Pentax Optio S

When purchased the Pentax Optio S, it was not the cheapest camera around, but results are good for normal sized prints and the camera has proved very reliable. Battery life is good. Overall a good buy and worth the money.

I purchased my Pentax Optio S a few years ago, and it has served me well. The battery lasts a very long time and is rechargeable. This camera is so tiny, I believe it was the smallest 3.2 MP camera at the time that it first came out.

I love this camera so much, but I plan to sell it and buy a camera with a higher Mega-pixel. I plan to get the Optio S5Z, which is basically the same camera, just that it has 5MP instead of 3.2MP.

This camera is also nice and sturdy. It's all aluminum body has protected it very well.

At a time when there are a plethora of 5M pixel cameras for under £250, buying a 3.2M pixel camera might seem like a daft proposition. If like me you are old-fashioned enough to set yourself a budget and stick to it and have no need to enter photo-competitions or impress anybody, then the Pentax Optio S might be the camera for you.

The Pentax Optio S is a 3.2M pixel digital camera which originally sold for over £300 ib 2003, but now can be purchased (refurbished model) for under £100. It has a 4cm (1.6') LCD screen, and weighs 120g with memory card. Its dimensions are 5 x 4 x 2cm, making it small and light enough to put in your pocket, bum-bag or handbag. As well as being a camera, is can be used as an audio recorder, an alarm, and for making 30 second films. Pictures can be viewed either on the internal LDC screen, via PC or on TV. There are six white balance modes: custom, four preset and automatic. Exposure compensation is +/- 2 EV in 1/3 steps. There are seven preset picture modes and one movie mode. There are five focussing modes, a choice of spot or multiple metering modes and four flash settings incorporating red-eye reduction.

The 11MB of internal memory is a little limiting, but there is a slot for either an SD memory card of a multimedia card. The camera has a three times optical zoom lens, which is equivalent to 35-105 mm on 35mm. It has sensitivities of 50, 100 and 200 ISO, which can be set manually. It has a choice of seven colour digital filters and a monochrome filter, as well as a 'slim' filter. There is a choice of four resolution modes, from 640 x 480 to 2048 x 1536, and a fixed resolution for movie mode

Uploading is via the USB socket and the software supplied is backwards compatible to Windows 98 and Apple Mac.8.6 The ACD See 2.0 editing software that comes with the camera is slightly dated (2000) and basic. The camera's buttons tend to be small and fiddly, especially the four-way controller/OK button, without which little is possible. However, the on-screen menu functions are clear and navigable. Picture quality and both A4 and 6x4 prints were found to be of an acceptable quality.

All in all, this is a good value camera for taking snaps. My only gripes with this are the basic, dated editing software and the awkwardness of some of the buttons, and the resolution is a little on the low side, especially if you want prints larger than 10 x 8. But for a small, compact camera with a host of features for under £100, that is a small price to pay.

I've been using the Pentax Optio S for nearly 6 months. I love it, easy to use and handle. There are many modes that are appropriate for various uses. I've got the nicer picture if I compare it with othr camera's.

I just bought this Pentax Optio S camera a week ago and I'm in love with it. It's James Bond good looks; it minute size.......what more do you need. Its truely pocket size. I looked at the Olympus MJU300 but in comparison this is by far the better of the two.

I really enjoy this camera! It has a lot of features and it's so small I carry it with me all the time and hardly notice I have it. The macro mode is outstanding and I find it very easy (and quick) to navigate through the settings. The toggle button is kind of small but not too bad after a little practice. I highly recommend this camera!