The Pentax Optio A20 is a 10-mega pixel camera with 3x optical zoom and a large 2.5-inch LCD screen. Blog Critics has reviewed the Optio A20 and they write: “The A20 seems to manage happily under most conditions, although I did see it struggling on some dark scenes. However, these could be easily corrected using Photoshop without loosing any details.

I was also shocked by how little noise this sensor created even at high ISO modes. The Ixus certainly looks better “un-shopped” but the resulting images are certainly more detailed using the A20. Even at ISO 800 the noise was not as high as I would have expected. It is worth noting that the auto mode seems to suffer most at low levels, and the best results are achieved using the Manual modes”.

The A20 costs - at the moment - around £160 (243Eur or 315USD), so it’s one of the cheapest 10MP cameras on the market.

The quality of the shots are great, and the device is light, small and easy to use.

This camera will certainly be added to my list of devices when I replace my now ageing Ixus.

Yes the shots are not as good as the ones I get from my Canon 400D, however the lens on my 400D cost the same as this camera, and because of these points I can highly recommend this camera to anyone that wants a new compact digital camera.

The only downside that I noticed, was the USB port on the device. Instead of using a standard mini USB port, Pentax have gone for an even smaller port. This means that you cannot just use a standard cable, and instead have to carry the included one around.

Score : 9/10 - Highly versatile, small, light and easy to use compact digital camera.