Pentax X90 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 26x Super-Telephoto Triple Shake Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD

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Price: $399.99    

Product Feature

• 26x super-telephoto lens (26-676mm equivalent); 12.1-megapixel sensor is ideal for large prints or cropping flexibility
• 2.7-inch LCD with anti-reflection coating; electronic viewfinder with diopter adjustment
• Powerful automatic operation or creative manual and priority modes
• Triple Shake Reduction technology includes a mechanical sensor-shift mechanism
• Fast Face Detection technology quickly finds up to 32 faces; Super Macro mode

Product Description

Kick the megazoom category up another notch with the PENTAX X90 digital camera.  Featuring an extra-wide zoom, longer battery life, and an electronic viewfinder, the X90 delivers effortless picture-taking in a wide variety of situations to photographers of all levels.  The key feature of the PENTAX X90 is the 26X megazoom, super-telephoto lens (26-676mm equivalent) also designed with a Macro mode that focuses to less than one inch away to capture images of subjects that are near or far.

Pentax X90 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 26x Super-Telephoto Triple Shake Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD Review

The pictures come out really well and almost professional looking. The camera responds well, feels really comfortable in the hand, with the controls easily accessible and responsive. I was looking for an inexpensive camera like the Nikon P100 but without too many picture taking compromises and without AA batteries. So the X90 fits the bill, yet, the missing lens thread, manual pop-up flash and the childish scene options interface make it a bit awkward overall. I am tempted to keep it though because it is pretty fast in startup, while less so in flash charging, light weight and capable of tremendous zoom. It looks great here on Amazon but rather amateurish once I opened the box. Of course, I shouldn't expect that much from a camera in this price range, and perhaps I should just appreciate the terrific picture quality this baby is capable of - so thanks Pentax, a job well done albeit it a bit lacking in some regards, Wish I really could have that Fuji E900 in an upgraded version, but the Pentax X90 will do for now.

UPDATED

After taking a number of shots with the camera over the past few weeks I can say that it performs remarkably well. Sure, it's not a professional camera but the clarity is astounding at this price point. The image stabilization is world class IMHO. Both at macro and tele, the camera performs excellently. There were a few situations in which it underperformed. A friend's Samsung P&S was able to get better backlit portrait shots (the background came out much better - but that same Samsung did a terrible job with any other portrait shot so Pentax left it far in the dust overall), and I had to adjust the flash to -2.0 to reduce the strength. The default settings of the camera have the flash set for super bright and white balance to wash out most colors. This is adjustable once I became familiar with the menu options. What I really, really like about it is that it remembers all your custom settings. I have one at Program, Scene, and Manual. Each time I want to take three different shots to get a variety of results in difficult lighting conditions, all I have to do is turn the dial to another mode and it automatically returns to my previous setting. When I couldn't get a good outdoor portrait shot of my wife, I turned to Manual mode, adjusting the aperture such that I got good exposure with the flash and in the background. The options are virtually endless! The camera says it's made in Indonesia if that is important to you. Excellent job Pentax!

PROS
Numerous customization options for the beginner and advance amateur
Superb image stabilization
Relatively small size
Excellent fit and grip for average size hands
Excellent image quality for the price
Li-Ion battery for large number of shots

CONS
Awkward menu options, takes many clicks to get what you want (but that's too be expected considering how many options there are)
Awkward lens cap (comes off easily)
Build quality average, when you shake the camera you can feel the lens moving about a little
Charging unit comes with separate cord. The plug should have been built in for easier carrying (like Panasonic in same price class).
No lens thread. This is actually a major disadvantage because a polarizing filter could make lots of outdoor pictures with this camera much better than they already are. In this economy, Pentax should have taken the trouble to put a thread in, even if it were plastic, IMHO.

UPDATED JANUARY 12, 2011

Since Amazon has it back in stock, let me expand a bit on my experience with it. After several months of extensive use, I no longer find the lens cap issue to be a big problem. Even though I put the camera right into a shoulder bag with other items or in a backpack or briefcase, the lens has yet to get scratched by anything. The cap comes off quite easily, but that's actually an advantage too, I flip it off with a finger of the same hand that's holding it. The viewfinder is excellent and gives you all the info you need. I make much more use of it then I thought in the beginning.

Image quality in wide angle mode is pretty amazing overall. The only problem I find is with the panoramic function. It could be just me but I have the hardest time lining up the overlapping parts. The camera guides me through the process so it should be a piece of cake but the results are always off somehow.

Now that I live close to the beach I take more wildlife and surfing pictures. Chromatic aberration is noticeable especially at the longest zoom setting in higher contrast situations. I love the long zoom, rarely do I take pictures in between the wide angle and farthest zoom setting.

VIDEO

I have yet to get any useful video out of the camera. It's always overexposed and jittery. Don't buy this if you're planning to shoot video with it!

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