Review: Pentax Optio T10

Where many similar cameras are festooned with tiny buttons, the Optio T10 from Pentax has only five.

The top of the camera houses a power switch and a combined zoom/shutter release button (we're counting this as two). To the rear we find a menu button and another to enter playback mode.

All other camera functions are accessed by touching the screen directly.

In recording mode, a tap on the screen brings up a top-level page offering you shooting mode, flash, focus, drive and quality icons. Tapping an icon takes you to another page dedicated to that function.

The interface is quick and responsive, although you'll have to get used to keeping your fingers away from the screen during normal use to avoid unwanted menu activation.

Despite it's size and clarity, the LCD panel suffers just like any other in bright sunlight, so you may find the menus somewhat trickier to use than conventional buttons on the brightest summer days.

For the rest of the time, especially in the dark, you're at a distinct advantage having illuminated controls that would otherwise be far too large to fit on the back of the camera.

You also get a paragraph of explanation for each option as you select it, making the camera very easy to get to grips with.

In-camera editing features allow you to crop and re-size your images and add voice comments.

A selection of more sophisticated adjustments is also available, such as changing and filtering colours, stretching images horizontally or vertically and adding digital effects.

You can even add your own graphical annotations; these are drawn directly onto the image with the supplied stylus. This has the feel of a mini image-editing program running right there on the camera.

Clearly aimed at the non-professional user, the Optio T10 is devoid of manual controls but comes loaded – some would say overloaded – with scene modes and options to help you get the best picture regardless of what you're shooting.

For example, the portrait mode brightens skin tones to make your subject look healthy while there are dedicated modes for shooting food and flowers.

Even the Pet mode has a sub-menu where you can select the dog or cat option and choose the icon with the shade closest to that of your pet's fur.

The Optio T10 uses a 6megapixel sensor and 37.5-112.5 (35mm equivalent) lens to produce good-looking photographs.

Program mode is adequate for most situations and we feel that a camera such as Nikon's Coolpix S6 offers a smaller but more useful set of automatic features than the Optio T10.

Many of the Optio T10's features would be impractical to use when you have only seconds to set up your shot.

The Pentax Option T10 is undeniably fun and easy to use. If you want to print directly from the camera, the built-in editing features are very useful.

However, there are other cameras that cost less and will probably result in you taking better pictures in point-and-shoot mode.

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