When I want a real camera for use, I wouldn't use any of the P&S - I'd use a DSLR. -- Best regards, Bruce Friday, November 3, 2006, 1:55:05 PM, you wrote: JL> Hi Bruce, JL> Well, what bothered me was a strange unanimity in various reviews: >>From Dpreview: JL> "On the other hand it can be really, really annoying to use; JL> by today's standards shooting feels slow and unresponsive, and has JL> a screen that can't be seen at all in bright weather. Throw in the JL> dismal battery life and total unsuitability as a social 'party JL> snaps' camera and you'd think this was a camera you'd only JL> recommend to someone with a masochistic streak, or someone you JL> really didn't like." >>From DCResource: JL> "Camera performance is undoubtedly the A10's weak spot. The JL> camera is slow to start up, there's noticeable shutter lag JL> (especially with flash shots), and shot-to-shot speeds are below JL> average. Focusing speeds were about average, and low light JL> focusing was good thanks to the A10's AF-assist lamp. The camera's JL> continuous shooting mode was especially poor. While it will keep JL> shooting until you run out of memory, the 0.5 fps frame rate and JL> blacked out LCD make the feature almost useless. Battery life was JL> well below average." >>From Steves digicams: JL> "Bottom line - While the Pentax Optio A10 offers some JL> appealing features (8-megapixels, Shake Reduction, etc.), the JL> overall performance of this camera in all areas was disappointing. JL> It does have the ability to capture pleasing photos that have JL> enough resolution to create poster size prints. However, its poor JL> movie mode results and extremely slow shooting performance really JL> bring the model down." JL> After this I concluded that performance was a real issue with JL> this camera and, thus, that it should be addressed in its JL> replacement model. That is why I was disappointed when Margus JL> mentioned that the A20's was 'a little slow in operation'. JL> Anyway I am glad to hear that, from your actual experience, you don't find it that slow. JL> Regards, JL> Jaume JL> ----- Mensaje original ---- JL> De: Bruce Dayton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> JL> Para: Pentax-Discuss Mail List <pdml@pdml.net> JL> Enviado: viernes, 3 de noviembre, 2006 18:44:42 JL> Asunto: Re: Compact point and shoots - Optio A20? JL> Hello Jaume, JL> I'm curious - we have an A10 (my wife's) and have had many other JL> P&S digitals from several manufacturers. When compared with an SLR - JL> they are all poor performance. Can you specifically tell me what JL> bothers you about the A10 vs many other compacts? JL> -- JL> Best regards, JL> Bruce JL> Thursday, November 2, 2006, 1:44:19 PM, you wrote: JL>> So, they didn't address the A10 poor (slow) performance issue? JL>> Shouldn't be that difficult... JL>> ----- Mensaje original ---- JL>> De: Margus Männik <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> JL>> Para: Pentax-Discuss Mail List <pdml@pdml.net> JL>> Hi, JL>> I reviewed A20 for our local photo/computer magazine last month. It was JL>> a sort of head-to-head test versus Olympus mju: 750. Pentax wins hands JL>> down. JL>> What's about A20... it's a bit slow in operation, but image results are JL>> very good. Good noise, which is easily repairable with post-processing JL>> software ( I do use NeatImage). But if you can find Optio A10 somewhere JL>> on good (i.e. significally lower) price - go for A10. You will not get a JL>> better resolution with A20. JL>> BR, Margus JL>> Leon Altoff wrote: >>>Hello all, >>> >>>I am currently looking at compact point and shoot digitals. >>>Specifically I am looking for one that can do movie clips in macro mode >>>(or even super macro mode if it has it). >>> >>>It will also be used as a camera by my wife who has decided that she no >>>longer wants to carry around an SLR. >>> >>>Of course I am looking at the Pentax range (as well as others), and was >>>considering the Optio A20. does anyone out there have one of these and >>>can tell me if it is possible to take movies in macro mode? Does anyone >>>have any other suggestions for good compact point and shoot cameras? >>> >>>All replies appreciated. >>> >>> >>> JL>> -- JL>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List JL>> PDML@pdml.net JL>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net JL>> ______________________________________________ JL>> LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo. JL>> Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto. JL>> http://es.voice.yahoo.com JL> -- JL> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List JL> PDML@pdml.net JL> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net JL> ______________________________________________ JL> LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo. JL> Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto. JL> http://es.voice.yahoo.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
