Pentax Optio E70L review

Cost-cutting camera offering 10-megapixel images, a 3x zoom and Face Recognition for under £100

Pentax’s latest camera release doesn’t boast all the latest technical enhancements, it doesn’t have a fancy exterior and it doesn’t even have a Mode dial… but it doesn’t cost the Earth either. At a sacrifice of high-end, modern features, Pentax has developed a ten-megapixel camera with a suggested retail price of under £100.

Designed as an entry-level compact this is a pared-down model that beginners can pick up and get shooting with in moments. First impressions, however, are mixed. It feels plasticky in the hand, and not overly durable. You definitely don’t want to drop or scratch this – it might not recover. The minimal buttons are also plasticky, but at least they are not too small. If you’re used to compacts, then you’ll notice the lack of Mode dial instantly. Instead, the D-pad has almost every major function attached to it, with the ‘down’ direction scrolling through the LCD display options and Face Detection, which is a strange combination. There is also a Scene button, which is where you select, well, the Scene mode, but you also use this to access the Auto or Program functions. Finally, the Menu button goes through the various setup and exposure options. It takes some getting used to where everything is if you are coming from a different compact, but if it’s your first camera, then the minimal layout saves any confusion.

The camera isn’t the fastest to start up, taking a reported 1.7 seconds to move from the opening screen to being ready to shoot. The zoom also moves into position during this time, and is smooth and quiet throughout its travel. When it comes to shooting, focusing is also a tad sluggish, but it is accurate. 

It is best to make the most of the available Scene modes when shooting, as your manual focus, exposure and metering options are limited. This is not a camera completely void of technology though, as there is advanced Face Recognition built in, recognising up to ten people in a frame, and Smile Detection works well for getting good portraits. Digital Shake Reduction in general is not a patch on optical solutions, but it does a good job of producing blur-free shots.

Image quality can only be described as average. In some shots that we took, on a bright, clear day, the colours are well saturated, the edges are crisp and there is no distortion – punching well above the camera’s weight. But in so many of our other shots, chromatic aberration is a problem and in bright light, there is a real problem with overexposure, washing out brighter areas of the scene and blurring fine detail. Low-light performance is okay, especially using the manual ISO commands, but shooting moving objects is difficult and macros are limited to just a 10cm closest-focus distance.

Part of the problem is that we’re spoilt for choice these days, and for just £50 more, you could get a very decent compact with better-quality images. However, the Pentax E70L is available for a lot less than the suggested retail price, putting it in league with the sort of models that you’d find in chemists and supermarkets. Against these, the image quality is far superior and the Pentax optics stand out.

There are little shortcuts in this camera that are obviously there to keep costs down. For example, the E70L uses AA batteries, which are cheap, but they don’t last as long. Get some rechargeables and always carry spares to avoid disappointing battery rundowns. The USB/AV slot on the side is left uncovered, which means that it runs the risk of getting clogged with dirt, dust or sand, which could really cause problems with the internal workings of the camera.

This camera is basic, not unattractive, easy to use and produces okay images, which is exactly what you would expect from a camera at this price point, so in this respect it’s a complete success, but you’ll be left wanting if you’re used to compact cameras.