Pentax has announced the launch of its 8 mega pixel digital camera Optio Z10 in India. Pentax will offer the model to Indian consumers in partnership with India Digital Life Style Distributors (IDLDPL).

Pentax’s Digital Cameras Optio series is feature rich and compact. The camera powered by 7x optical zoom lens offers 8-mega pixel high resolution images. Pentax claims that Optio Z10 can offer ultra-high magnification up to 35x with digital zoom.

Optio Z10 comes with face recognition with a low time of just 0.03 seconds. Auto Focus and Auto Exposure functions are quite useful in some situations.

The aluminum alloy design offers Z10 a very trendy look. Auto Picture mode and Shake reduction are some features which will be good for amateur photographers. Another plus point is a wide 2.5-inch LCD screen.

The camera is light weight, stylish and is easy to use. The negative points in Z10 include Shutter lag, Noise during high ISO settings and lack of optical image stabilization.

The model comes with built-in 52 MB memory. Additional SD cards can be added. The market price for 1 GB card is around Rs 600 and 2 GB comes around Rs 1000 from Transcend. Z10 also supports SDHC media cards. 1 GB card can store up to 250 high resolution images.

With a price tag of Rs 20,990, Pentax Optio Z10 is quite expensive. The digital camera has many features and offers good quality high resolution images. Canon and Sony offer many good models with same price tag.

The price in India is higher compared to US markets. On various online stores where we checked the prices of Optio Z10, the model was available anywhere between US $ 198 – 249.

Pentax Optio Z10 comes with a battery charger, wrist strap, USB cable, AV cable.

Indian consumers are made to pay more for the model which will cost around Rs 8000 in United States. The camera will still be cheap if it is ordered from some online store. There are some additional duties and shipping cost to be paid for importing the camera. The only issue with buying online is with warranty in case something bad happens to the camera.