Pentax Optio E80 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 2.7-inch LCD (Black)

by Pentax

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4 x 2.3 x 1 inches ; 5.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002JM25AA
• Item model number: E80 Black
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,633 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 4, 2009

Product Description

Color: Black

From the Manufacturer

Combining approximately 10.0 effective megapixels with a high-performance Pentax zoom lens, the Optio E80 delivers brilliant, high-quality images with well-defined details. Even when images are enlarged, the user is assured of detailed, high-resolution prints with edge-to-edge sharpness.

Optio E80 Highlights

Optical 3X zoom lens covering angles as wide as 32mm
The Optio E80 features an optical 3X zoom lens covering focal lengths from approximately 31.5mm to 94.5mm (in the 35mm format). Its 31.5mm wide-angle coverage is particularly handy when photographing spectacular landscapes, magnificent architectures or group snapshots in a confined space. Coupled with the Intelligent Zoom function, which allows even tighter zooming in on the subject without compromising image quality, the user can extend the zoom range to approximately 17.1 times.

Large 2.7-inch LCD monitor for effortless image/menu viewing
The Pentax Optio E80 features a large, bright 2.7-inch color LCD monitor with approximately 230,000 dots that allows photographers to clearly view images and menus on the screen.

Beginner-friendly operation with large buttons and large menu text
Every Optio E80 control button, including the shutter release on the top panel, is large and designed to be easy to press. Coupled with the large letters, numerals and icons used in the on-screen menus, this ergonomic design improves user operability.

High-quality HD movie recording with Movie Shake Reduction
The Optio E80 captures beautiful widescreen HD movie clips at 16:9 aspect ratio (1280 x 720 pixels at 15 fps).* The camera also features a sophisticated Movie SR (Shake Reduction) mode,** which automatically compensates for camera shake during movie shooting. As a result, the user can record high-quality, blur-free movie clips with minimal effort. _{* When the Optio E80’s AV output terminal is used, movie clips are output at standard definition. If the user wishes to play back movie clips at high-definition-TV proportions (1280 x 720 pixels), the data must be transferred to a personal computer for playback.
** When the Movie SR mode is selected, the angle of view becomes narrower than normal shooting.}

Pentax Auto Picture mode for automatic selection of the ideal shooting settings
The Optio E80 features an upgraded version of Pentax’s original Auto Picture mode, which automatically and instantly selects the most appropriate shooting mode for a given subject or scene simply by pointing the camera at the subject and pressing the shutter release button halfway down. In addition to conventional modes (Landscape, Portrait, Night Scene, Night Scene Portrait, Standard, Flower, Sport), the Optio E series now features Candlelight mode increasing the E series ability to make automatic, high-quality digital photography possible with a broader range of subjects and scenes.

Green mode assures easy shooting for beginners
With simple pushbutton operation, the Optio E80’s user-friendly Green mode automatically selects the optimum combination of exposure settings, ISO sensitivity and other factors for a given subject or scene. This mode not only makes high-quality digital photography simple and effortless, even for first-time digital photographers, but it also comes in handy when the photographer asks someone else to take his/her pictures or when the user has simply lost track of camera settings.

Powered by world-standard AA-size batteries
Powerd by two world-standard AA-size batteries available anywhere, the E80 eliminates concern about running out of power away from a recharge outlet. The highly energy-efficient design captures approximately 210 images* with a pair of fresh alkaline batteries. Newer lithium AA batteries are recommended for increased performance and power availability.
_{* Based on measurement conditions conforming to CIPA specifications.}

Digital SR mode to minimize camera shake and subject movement in the dark
The Optio E80 features a dependable Digital SR (Shake Reduction) mode that is programmed to minimize camera shake and blur due to subject movement under low-lighting conditions in still-image shooting. When the Optio E80 detects these conditions, the camera automatically raises the sensitivity up to as high as ISO 6400 increasing the shutter speed for beautiful, blur-free still images even under unfavorable lighting conditions.

Automatic Face Detection for quick, effortless snapshots
The Optio E80 features advanced Face Detection AF & AE to automatically detect the subject’s face and optimize the focus and exposure settings. The Advanced Face Detection technology includes a Half Length Portrait mode that automatically creates a well-proportioned head-and-shoulders shot by centering the subject’s face and trimming peripheral areas.

Additional features

• Image recovery function to retrieve accidentally erased images
• Digital panorama mode to compose a single panoramic picture from as many as three images
• World-time function to keep track of local time at 75 cities in 28 time zones around the world
• Three-point AF system, with Auto-Tracking function, to maintain constant focus on a moving subject
• High-speed continuous shooting of up to 16 images in two seconds (with file size fixed at 640 x 480 pixels)
• Frame Composite mode (with 20 frames stored in the camera) to shoot or edit images using decorative photo frames
• ACDSee for Pentax 3.0 image viewing, editing and management software included (compatible with Windows VistaTM)
• Compatibility with DPOF functions, Exif Print and PRINT Image Matching III

Product Description

Beginners never had it so good. So easy-to-use, own and power, the travel-friendly Optio E70 flaunts big control buttons, AA battery power and high resolution, widescreen HD video capture at 720p at 15 frames per second with sound. With 10 megapixels, a 3X wide angle zoom, and a large 2.7 inch LCD, the simple and smart Optio E80 also offers Face Detection for perfectly focused and exposed portraits. Other user-friendly features and functions that help make high-quality digital photography effortless even for first-time users include Auto Picture mode, easy to read camera menus and Face Detection for perfectly focused and exposed portraits.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It works, but a limited camera for detail work., December 29, 2009

By 

AmelAmel (Stuttgart, GER/PDX, OR) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pentax Optio E80 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 2.7-inch LCD (Black) (Electronics)

So I will start off by saying that cost was of major concern when I was shopping for my camera, and the price, honestly, is pretty good. But I'm here to tell you what you are and aren't getting for that money.


Value-
I admit, I was purely going by review ratings (kind of), capabilities, name brand and price when I was shopping. But the price was pretty good for what it is, and the video features of this camera were better than others that were in the price range. The positives are the included USB cable but on the other hand, since it takes AAs, no rechargable batteries were included, instead just two alkalines were packed. You'll have to get your own memory card too, but in this day and age, they're realtively cheap anyways.


Appearance-
The slick black design is really nice and the contrasting chrome lens framing is good balance. It is by far more attractive than my old Nikon 5200. The big screen is also really nice, and the buttons are simple, minimalistic and quite just how I like them.


Construction and Quality-
The camera is solid and balanced and the buttons have a nice feel to them. However, while excused by the low price, I have my doubts about the plastic housing and its durability. Will the glossy black shell lose its luster and color?

Also of concern is the trap door for the batteries and memory card. My old Nikon had a nice sturdy metallic housing, but its ultimate failing was the battery trap door that didn't sit flush after one of the tabs broke. The same design was used for this new Optio, and it worries me a bit more, since the Nikon had a latch holding back the battery while the trap door on this Optio has to do the work of holding back the two AA batteries.

Made in China. This was a negative for me, but discussing my reasons would be off topic. Decide for yourself. If I would have known and was made aware of competing products that weren't made in China, I would have probably gone with something else.


Practicality-
It fits in my pockets just fine, no protruding parts, so it slides in and out of jean pockets just fine. The use of AAs is a great concept, since you don't have to buy model specific batteries, instead just alkalines or AA rechargables. Great for a couple years down the line, if you want to keep the camera and the rechargables are shot. Cheaper and easier to find!

The filing system is quite handy, and instead of just one folder of all the pictures you've ever taken, it creates a new folder for every day and sorts the pictures by date. In playback mode, simply press the zoomout button 3 times, and it will show you a calendar with all the days that you took pictures. You can also disable this feature if you want to.

There is also an easy mode that turns off all the advanced information and just tells you the amount of pictures you still have room for, and the battery life, with larger text. This is useful if you don't want all the complexities or have a hard time seeing all the small text.


Performance-
The camera would be just fine for someone who wants a camera that will take decent looking pictures, nothing more. The focus, the colors, and the sharpness are all fine most of the time. But if you want manual settings, like to get close ups or have other performance requirements, that is where the camera falls short. I'm not talking about megapixels, so if thats the only thing you understand or want to hear about, skip this section.

Autofocus: The focus works great on subjects that are far away to an armslength away. But if you enjoy getting close to flowers or small, detailed things, you'll find yourself having to tell the camera to refocus a few times before you get a sharp image. My old Nikon was better in that respect, and I got really nice images of coins, flowers, and patterns, something that I'`m having more trouble doing. I find myself having to keep the camera a bit further away from the subject, even with macro. But of course, with twice the resolution, I can crop off the extra background and still have a high definition image.

Autofocus (cont.): In my old Nikon, you had the capability of defining which area of the picture you wanted autofocus to focus on, something lacking here. I miss that feature alot, but its not a complete deal breaker.

White balance: The WB is not user definable or atleast I haven't figured out how to force a WB setting. The auto WB works most of the time, but there have been times where the WB was completely off and it was refusing to make white look white. Unacceptable if you want that control over the consistency of color in camera.

Video: The video works fine, but the audio quality is not quite what I'd like it to be. But then again, I do alot of video work and probably have higher expectations than most and I usually just use this camera for still images and not so much video. But the quality is acceptable and presentable. No real zoom during recording.


Summary and concluding remarks-
This camera looks good, is built well and all at a great price point. The camera lacks a metal casing, but otherwise feels fine, but the battery trapdoor is of some concern. For normal, pedestrian uses, the picture quality is fine, but the camera lacks user-definable settings for more sophisticated and/or demanding users. The video quality is ok and will do just fine for a family video or your vlogs. It takes widely availabe and cheap AA batteries and SD memory cards, so no worries there.

Is this camera full of features and advanced capabilities? No.
Does it take good pictures/videos? Yes.
Are there better cameras? Yes.
Its it worth the price? At the Amazon discounted price w/ free shipping, yes.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 7, 2010

By 

150 F3 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pentax Optio P80 12.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Zoom with Shake Reduction and 2.7-inch LCD (White) (Electronics)

Pentax's P80 is a joy to own and use.

I've tested it thoroughly for 2 weeks. Its photos are technically pleasing 95% of the time. I never knew a camera could be this nice.

I love how the self timer works. It stays in effect until turned off, so I can do a long session of tripod mounted macros without having to use buttons and menus. There's even an option to have it remember the self timer setting when the camera is turned off and on. This will save huge amounts of time for night photography.

The interface was very easy to figure out. I was operating it with ease right away.

Video quality is excellent. 30 fps 1280x720 clips look incredible on an HDTV. The camera allows white balance and EV adjustments in video mode. The live histogram is accurate and useful to help capture the ideal image. Audio sounds clean and great too. The self timer function is available in video mode, so camera shake at the beginning of clips can be eliminated. Unlike QuickTime, the camera's AVI file format easily imports into Windows Movie Maker and Virtual Dub.

I use D-Range to control shadows and highlights. It works! I took a picture of new, bright white sneakers with black accents in noon sunlight and it turned out perfectly, even with contrast set to high. That kind of subject has far too much dynamic range for other cameras I've used.

I wish it had a black and white mode so I could simply get BW photos directly. There's an in-camera conversion option, but in the opinion of this reviewer it's a waste of battery life and storage space. Picasa does very good BW conversions of P80 photos. Other cameras have problems with challenging BW subjects like white and chrome cars on sunny days, but Pentax has it figured out. I'm always amazed to see wide, perfectly contained histograms in test photos I was sure would be failures. It's hard to make it clip shadows and highlights.

I didn't expect such useful results from a small, high resolution sensor. To my delight, the sensor delivers 12 good megapixels. Detail is excellent. The camera doesn't aggressively reduce noise and smear colors together.

It does lens correction. 28mm shots with strong barrel distortion are beautifully converted to scenes with straight lines and edges. It happens fast too.

I'm a very negative, fault finding person. It says a lot that this product exceeds my modest expectations.

After experimenting with its huge amounts of adjustment settings, I will use it in Auto ISO, high contrast, high sharpness, medium saturation, daylight white balance, D-Range shadows and highlights, and 7 megapixels. EV adjustments are rarely necessary thanks to D-Range processing. Leaving it at -0.3 appears to work well most of the time.

If I'm in a photographically ideal situation, I'll turn off D-Range and go to ISO 64 at 12 megapixels. (The lower limit with D-Range on is ISO 125.)

The tripod mount is centered, so the camera won't easily tip over with mini-tripods. I use a mini-tripod as a camera grip for more stability. It compensates for the P80's small size and light weight.

The camera has some purple fringing issues, so I can't give it 5 stars. They're easy to take care of in editing. I bought the thing mainly for black and white, so purple fringing doesn't matter much to me.

I tried its highest saturation setting and would not recommend it for normal, colorful scenery. None of the color channels blew out, but maximized blue skies and sunlit green plants looked too weird for my taste. High saturation would work better with drab subjects to bring out more color than the eye sees.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good little camera, January 31, 2010

By 

Bob Forehead "Bob" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pentax Optio P80 12.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Zoom with Shake Reduction and 2.7-inch LCD (Black) (Electronics)

Overall, I find this a pretty good little digital point and shoot, and a good replacement for our earlier model of Pentax Optio. For indoor shooting, I am impressed at the depth achieved by the flash -- much better than our earlier model. In fact, I really wasn't expecting such good results. If I were to fault the camera at all, I would say that the colors in the photos are vibrant -- perhaps a bit more vibrant than in actuality. Still, that is a minor problem -- if a problem at all -- for a digital camera in such a portable package.

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