Customer Reviews

Pentax Optio M20 7MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just recently bought this camera and absolutely love it. I purchased it as an upgrade to my Vivitar 3705 which was a horrible camera. While the Pentax M20 may not be the top of the line, you get so much for the price!

The LCD screen is large and crystal clear. The settings are easy to change and use. It is simple to go back and forth from taking pics to viewing the ones you've just taken. Easy to delete unwanted pictures.

I find the picture quality to be very good. I don't have the same problem with blurry pictures as the other reviewers have mentioned. Only time I have noticed blurry photos is when the camera moved slightly while snapping the picture. A little icon shows on the screen when that happens so I was expecting it.

Over all, if you are thinking about purchasing this camera as a first camera or an upgrade, I think it is a great choice! I love mine!

My findings are quite similar to those of the first reviewer of this camera.

I purchased the Pentax Optio M20 as a replacement for my 5-year old Canon PowerShot A40. The M20 is a 7 megapixels camera versus only 2 megapixels for the A40. I first saw the camera offered on one of the home shopping channels and I liked what I saw, but I was able to find one for considerably less money on the internet.

After almost two weeks of experimentation with the new camera, I absolutely loved almost everything about the camera -- such as the huge 2.5" display; extremely easy maneuvering amongst an amazing variety of features/functions; small size; light weight; lo-o-ng battery life on two common AA batteries, etc. About the only thing I did not care for was the unfamiliar size of the I-USB7 connection cable (small connector that plugs into camera).

Even with all the great features of the camera, it didn't take photos nearly as good as my old 2 megapixel camera! The photos were unacceptably blurry for a 7 megapixel camera. The photos were not as good as my old camera and barely better than some I've taken with my cell phone camera. I re-set all the functions to their original settings then experimented with various items such as: faster shutter speed, higher/lower megapixel settings, varying the ISO, using with/without the anti-shake function, with/without a flash, etc. I didn't see noticeable improvement.

I contacted Pentax via email and I will also call them later to try whatever they suggest to remedy the problem. However, at this point I think I will be returning the camera for a refund. I will follow future reviews to see how other people more experienced than me rate the camera. I liked the features so much that I would certainly purchase it again but right now I think there may be internal problems with the model Optio M20.

First, I need to say I'm very pleased with picture quality. I'm not experiencing burry or fuzzy images as some other users. Shutter lag is a problem in some instances, which may lead to premature movement causing blurring. I tried all the modes; macro,portrait,night,scenery,kid,sport. All gave good results for me. Movie mode worked very well also. I did find better results using "program" mode which allows setting the image quality, color saturation, & contrast as compared to the "auto" mode. I use the full 7MP setting for most pics which uses more memory, but better image quality. Getting a 1 or 2 GB memory card makes this a non-issue. I also like that it uses AA batteries. Battery life is fair. I found that rechargable batteries last longer in this camers. It has Image-Link capability which allows direct docking with Kodak Easy-Share printers. Also I should mention it has a 3.1 lens compared to 2.8 in some other cameras in it's class, but that's really no biggie. Sensitivity adjustable up to ISO 1600 which is great for low light situations. Manual is very user friendly. I'm happy with this camera, & I think you would be too.

You've got to try this camera to know what I'm talking about. Pictures came out clean and rich.Now, let's talk about the blurring issue. In fact there is no such problem because everybody should agree with me that you don't shake your camera immediately before/after you shoot. And even after a shot(in low-light, indoors) you need to give a time to the shutter lag to close. This shutter lag is slow but we are more concerned about picture quality than anything else.My low light pitures are like WOW! When I show them to people they think it's done in daytime. I won't talk much. My dear friend JUST GO AND BUY IT.You can't regret it. Period!

I bought this camera as a replacement for a Fujifilm FinePix 2800 2.0MP. I noticed at first that the pictures I was taking with the M20 were not quite as sharp as I thought they should be. I thought it was my imagination until I started comparing shots taken with both the Fuji and the M20.
I took shots of the same subject matter at the same time at max resolution in Auto-mode on both cameras and I was SHOCKED at how bad the Pentax shots were when I did a side-by-side comparison. The Fuji's broad daylight shots were rich in color where the M20's looked as if they were taken on an overcast day. Shadows were present and easily visible on the Fuji's shot but were almost invisible with the M20.
I have to say that as far as the picture taking capabilities go they don't even compare with the Fuji's.

What I DO like about the camera is the gobs of features that it has. I was floored about the video recording with audio. You're only limited by how much add-in memory you have.

The face recognition feature is really a plus too.

If the camera took stills as good as my Fuji I'd give the M20 5 stars all around but it just doesn't make the cut

I got this for Xmas, and have spent the day playing with it. I was on the verge of returning it, but I've decided to keep it. Here's the trick... The ISO or sensitivity setting determines how sensitive the camera is to light. A high setting is good in very low light or, I guess, if the shutter is opening and closing very quickly. If you let the M20 decide for itself what setting to use then it will choose one that is too high. 200 is probably good for indoors, for example, but the camera will choose 400. This results in a picture with lots of "noise"; dark areas will have spots of light, etc. I think that this is what people are calling blurriness. Choose the sensitivity manually and the pictures are fine. Still, if the 6MP Sony is comparable in price, I'd probably lean toward it.

I really like this camera - it has everything I need, and it takes good pictures. I received it in the Mail around March 5th 1007 - it went into the shop May 1st because the something is apparently wrong with the flash mechanism preventing the shutter to release in any mode that requires a flash. The problem is too big for the local shop to fix, so they are sending the camera to the factory. They said it will probably be weeks before I get it back. Not a good start. I was even more disheartened to see that 4 of the 6 cameras for sale in the display at the repair shop (because people who dropped them off for repairs didn't pick them up) were Pentax digitals (but not M20's).

I hope when I get it back I will have years of trouble-free use, but as of now I'm not feeling good about my purchase.

I'll write an update in the future.

I have had good experiences with pentax and currently use a k110D DSLR as my primary camera. My wife was going to hawaii on a trip and wanted a simple point and shoot camera and I got her the pentax optio M20.
Its a neat little camera, not as small as the Canon S series or the Casio exilims but small enough to tuck into her purse. The camera takes regular SD cards and also 2 AA batteries (rechargables as well) which is a plus IMO. The lcd is bright and although suffers from glare in direct sunlight is useful in composing pic. The camera menus are easy (descriptive icons and text) for her to navigate the options without reading the entire manual. My wife enjoyed taking pics withthe pentax on her trip. The picture quality is decent and on par with other P&S from canon, sony etc. I also considered the sony DSC W7 but got put off by having to invest in the memory stick format and also expensive proprietary batteries.

Considering that the camera was around $130, i think this is a great little camera for part time / first time shooters.

I received it just two days before a European trip . I took 575 photos there under all types of conditions and at least 400 of them rival any of postcard or better quality I have ever seen. Simple to use , the big screen was a plus and can't say I ever will miss a viewfinder again

I've taken photos in a variety of scenes: outdoor and indoor, at a concert and at fairgrounds at night. The photos all turned out great. The operation is a little slow, but that is all that separates this camera from ones costing two to three times as much.