Pentax Optio VS20 review

The camera failed to redeem itself in our image quality tests. Brightly lit shots were pleasantly exposed and full of colour, but close inspection revealed heavy noise reduction that glossed over fine details and gave photos a plastic-like quality. Noise reduction worked even harder in low light, and while it kept noise reasonably in check, only the boldest details had survived. Noise is a common problem among 16-megapixel 1/2.3in sensors, and this one follows the trend.

Image quality is at its best at wide-angle settings and in bright light, but noise reduction gives details a plastic-like quality – click to enlarge

Telephoto shots had their own set of problems. Shots with focal lengths of 338mm and longer often suffered from misjudged autofocus, and at the full 560mm telephoto zoom position, out-of-focus shots were annoyingly frequent. Even when they were judged correctly, heavy chromatic aberrations compromised details towards the edges of the frame and produced distracting multi-coloured halos around high-contrast edges.

Telephoto shots suffer from poor focus – this is one of our better sample shots… – click to enlarge

…and this is one of the worst, but it’s not atypical – click to enlarge

Videos were better, but the 720p resolution, inefficient Motion JPEG compression and inability to zoom while recording aren’t up to today’s standards. Stabilisation for videos is electronic rather than optical, and it failed to keep handheld telephoto clips steady.

Sadly, there’s not much to be positive about in the VS20. Its unusual controls are badly implemented, it’s slow, takes ugly photos and it isn’t much to look at either. It’s one to avoid. For this money you can currently pick up the excellent Canon PowerShot SX220 HS instead.