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Reviews Around The Web
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Choose Web Reviews from this Maker:
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009
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"Don't buy a compact digital camera!" That's the advice most photographers will give you these days, mostly because DSLR (digital single lens reflex) models are finally coming down in price - well below $1,000 in some cases. And they carry some major benefits: interchangeable lenses, seeing an accurate representation of the subject matter, and great quality. The Pentax K2000 is an excellent example of this emerging category. It's a good all-around quality DSLR that withstood some fairly unusual testing conditions, provides all the serious amateur-to-prosumer features you'd expect, and even comes in an all-white custom model (we tested the black version). Sure, it's no Nikon D3X or Canon Mark II, but you can easily save a couple of thousand bucks and still get great photographic results.
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Thursday, May 29, 2008
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The PocketJet 3 is pricey and prints only on special paper, but it's more convenient than a portable inkjet if you need to print black text in out-of-the-way places. If you need a portable greyscale printer to carry on a business trip, or find yourself increasingly wanting to print documents face to face with customers (such as invoices, purchase orders and so on), the Pentax PocketJet 3 Plus may fit the bill. But with its £499 price tag and no paper feeder for letter-size sheets, you're paying a premium for portability.
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Monday, April 21, 2008
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Pentax makes a comeback with the new K200D D-SLR camera which turns out to be a solid performer.
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Monday, November 5, 2007
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The latest in a successful series of ultra-compact cameras, the Pentax Optio S10 combines excellent build quality, simplicity of design and good all-round performance with a user-friendly ease of use. It compares well with other quality compacts from rival manufacturers, and its very good low-light performance makes it especially useful for social snapshot photography. If you're looking for a camera to record the office Christmas party it should definitely be on your shortlist.
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Friday, October 26, 2007
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Pentax is well known for its ultra-slim digital cameras, and the pocket-sized Optio M40 is the slimmest of the lot. But doesn't it bear a striking resemblance to the M30, launched just six months previously? And does it take more than just a bigger sensor to make a better camera?
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Monday, October 15, 2007
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For a rock-bottom price the Pentax Optio E40 offers good build quality, elegant design and a surprisingly complete set of features. Performance is a bit on the slow side, but it will reliably take usable pictures in most lighting conditions. Where it falls down however is on final image quality, with noise problems at all ISO settings, and vignetting is also an issue.
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Tuesday, June 26, 2007
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It too is a 3x zoom ultra-compact (as are most of Pentax's range) with the same 3-inch monitor with touch-screen interface, but this time it features a 7.1-megapixel CCD, a massive 0.1 megapixels bigger than its predecessor. It also has a slightly re-designed body, and as we'll see it also has several other improvements.
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Tuesday, June 19, 2007
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I've always liked Pentax cameras. I've owned several Pentax 35mm and Digital SLRs over the past twenty-five years and I've taken some of my favourite photos with them. However I try not to let my personal bias get in the way of an objective review, and it has to be said that over the past couple of years I have not been particularly impressed by many of Pentax's Optio range of digital compact cameras.
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Tuesday, May 15, 2007
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The Optio W30 is very similar to its predecessor the W20 in many ways, not least in its price. The W30 is currently available for around £164, which is only about £10 than the current list price for the W20. It has the same 7.1-megapixel resolution, the same 115k-pixel 2.5-in LCD monitor (although now with an anti-glare coating), and the same internal 3x zoom lens. It even bears a strong physical resemblance to the W20 although it is actually a couple of millimetres bigger and about five grams heavier.
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Wednesday, May 2, 2007
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Following its successful launch of the first DSmobile, Pentax Technologies Europe recently introduced an updated version of its USB colour scanner with enhanced scanning capabilities. Featuring a compact design (40x49x282mm, 340g) and functional appearance, the Contact Image Sensor (CIS)-based DSmobile 600 ($135) supports rapid scanning and improved capture quality. Compared to its predecessor, it's about 20% smaller, lighter in weight, has lower maintenance costs and fewer chances for mechanical breakdown, and it uses less power.
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Monday, April 2, 2007
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Announced in January along with the more sophisticated T30 and the AA-powered E30, the M30 is a mid-level 7.1-megapixel ultra-compact with a 3x zoom lens, a 2.5-in 115k pixel monitor screen and a maximum sensitivity of 3200 ISO. Affordable pocket compacts have always been something of a Pentax speciality, so although it has a list price of £149 the M30 is available from several online retailers for under £125
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Tuesday, February 13, 2007
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This is a much-anticipated digital SLR. Not only does this new Pentax have a 10.2-megapixel CCD, it also has built-in Shake Reduction and a cleaning system to keep dust off the imaging device (and your prints). It's also built to take a bit of beating since it's weather resistant and has tight seals to keep dust out of the body. Not only that, it costs less than $1,000 with a lens, a very reasonable price but above the Sony alpha which has similar features (10MP CCD, image stabilization) but not nearly as rugged a body. It's also more affordable than the 10MP Nikon D80 ($999, body only) that doesn't have shake reduction. I was pretty excited taking this one out the box and couldn't wait for the battery to charge. After sitting around for a few hours (no, we weren't as bad as Southpark's Eric Cartman waiting for the introduction of the Nintendo Wii) it was time to see how this new D-SLR performed.
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Thursday, January 4, 2007
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If you need a camera that can withstand immersion in water, your choices are basically limited to the Pentax Optio W20 or the Olympus mju 725 SW that I reviewed last week. The Pentax is cheaper, smaller, takes slightly better pictures, and looks more like a normal compact than the Olympus, but lacks the shock-proof credentials.
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Friday, December 15, 2006
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Although I have a deep and abiding respect for the many marketing people without whom I could not do my job, I have to wonder at the sanity of the marketing genius that came up with the name for Pentax's previous line of digital SLRs. The name, "*ist", was explained to me by a marketing guy from Pentax UK, and to be fair he thought it was a bloody stupid idea too. The asterisk is a wild-card character, you see, and the -ist part is like scientist, or artist, or any other sort of -ist, so with the wild-card it means the camera can be anything you want it to be?
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Wednesday, October 18, 2006
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If you are looking for your first DSLR camera and not willing to splurge too much, look to Pentax whose latest product might just be what you are looking for.
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