Pentax optio vs20 - описание

Video and creative effects

A dedicated record button is provided top right of the backplate for filming video clips, a press of which commences capture no matter which alternative shooting mode might have been selected and otherwise in play at the same time; the 4:3 stills aspect ratio view on screen narrowing to present a 16:9 format.

Here we don’t get HDMI output however, just a joint standard definition AV output and USB 2.0 connection. And if you do try to zoom in during recording, you get a rather jerky digital cropping effect rather than access to the optical zoom, the action of which is smoother yet sound tracked by the low buzz of its mechanics.

There is also a digital zoom accessible in stills mode that runs on from the end of the optical zoom if you continue to exert pressure on the zoom lever. This definition-losing crop provides the equivalent of a maximum 144x zoom, or an otherwise impractical 4032mm reach in 35mm terms that would be the envy of any paparazzi if it presented anything other than a pixelated blur.

For everyday snapping the VS20 offers a «smart» Auto Picture mode that compares the subject before the lens with 15 pre-optimised on-board settings and selects the most appropriate. The alternative is to tab to the next setting of Program mode, allowing access to a more expanded set of controls, such as the ability to adjust exposure between +/- 2EV and manually alter white balance.

We also get the usual smattering of portrait, landscape and night shooting options, presented here with a press of the «mode» portion of the backplate control pad, plus a miniature effects filter, pencil sketch, fisheye and the aforementioned panorama mode that can produce effective results and a single elongated end image. That said, patience is required; it took us several attempts to avoid a stitched end result without obvious overlaps, and the miniature mode to us produced results that looked more like a lens fault than real life in miniature, due to just so much of the image being un-sharp.

Conclusion

Viewed purely as a 20x optical travel zoom costing £199 the Pentax Optio VS20 would seem like an enticing prospect enough, so perhaps we can forgive it the slightly crazy and unnecessary addition of two sets of shutter release buttons and matching tripod slots, which in combination make for a thicker depth than similarly specified cameras now manage.
On the other hand, when coupled with sensor shift anti shake this perhaps in part allowed us to achieve a higher proportion of sharper shots at maximum telephoto setting than we might otherwise have managed. Shame then that the VS20’s auto focus is occasionally hit and miss – particularly when zoomed right in – and white balance and exposure can vary from shot to shot. When you’re buying a point and shoot camera you are, after all, looking to do just that, ideally ending up with results that won’t require work in Photoshop to rescue, if indeed it proves possible.
To sum up then: great zoom range, great price, but with the compromise of variable image quality, so-so construction, below average battery life, plus a bulkier than average build. If you’ve got this sort of money to spend then Olympus’ 24x zoom SZ-14 is also worth checking out for an identical outlay and for us gives the more consistent performance of the two. We’re pretty sure though that Pentax can and will do better.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	3
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	3
Value for money	4

Pentax Optio VS20 Review – Features

This means, rather simply, that the camera can be used in both portrait and landscape mode without having to perform any hand gymnastics to access the shutter release. To add to the portraiture functionality a second tripod thread is also included. Although this feature doesn’t add a huge amount to the overall functionality of the camera, it’s a thoughtful extra to include. The lens is an equivalent 28-560mm option, with Shake Reduction sensor-based stabilization included. The sensor itself is a 16MP CCD, although only 720p video can be outputted rather than full resolution 1080p. Similarly the LCD screen is only 460k dots, rather than the more detailed 920k that appears on a number of the Optio VS20’s rivals.

Pentax Optio VS20 Review – Image Quality

Image quality is something of a letdown, even though there are a few positives to be taken. At the wide angle overall sharpness is relatively decent, although the top end of the zoom rarely achieved focus accurately or quickly. The white balance is extremely unpredictable, which doesn’t help matters, making the colours wildly different from one frame to the next. Purple fringing appeared on a number of images, and was very obvious when it did.

Verdict

In essence the VS20 commits a few crimes against photography, the worse of which being unpredictability. Neither the lens nor white balance can be depended on from one shot to the next, making the VS20 an unknown quantity in most situations.

Details

Sample Photos:www.whatdigitalcamera.com/equipment/galleries/sample-images/pentax/34467/1/pentax-optio-vs20-test-images_pg_Inspire.html

Video:720p

White Balance:Auto, 4 Presets, Manual

Memory Card:SD/SDHC

LCD:3” 460k dots

Sensor:16MP, ½”

Metering System:Multi-pattern

Exposure Modes:Auto, P, Scene Scene (24 Scene Modes)

Connectivity:USB/AV

Weight:191g

Flash Modes:Auto, on, off, Redeye reduction

Power:Li-ion

ISO Range:80-6400

Lens:28-560mm, F3.1-4.8

Dimensions:60 x 108 x 34mm

Shutter Speeds:4-1/2500 sec

File Formats:JPEG, AVI M-JPEG

Performance

And that’s rather the problem with the Pentax Optio VS20: its performance is inconsistent. We ended up with odd colour balances, odd exposures, the camera failing to find focus or merely focused on the wrong thing more times than we’d expect even with the caveat that this is a low cost budget model.

When the Pentax gets it right you can get crisp results at either end of the focal range, which stops us from dismissing it entirely however, and having such a focal range offered by a camera that will readily slip into any pocket is enough of a selling point on its own, without the need for the gimmick of extra buttons. Not once did we feel the need when turning the camera on its side to use the second set of controls – but when we tried them out purely for the purposes of completing our test, it was tricky to avoid the little finger of our right hand dangling in front of the extended lens. Also, the positioning of the integral flash top right of the faceplate means it’s too easy to also inadvertently obscure with a stray finger. The battery life is distinctly so-so too: 200 shots from a full charge.

To recap

While £199 for a 20x zoom camera suggests good value, the VS20’s performance is inconsistent, while dual shutter release buttons come across as more gimmicky than essential.

Writing by Gavin Stoker.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel Best JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4.5Mb.

Can we really achieve the best of both worlds and have a broad focal range within a still relatively small chassis that produces sharp results at either end – and all for a pocket money price? Occasionally, when using the Pentax Optio VS20, the answer is yes. We say occasionally, because unfortunately results are hit and miss. Yes, you can achieve sharp, well exposed results shooting handheld at maximum telephoto from 100 yards away, but you’ll need four or five attempts to get that winning shot. On the rest the focus or exposure will have wandered, although, to be more positive, when shooting in daylight we didn’t suffer unduly from the blurring effects of camera shake at the extremities of the zoom. Sensor shift image stabilization aside, this is partly because of the chunky depth of the camera helping to provide just that little more weight and support than your usual slender pocket snapper. For the most part the Pentax maintains detail into the corners of the shot at maximum wideangle, with minimal if any barrel distortion too. Brighter conditions do inevitably result in over exposed highlight detail plus perhaps inevitably pixel fringing between areas of high contrast, but the latter only becomes an issue on close inspection.

In terms of low light performance, predictably we’re getting serviceable results up to and including ISO800. At ISO1600 – the highest setting we can shoot at and still maintain full resolution, we’ve got an odd daylight colour cast to our sample image, and at ISO3200 and particularly ISO6400 we’re noticing the dropping of resolution and evaporation of detail. Having said that, switch to the night scene mode and, as long as you have a steady surface at your disposal it’s possible to achieve some really quite acceptable results. Pity then that there’s a question mark over the camera’s reliability on a day-to-day basis, which at the end of the day means we wouldn’t want to be spending more than the budget price being asked here.

Noise

There are 7 ISO settings available on the Pentax Optio VS20. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)


ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)


ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)


ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Pentax Optio VS20’s 20x zoom lens provides a focal length of 22.3-580mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

28mm	560mm

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web — Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are just a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don’t like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Pentax Optio VS20 handled chromatic aberrations fairly well during the review, with purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)	Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Pentax Optio VS20 allows you to focus on a subject that is just 1cm away from the camera. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro	Macro (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the Pentax Optio VS20 are Flash-on, Flash-off, Red-eye reduction, Low-speed synchro, and Low-speed synchro + Red-eye. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off — Wide Angle (28mm)	Flash On — Wide Angle (28mm)


Flash Off — Telephoto (560mm)	Flash On — Telephoto (560mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Red-eye-Reduction settings caused any red-eye.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)


Red-eye Reduction	Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Pentax Optio VS20 is not very well suited to night photography, as you cannot use truly slow shutter speeds. The photo below was taken in the Night Scene mode at a shutter speed of 1.3 seconds, sensitivity setting of ISO 800 and aperture of f/3.1, all chosen by the camera. The 100% crop demonstrates the quality you can expect.

Night	Night (100% Crop)

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Pentax Optio VS20 camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Best JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Download

Specifications

Sensor
Camera Type	Super Zoom Compact Camera
Type	CCD
Size	1/2.33’’ CCD
Total Pixels	approx. 16.00 megapixels
Effective Pixels	16.56 MP
Still	16M (4608×3456), 12M (3456×3456), 12M (4608×2592), 7M (3072×2304), 2M (1920×1080), 640 (640×480)
Movie	Compatibility AVI (Motion JPEG) Resolution : HD: 1280(1280 x 720): approx. 30/15 fps. VGA: (640 x 480): approx. 30/15 fps. 320:(?320 x 240): approx. 30/15 fps.
Sensitivity	Auto ISO, manual (80 ? 6400 ISO)
Shake Reduction	CCD-shift Shake Reduction
Lens
Focal Length	5-100mm, equ. to 28-560mm in 35mm, aperture : F/3,1 — 4,8
Digital Zoom	Optical Zoom:20X Digital Zoom: Approx. 7.2 X Smart Zoom Approx. 30x at 7M, approx. 144X at 640 (including optical zoom)
Construction	11 elements in 8 groups (1 aspherical elements )
Focusing System
Type	TTL autofocus with contrast détention
Functions	Manual Focus, Infinity-landscape
Focus Range (automatic)	AF points Standard 1.6m — infinity (at tele setting) 3-point AF, Spot AF, Auto tracking AF (anticipating moving subject), 0.4m — infinity (at wide setting) Macro 0.1m — 0.5m (at wide setting) Super Macro 0.01m — 0.2m (middle zoom position)
Screen
Type	3’’ LCD Colour screen
Resolution	approx.460K points
Shutter
Type	Electronical shutter with sheduled automatic exposition
Speed	1/2500 — 1/4 sec. 4 sec max. (Night Scene mode setting)
Exposure system
Metering	Multi-segment metering
Exposure Modes	Auto Picture, Program, Natural Skin Tone, Handheld Night Snap, Night Scene Portrait, Night Scene, Digital Panorama, Landscape, Blue Sky, Sunset, Flower, Digital SR, Kids, Pet, Portrait, Food, Fireworks, Surf & Snow, Sport, Fish-eye, Sketch, Miniature Filter, Text, Frame composite, Movie, Green.
Compensation	+/-2EV (1/3 EV steps)
Flash
Type	Integrated auto flash control Automatic activation in low light conditions.
Modes	Flash-on and Flash-off modes «Red-eye» reduction function
Effective Range	Flash range Wide: approx. 0.2 ? 5.1m (ISO Auto) Tele: approx. 1.6 ? 3.3m (ISO Auto)
Exposure Parameters
Modes	Mode: Standard, self timer,burst shooting, high speed burst (L,M,H****), Remote control DRE: «Dynamic Range Enlargement», shades compensation: high lights
Face Recognition	Face recognition AF&AE is available for all modes up to 32 faces, Smile Capture, Blink Detection, animal recognition
White Balance	Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Manual setting
Digital Filter	B&W/Sepia, Toy Camera, Retro, Color, Extract Color, Starburst, Soft, Fish-eye, Brightness, Miniature, Natural Skin Tone, Sketch
Movie
Recording	Sound : Yes Movie : Shake reduction Mode (SR) Duration : Depends on memory card capacity Resolution : VGA (640×480), approx 30/15 fps QVGA (320×240), approx 30/15 fps HD 1280 (1280 x 720p), approx 30:15 fps
Editing	Record as pictures, spilt movies.
Playback
Digital Filter	B&W/Sepia, Toy Camera, Retro, Color, Extract Color, Starburst, Soft, Fish-eye, Brightness, Miniature, Natural Skin Tone, Sketch
Options	Slideshow, Image Rotation, Stretch Filter, Small Face Filter, Digital Filter (B&W/Sepia, Toy Camera, Retro, Color, Extract Color, Starburst, Soft, Fish-eye, Brightness, Miniature, Natural Skin Tone, Sketch), Frame Composite, Movie Editing, Red-eye Compensation, Resize, Cropping, Image Copy, Protect, DPOF, Startup Screen
Storage
Internal	Approx. 16MB
External	Compatible with SD, SDHC, SDXC memory cards
File Format	Photo format : JPEG (Exif 2.3), DCF 2.0, DPOF, PRINT Image Matching III Video format : AVI (Motion JPEG), with sound
Special Features
Features	Text size: Standard, large World time : 75 cities, 28 time zones ?
Language	English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Greek, Russian, Thai, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
Printing
Format
Interface
Interface	USB2.0 (Hi-Speed), PC/AV terminal (NTSC/PAL, mono)
Power
Source	Battery : Rechargeable D-LI122 Luthium-ion battery Optional AC adapter also available
Performance	Recording capacity approx. 200 shots and 180 min in play mode.
Dimensions
Height	60mm
Width	108mm
Depth	34mm
Weight	191g (charged with battery) Approx. 170g (body only)
Compatibility
PC	Windows XP SP3, (SP3), VistaTM and 7
Mac	OS X 10.3.9 or above
Accessories
Included Software	Software: (CD-ROM) S-SW121
Kit Content	USB cable I-USB7, AV-IAVC7 video cable, rechargeable battery Li-ion D-DLI92, battery charger D-BC92, O-ST104 strap and software.
Optional	Optional AC adapter

Design and features

We had the black fascia-ed version in for review. Partly because of the extra buttons and the broader than average focal range delivered by its internally stacked zoom — which here is the equivalent of 28-560mm in 35mm terms — the VS20 resembles a bit of a brick next to your slender fashion-conscious snappers costing £100 more. With dimensions of 60 x 108 x 34mm it weighs 191g and has a gentle curve to one side of the faceplate by way of a handgrip and rubber padding at the other end to provide a steadier two-handed hold.

Lens reach aside, another thing this Optio has in its favour is the price. At a suggested £199 it is one of the cheapest travel zoom cameras around, though the identically priced 24x Olympus SZ-14 (14 megapixels) is another option for those on a budget.

Like that rival, one thing we might not necessarily expect on an entry model is a 3-inch backplate LCD providing a high-ish 460k-dot resolution rather than the standard 230k. In the absence of an optical viewfinder this is expectedly the only means of composing and reviewing shots.

However, the camera could be quicker in determining focus and exposure — the LCD visibly blurs with a half press of the shutter-release button — rendering the photographer blind for a second or so before the image presented drifts back into focus. Also the VS20 takes a leisurely four seconds to commit a full 16-megapixel resolution JPEG to memory, while maximum shooting speed is one frame per second, so this is not a camera for those in a hurry.

On a more positive note, despite its point and shoot credentials and very few manual controls, we get a light-sensitivity range stretching up to ISO 6400. Stray above ISO 1600, however, and resolution drops to 5 megapixels to limit the appearance of image noise. Plus, while a grainy look is avoided, subject edge definition looks a little soft as a result.

Pentax Optio VS20 Review – Design

In terms of design, and perhaps unsurprisingly due to the second shutter release, the VS20 is quite chunky. With a depth of 34mm only a few compact cameras can boast more width, and even fewer once bridge cameras are taken out of the equation. For anyone with larger hands the difference isn’t a massive issue, but those with more petit digits may find it difficult. Otherwise the body is relatively sparse, with only a few buttons on the rear to speak of. A dedicated movie record button is present above the multi-use D-pad, although either a few more controls or larger buttons could have quite easily been used. The looks are fairly dated, and even in the white body there’s no getting round the bulky frame. With touchscreen technology at a state where the likes of Panasonic and Canon employ a touch shutter function it seems odd a secondary shutter release would be used, especially if it has impacted the shell of the Pentax VS20 so significantly.