Pentax Optio P70 review

Pentax has given the P70 the ability to capture video at up to a high-definition resolution of 720p, but only at 15fps. While the quality of the video is good for an ultra-compact camera, it's not exactly smooth-looking. You're better off keeping it at a 640x480-pixel resolution at 30fps, especially if the movie is destined for online sharing. Also, the 4x optical zoom doesn't work in movie mode.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time (flash)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Casio Exilim EX-Z250

2.8 

3.7 

3 

0.5 

0.3 

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77

2.1 

2.8 

2.2 

0.6 

0.3 

Canon PowerShot SD880 IS

1.2 

3.2 

1.9 

0.8 

0.4 

Pentax Optio P70

2.5 

4 

3.9 

1 

0.5 

Nikon Coolpix S230

3.5 

3.3 

3 

1 

0.5 

Conclusion
If there's a follow-up model to the Pentax Optio P70 -- and we hope there will be -- it's going to need better processing speed. The design is excellent, the features are very good, and the photos are perfectly suitable for the kind of people who we think are the target users: those who want better photos than they can get from their mobile phone, without sacrificing portability and convenience. The P70 just needs to be faster.

Additional editing by Charles Kloet