Digital Camera Review

Trusted Reviews has posted their review of the Pentax Optio M40 and writes:

OK, that was a bit harsh and I apologise unreservedly, after all Pentax did all the R&D stuff when it launched the Optio M30 7-megapixel ultra-compact in January this year, and launching an 8-megapixel version six months later is really just a way of recouping the cost of that investment, but the fact remains that the Optio M40 is virtually identical to the M30 in every respect other than sensor resolution. It is also competing with virtually the same cameras at the same price point. The M40 is available for around £130, while the M30 has dropped in price to around £100. I wonder if I could get away with copying my review of the M30 and just updating the features table? No, I thought not. …

The built-in flash is also the same as the M30, and it’s a very good one, however I noticed that on the box, one of the selling points listed for the M40 is a massive 15.5 metre flash range, which would be comparable with the most powerful professional flashguns designed for SLRs. I’m afraid this is a bit of a cheat though. It is traditional to specify flash ranges at fixed ISO settings, usually 100 ISO. Under these conditions most compact cameras have a flash range of around four metres at wide angle, which is perfectly adequate for most social photography. The M40’s flash only has that huge range at the maximum sensitivity setting of 3200 ISO in Digital SR mode, and with the best will in the world, picture quality at that setting is pretty terrible. …

The Optio M40 is only a marginal improvement over the M30, but it is not a bad little camera. It is well made, has good handling for an ultra-compact, and is extremely easy to use. It performs fairly well, and apart from the lens distortion the image quality is pretty good, especially its noise control at higher ISO settings. As before though, weak points are poor low light ability and lens distortion, but for the price it is certainly worth considering.

More detail review about this camera Pentax Optio M40

Tags: Pentax, Compact Camera //