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Pentax Optio RZ10 budget-friendly 10x zoom

Though it's nothing out of the ordinary, Pentax offers up a well-appointed sub-$220 compact megazoom for the 2010 holiday season.

Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice
Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.
Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials
  • More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
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Joshua Goldman
Pentax

While putting together a recent roundup of inexpensive megazooms, I realized Pentax didn't have one in its lineup--budget or otherwise. However, as of Wednesday, it does: the Optio RZ10.

Priced at a reasonable $219.95, the 14-megapixel RZ10 features a 10x f3.2-5.9 28-280mm-equivalent lens with sensor-shift image stabilization and a 2.7-inch, 230K-dot resolution LCD. It can do macro shots as close as 0.4 inch from your subject, has a 720p HD-resolution movie mode, and a burst-shooting option that can capture up to 40 photos at up to 9.1 frames per second (though that's likely not at full resolution).

If those features were all it offered, that would put it on par with other cameras in its class. To make it a little more interesting Pentax adds support for Eye-Fi wireless SD/SDHC cards, some digital art filters (including Toy Camera and Retro), smile and blink detection, and improved dog and cat face detection. The last one may seem silly, but people take a lot of pictures of their pets and it does help make sure they're in focus.

It'll be available in October in black, white, lime, and violet.