Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/16/review_pentax_optio_v20/
Review Chances are that many pics in your photo album are of family and friends. Little wonder then, that camera manufacturers are devoting a lot of time and energy in providing features designed to help us take even better people shots.
The Pentax Optio V20 not only offers Face Detection technology but combines it with a Smile Capture mode and a system designed to warn you when your subject blinks. Sounds impressive, but how good is it?
Pentax's Optio V20: doesn't leap out at you
In terms of design, the Optio V20 doesn’t really stand out from the crowd. That’s not to say it doesn’t look good, but it certainly doesn’t jump out at you on a shelf full of cameras. That said, it has a clean, uncluttered design and is very compact, measuring 97.5 x 56.5 x 23.5mm and weighing 145 grams with battery and memory card. Our version came in black and silver and looked pretty smart.
The front of the camera is neat and flat, save a raised a silver bar that acts as a grip. On top is a small power button, large shutter button and zoom dial. The back of the Optio V20 is dominated by a large 3in LCD screen and a Face Priority mode switch that is also used to select the Smile Capture mode. Below this are a small playback button, four way controller, menu button and Green Mode button which offers a fast way of returning to the standard settings. Underneath is a flap for the battery and SD card.
When it comes to features, the Optio V20’s offerings are not bad for a model at this price point. There’s an eight-megapixel 1/2.35in CCD, 6.3-31.5mm lens equivalent to 36-180mm on a 35mm camera, 5x optical zoom, shutter speed range from 1/2000-1/4 sec, ISO 80-6400 range, 51MB of internal memory, which is sufficient for storing up to 13 images at the highest resolution (3264 x 2448), video recording in both VGA and QVGA mode plus the usual crop of presets – there are 17 including, night, landscape, skin tone and panorama. You also get a fair sprinkling of in-camera editing features including, cropping, re-sizing and red eye removal.
It takes the Optio V20 around five seconds to power up and get set-up for the first shot so it’s not the fastest camera around. That said, the auto focus system soon locks onto the subject. Shutter lag is minimal and it takes around two seconds to write an image to the memory card when shooting at the highest resolution.
The back features the 3in LCD screen and the Face Priority mode switch
We liked the LCD screen a lot – it was big and bright, and when we took the Optio V20 out of a very sunny day, it was still fairly easy to view. The menu button lets you toggle between three set-up pages for adjusting parameters such as compression level and ISO setting, and is easy to navigate.
The mode button takes you through the various program settings, which are displayed as icons with short text description. Selecting the mode you want is a doddle and few people would be confused by the system. The Face Priority/Smile Capture button means users don’t have to navigate menus to use this function and that’s a good thing.
When it came to performance, the Optio V20 is a bit of a mixed bag. Let’s start with the good news. Picture quality was crisp and colour reproduction was good. We think most people would be happy with the results they got from this camera, whether shooting in bright light or low-light conditions. That said, picture noise begins to creep in at around ISO 400.
The 5x optical zoom is good for closing in on distant subjects, although it’s disappointing at the wide angle setting. The macro mode lets you shoot within 10 centimetres/four inches away from a subject, although it takes a while for the Optio V20 to settle down when shooting close-up images.
The Optio V20’s offerings are not bad for a model at this price point
There’s even an auto macro mode that works when the camera is in auto mode and the zoom is at the wide angle setting. As soon as you come within 10cm of an object, the Optio V20 automatically switches to macro mode. The Panorama mode, which stitches up to three images together, worked well and while it was sometimes tricky to align images correctly, the Optio V20 did a good job in combining images in-camera.
The Optio V20 boasts a Face Recognition Auto Focus system and Auto Exposure system. The system was fast and accurate and the automatic exposure system helped produce reasonable skin tone.
However, we weren’t impressed with the Smile Capture mode. This technology isn’t new, and to be honest, we have seen better systems that won’t take a shot until a smile is actually detected - the Optio V20 happily shoots away in Smile capture mode, even when your subject is scowling.
Likewise, the blink warning system is supposed to tell you that the subject has blinked and that you should take another shot. It would have been more useful if the Optio V20 did this automatically.
Sample shots
Click for full-size images
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We think most people would be happy with the results they got from this camera
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Colour reproduction is pretty vivid, as this image of the McDonalds' frontman shows
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The Optio V20 features an effective 5x optical zoom
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The V20 offers face detection technology, including a Smile Capture mode. However, none of these impressed us
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We were impressed with the panorama mode, which stitches up to three images together
But even, then, we weren’t convinced about the usefulness of this system, because even when our subjects had their eyes shut tight, the Optio V20 still didn’t issue a warning. A Godsend or a gimmick? We’re inclined to think the latter.
But we don’t want you to run away with the idea that the Optio V20 is a bad camera, because it’s not. You’re getting a fair spec for your money and some useful features. You’re also getting a camera that is compact, reasonably handsome and which performs pretty well under a variety of conditions.
It’s not brash and it won’t confuse you with overly complex menus and countless bells and whistles, and that’s not a bad thing. We’re not convinced that the enhancements to standard Face Detection technology deliver the goods, but you at this price point, it’s still well worth a close look.
 | Pentax Optio V20 |
| Summary | A fair spec for the price and offering a good performance. We’re not convinced by the face-detection technology, though |
|---|---|
| Rating | 75% |
| Price | £165 |
| More info | The Pentax UK website (http://www.pentax.co.uk) |
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