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Pentax Optio S12 compact camera

Compelling upgrade?

Sample shots
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The S12 offers good image quality, but we doubt if many will notice a significant difference between this and a ten- or eight-megapixel offering

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We didn’t see any noticeable difference when using the skin-tone setting - switched off on the left image

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Not all food-mode program settings work, but we thought the S12’s did make our fish, chips and mushy peas look rather more appealing

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Sports mode is designed to capture fast moving objects, we didn’t think the setting on this camera made much impact

The Optio S12 is no slouch, but you do notice the lag when shooting a succession of images. Likewise, the autofocus system wasn’t the sharpest knife in the box, and in many of our shots, took a while to settle down, especially at the telephoto end.

As usual, we tried out a number of camera modes. Natural skin tone mode is supposed to give your subjects a... er... more natural skin tone, but we didn’t see any noticeable difference whatever the complexion. Food mode, however, did make our plate of fish and chips looks more appetising. Sports mode, designed for fast moving objects, didn’t seem that much better than when shooting in auto mode. That said, we did like the picture quality offered by this camera, which have good resolution and colour.

Verdict

Some new products are a giant leap forward, but in the case of the Optio S12, it’s more a case of a tiny step forward. As with its predecessor, you’re getting a camera that will deliver a good performance almost every time you use it. If you already own the Optio S10, you wouldn’t want to rush to replace it with this model. Indeed, faced with a choice between the two, we’d opt for the S10 and use to £50 difference to buy ourselves a little treat.

70%

Pentax Optio S12 compact camera

A small step forward on the Optio S10, but we’re not convinced that it’s worth the extra £50 for the extra megapixels
Price: £199 / €267 / $280 RRP

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