Pentax Optio M20

It seems like budget cameras these days really put a very literal meaning to the word ‘Budget’. Even though the Pentax Optio M20 falls in that range, it performs exceptionally well. I have to say I’m now an official fan of this company.

Design
The M20 may not be a sleek camera but then again it’s really not supposed to be. It’s pretty standard looking in fact. However it is light, weighing in at 170g and quite slim. The main weight comes only from the AA batteries it uses. As just a matter of opinion, I prefer the AA battery usage over Li-Ion since I can get them anywhere in case they run out. But to get the best out of the situation you can of course, use NiMH batteries that come with a charger. But then again you’re back to square one. Nevertheless, rechargeable is always a good option.

On the rear you’ll find a clear 2.5-inch LCD display sporting 115,000 LCD pixels. It’s equipped with an auto dimmer function that automatically adjusts brightness levels for viewing comfort under varied lighting conditions. The rest of the design with regards to the buttons is pretty much what you’d see on any other camera, with a menu button and the delete key that doubles as a Green (Auto) Mode key.

On the top there’s the power and shutter release buttons with a speaker located there as well. And below is of course the battery / MMC card compartment with the USB socket on the side near the loop for the strap.
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Features
As budget cameras go, the M20 doesn’t offer too much extra in terms of features. But this 7.1 megapixel with 3x optical zoom still manages to fare quite well. Settings are quite similar to what you might find in other digicams in this range. Among them are options for macro and Super Macro, or flower mode you’d find in the options. The super mode is great for when you really want to get up close and personal to those flowers.

There are also presets for night, sports and anti blur which is, simply put, digital image stabilization. These two modes come in handy for spontaneous image capturing. There are 2 other settings for taking pictures of your pet and food. I’m not sure what to say about that, as pet or food lovers might have another opinion. Apart from these there also a settings to take pictures with 3 preloaded frames. Another helpful feature is the Manual Focusing mode that actually allows you to do just that.

The M20 is fully equipped to be a traveler’s camera with functions for setting the time to where you’ll be traveling to so it’ll change automatically on arrival.

What I do like is the interface which is so simple with cute little icons depicting all the functions. Makes it really easy for just about anyone to use. Even the menus for post processing are depicted with similar icons. There are tools for resizing, rotating the images, digital and brightness filters and even creating a voice memo for the image.
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Performance
I was quite satisfied with the overall performance of the M20. From the super smooth LCD with no lag at all to the clear image quality. There didn’t seem to be to much of noise or blurring of the pictures.
The M20 manages to pick up the colors just fine. The definition of the reds is just right.

Outdoor shots in broad daylight were vibrant and clear with a negligible amount of pin-cushioning.

There were a few watercolor effects generated in a few of the out door pictures but not too much that you’d be too worried.

Night mode pictures were also really good. The M20 picked up the little lights and really brightened up the scene with minimal grain.

I even tried a few shots in the dark (literally) using the flash and the results were quite good. Even with pictures taken up close the detail is great.

Another impressive feature is Pentax’s face recognition AF and AE function. What it essentially does is focus on the subject’s face and sets the camera to pick up the optimum focus and exposure to give you some really good pictures.

Now the camera does takes 3 seconds to start up and it does take a little over a second between shots. Connectivity with the M20 is a ‘snap’ (pun intended). It’s equipped with a mini USB slot which also doubles as an AV out for which cables are provided. It can also be connected directly to any Pict-Bridge compatible printer.
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Conclusion
The bottom line - This is one helluva camera. It’s light weight, and runs on normal AA pencil battery’s that can be found anywhere. The picture quality is great in all modes and I think its well worth the Rs. 14,490 you’d pay for it. With regards to other cameras in this range, the M20 fares quite well, so I’d recommend this digicam as a great option.

Now the Pentax Optio M20 is exclusively available on Tv18’s Homeshop 18 , to ‘snap’ with it, order one today.

Specs