Pentax X70 review

Sample photos:
Pentax X70

Photo quality is very good for a megazoom camera, but it's still a point-and-shoot. Noise is present from the start at ISO 50 when photos are viewed at full size, though it doesn't get noticeable at smaller sizes until ISO 200. However, the X70 is one of the sharper 20x or higher megazoom cameras we've tested, and detail is good at these lower ISO settings. At ISO 400, noise reduction starts to blur detail. ISO 800 may be suitable for small prints if you're not too picky, but ISO 1,600 isn't worth using. I don't recommend using the high-ISO settings; not so much because of the reduced resolution, but because, honestly, the results are really not good.

The X70 produces inaccurate colors, but they are pleasing. Test shots in the slideshow above were all taken using the camera's Natural setting, which is the only setting for the camera's Auto Picture mode. Other shooting modes open your selections to Bright and Monochrome options.

As expected from a megazoom camera--especially one with a wide-angle lens--the X70 shows some barrel distortion at its widest setting and slight pincushioning at its longest position. Purple fringing isn't an issue until the X70's lens is fully extended. At that point, though, it's pretty bad. Lastly, Pentax's sensor-shift shake reduction works well, helping out immensely when that long lens is in use.

The X70 is capable of capturing 720p HD-quality video, but only at 15fps, which is pointless, frankly. Plus, the lens doesn't function while video is being recorded. If you want to use the X70 to record movie clips, use the VGA setting at 30fps; those results are actually fairly good.

There's no doubt that the Pentax X70's lens is a lot of fun and other than the crippled HD movie capture and lack of a full-resolution burst mode, it has plenty of shooting options. If your photos are going to only be seen on a computer screen or made into 4x6-inch prints with an occasional 8x10, you'll likely be more than satisfied with its photo quality, too. The laggy performance is the only other major issue, but again, if you're shooting slow-moving or still subjects, even that's not much of a hindrance.

Shutter speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28

2.3 

1.8 

0.8 

0.6 

Canon PowerShot SX10 IS

1.5 

2.1 

0.8 

0.6 

Nikon Coolpix P90

2 

2 

0.8 

0.7 

Kodak EasyShare Z980

2.4 

1.1 

0.9 

0.5 

Olympus SP-590 UZ

1.6 

2 

1.4 

0.6 

Pentax X70

3.1 

2.9 

1.4 

0.7 

Find out more about how we test digital cameras.