The Pentax Optio X70 is a full-featured ultra-zoom with a 24X very wide-angle zoom going from 26mm to 624mm and basic manual controls. Additionally it shoots HD 720p video, making it one of the few modern ultra-zooms to do so.
Most remaining features of the X70 are now standard fare for ultra-zooms models with manual controls:
12 Megapixels sensor
24X Wide-angle optical zoom lens
Optical image stabilization
ISO 64-1600 at full-resolution
ISO 3200-6400 at 5 megapixels
Shutter speeds from 1/4000s to 4s
Manual controls including manual focus
Automatic, preset and custom white-balance
Exposure bracketing, 3 frames, 1/3..2 EV steps in 1/3 EV steps
1280x720 @ 15 FPS HD 16:9 widescreen movie-recording
Digital wide function and in-camera panorama stitching
Blink detection and smile capture
Automatic highlight correction
2.7" LCD with 230K pixels
EVF with 200K pixels
Suitability - What is it good for?
The Pentax Optio X70 is highly versatile due to its 24X optical zoom which starts at a very wide-angle 26mm and reaches 624mm, in 35mm equivalent terms. This wide range covers most photographic uses, particularly well in the telephoto range for wildlife and bird photography. This super-long reach puts the X70 even beyond the reach of DSLR lenses under $1000 USD. Macro photography is also possible with the Pentax Optio X70 which can focus as close as 1cm (0.4").
Additional ultra-wide flexibility is provided by a digital wide function which blends two portrait images into an image with a field-of-view equivalent to a 20mm lens on a 35mm film or full-frame digital camera. The stitching makes it not entirely rectilinear but its not fisheye either. This results in a 5 megapixels image. Note that the same thing is doable by computer using a program like Autostitch but with user control and more opportunity for trial-and-error, as the X70 does not preserve the source images when attempting to stitch. The same is true of its panorama mode.
The Pentax Optio X70 also features full-manual controls for creative and versatile exposures. With a shutter-speed range from 1/4000 to 4s, this digital camera can in theory handle action but unfortunately not low-light photography. The limiting factors here are noise and speed of the camera. Regardless of the level of performance described on the next review page, it is to be expected that this is where a camera like this one mostly trails digital SLRs.
The X70 is reasonably compact relative to the reach of its lens. Its moderate size means that it is easy to carry such a powerful zoom and shoot rather discretely with it. Size is key to versatility simply because a smaller camera gets taken to more places.
With a 12 megapixels sensor, images from the Optio X70 are suitable for relatively large prints, up to 24"x18" when ISO is kept low. Any computer display or web-use will not be a problem.
Storage and power options for this digital camera are rather typical of ultra-zooms. The X70 supports SD-HC cards which always means SD too. it is powered by a small proprietary lithium-ion battery.
Capability - What can it do?
As an ultra-zoom, most of the flexibility comes from the X70's huge zoom range. Like most ultra-zooms, this digital camera is equipped with a number of advanced features. Below
is a list of its most useful features, followed by explanations, when required.
Program exposure with shift, shutter-priority, aperture priority and manual exposure
Metering: multi-segment, center-weighed and spot
Exposure compensation: +2 to -2 EV,
in 1/3 stop increments
Flash compensation: +2 to -2 EV,
in 1/3 stop increments
ISO selectable from 100 to 1600 at full-resolution
ISO 3200 and 6400 at 5 megapixels
Selectable maximum Auto-ISO, 200 to 1600
White-balance: Auto, 6 presets and custom
Flash: Auto, off, on, auto-redeye, forced-redeye, slow-sync and slow-sync plus redeye
Drive: Single-shot, 3-speed continuous, self-timer, exposure bracket and internal shooting
Exposure bracket: 3 shots, 1/3 to 2 EV,
in 1/3 stop increments
Self-timer: 12s or 2s
Automatic highlight correction
Custom image parameters: 3 color modes, contrast, sharpness and saturation settings
Camera power-off memory settings
Shake reduction
Face-priority
Smile-capture
Blink detection
Digital wide function
Automatic panorama stitching
The automatic macro setting lets the Pentax X70 enter macro mode without changing focus modes. Selecting 1cm macro mode zooms-in automatically to the right focal-length needed. Highlight correction uses a different tone-curve to reduce chances of having clipped highlights.
In smile capture mode, the camera takes a picture when a smile is detected, no need to press the shutter-release. Blink detection simply warns if the camera detects that someone may have blinked in the last picture taken. The interval timer feature shoots up to 408 images. The time between shots can range from 10 seconds to 99 minutes. A start delay between 1 minute and 24 hours can also be set.
The digital wide function and automatic panorama use the camera to stitch low-resolution panoramas of either 2 portrait or 3 landscape images.
The Pentax 24X optical zoom lens of this digital camera has a wide range from 26mm to 624mm in 35mm terms. This is 2mm wider than what is considered wide-angle and reaches well into the telephoto range used for wildlife photography and birding. The exact same range is found on the Nikon P90 and Kodak Z980. Olympus does slightly more with its 26X zoom, starting at 26mm but reaching 676mm.
Shake Reduction is Pentax's image stabilization. which compensates for involuntary camera movements, up to 3 stops compared to no stabilization. This helps with the usability of such a long zoom. Recall that the rule-of-thumb is to shoot at 1 over the focal-length. Thus, at the 624mm end, shooting at 1/750s is expected for shots to come out sharp. Considering the maximum aperture is F5 at 624mm and the desire to use low ISO settings, a shutter-speed of 1/750s can be difficult. With stabilization, this requirements is reduced to 1/200s or even 1/100s. In movie-mode, Shake Reduction is not available. Instead, stabilization is digitally simulated. In order to do so, the X70 has to reduce the field-view of the lens, thus losing some wide-angle coverage.
Usability - How easy is it to use?
The Pentax Optio X70 is quite easy to handle and just as easy to operate. Its body is well built and features a good hand-grip to hold it steady. It feels sturdy enough.
The main controls are easy to use with positive click points. The shutter-release is good with a noticeable halfway point used to focus the camera before taking a picture. The X70 has one command dial which is set on the camera's rear right under the thumb. This is the only control that feels sticky and slow to use. It is used for zooming in playback mode, making this operation very slow compared to similar cameras.
The tethered lens-cap easily stays with the camera. It falls off automatically when the X70 is powered on with it in place. Underneath the X70, a plastic tripod mount is placed at the camera's physical center. It is better for panoramas if the tripod mount is aligned with the lens' center but for other uses the physical center gives more balance.
The X70 is powered on by a simple button on top of the camera, behind the shutter-release. The zoom control is wrapped around the shutter. Zooming is quite fast but too sensitive for precise control over such a range. The top of the camera also holds the mode dial. The usual Auto, Program, Shutter-Priority, Aperture-Priority, Manual and Movie mode are present. Additionally, there are modes for digital shake reduction, sports and user settings. User settings are saved from another mode using the Record menu.
The mode dial also has a Scene-Mode which puts all individual scene modes under one mode. The specific Scene-Mode is chosen by calling up the Mode button using the down direction of the 4-way controller.
Continuous drive always shoots at 5 megapixels. The high-speed setting captures up to 21 images at 11 FPS. The medium-speed one takes up to 7 images at 6.3 FPS and the low-speed one takes up to 7 images at 4 FPS.
The Pentax Optio X70 has two great usability features: memory settings and a customizable green-button. The memory settings allow to specify which setting the X70 remembers after being powered-off. This is excellent to avoid taking pictures with the wrong exposure, white-balance or ISO, after having changed those settings the day before. The green button allows quick access to up to four settings of the user's choosing.
As most ultra-zooms, this digital camera features a large rear LCD and a small EVF. The EVF has a good protruding position. However, it is quite coarse, making judging details and focus nearly impossible. The LCD is better with great visibility.
Another problem with the LCD is that the preview isn't always accurate. The LCD is not exposure-priority in Manual mode and not in Aperture-priority or Shutter-priority when parameters are out of range. This is really too bad as you do not see the effects of being beyond the camera's exposure range.
The camera has a button to switch between EVF and LCD which is separate from the display mode button. The display mode button cycles through the image-only, information, information plus histogram and alignment grid modes which does not show any other information.
On the camera's rear, a standard 4-way controller is used to navigate menus and as a short-cut to some camera functions. Those functions are: flash-mode, drive-mode, focus mode and scene-mode. Unlike similar cameras, exposure-compensation is controlled by a dedicated button behind the shutter-release.
While ISO and white-balance do not have dedicated buttons, the green button can be configured to invoke these settings. The menus are easy to navigate. This camera is shooting-priority, so a halfway press of the shutter brings it back to the set shooting mode. There is a playback button which toggles playback mode. The X70 cannot enter playback mode without extending its lens by holding the playback button.
ISO is selectable between 50 and 6400. Up to 1600, the camera can shoot at its maximum resolution of 12 megapixels. From 3200 onwards, the X70 limits itself to 5 megapixels which is normally enough for an 8"x10" print and for displaying full-screen on most computer displays. Because the usable ISO range depends on the photographic medium, it is great when a camera like the X70 allows the Auto ISO range to be selected. The minimum ISO is fixed at 50 with highlight-correction off and 100 with it on. The maximum ISO can be selected between 200, 400, 800 and 1600.
This ultra-zoom allows for -2 to +2 stops of exposure compensation and flash compensation, both in 1/3 stop increments. Exposure bracketing, which always takes 3 frames, can be set in increments from 1/3 to 2 EVs, in 1/3 stop increments.
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Most remaining features of the X70 are now standard fare for ultra-zooms models with manual controls:
On the camera's rear, a standard 4-way controller is used to navigate menus and as a short-cut to some camera functions. Those functions are: flash-mode, drive-mode, focus mode and scene-mode. Unlike similar cameras, exposure-compensation is controlled by a dedicated button behind the shutter-release.
