The Pentax WG-10 also features a host of advanced, creative functions, such as the Pentax-original Digital Microscope mode that magnifies the subject, allowing users to capture microscopic details often not apparent to the naked eye. The Pentax Optio WG-10 is suitable for all types of photography, whether it be for outdoor shooting or everyday snapshots. The  Pentax Optio WG-10 Review  HD movie recording function captures high-quality movies at 30 frames per second. The Pentax WG10 also offers a variety of movie editing functions, such as capturing a still image from movie data, and inserting titles at the beginning and end of a movie clip.

Want a rugged digital camera with a decent zoom range, but don't want to break the bank to afford it? The brand-new Pentax WG-10 is significantly more affordable than the company's flagship rugged models, the WG-3 and WG-3 GPS, yet it boasts a more far-reaching 5x optical zoom lens. Have some other features been pared off to achieve the price? Sure, but there's a good chance you don't actually need them all. Compared to its simultaneously-announced siblings, the WG-10 isn't waterproofed and shock proofed to quite the same degree, offers rather slower performance, has a less-bright lens, lacks mechanical stabilization, and has a slightly smaller LCD monitor. And of course, it lacks the inductive charging and location-awareness features of the more expensive models. But that's hardly surprising -- the  Pentax Optio WG-10 Charger  costs barely half as much as those cameras.

The Pentax WG-10's sensor sits behind a 5x optical zoom lens whose design includes 11 elements in nine groups, five of them aspheric. There's also a protective cover with a Pentax SP coating. The lens offers 35mm-equivalent focal lengths from 28 to 140mm, everything from a handy wide angle to a moderate telephoto. Actual focal lengths range from 5 to 25mm. At wide angle, there's a two step aperture offering either f/3.5 or f/4.2. At telephoto, the choices are a rather dim f/5.5 or f/6.6. And in a concession to cost-saving, the Pentax WG-10 lacks true mechanical image stabilization. Instead, there's only "pixel track SR" that aims to correct blurring post-capture, "digital SR" that simply raises ISO sensitivity and hence shutter speeds, and movie SR which functions by moving the capture area window around the surface of the image sensor to counter shake.

Images and movies are stored on Secure Digital cards, including the higher-capacity SDHC and SDXC types. There's also a fairly generous 97MB of built-in memory, enough to save the day with a good few of the most critical shots if you accidentally leave your flash card at home. And Eye-Fi Secure Digital cards are supported, if you want to banish the USB cable and transfer your images via Wi-Fi.  Pentax Optio Charger  Power comes courtesy of a D-LI92 lithium ion rechargeable battery pack, rated as good for 260 shots on a charge.