Coolest small camera around for the money (Pentax Optio S)

Member Name: andy conda

Product:	Pentax Optio S
Date:	27/02/04 (263 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good picture quality, good value, sleek design

Disadvantages: small buttons

I bought my Optio S about a month ago, upgrading from a tiny Sony Cybershot U. I've taken it on holiday and taken all kinds of pictures, from pretty landscapes to drunken-night-out close ups.

This camera really does suit my needs perfectly, and I imagine it would suit the needs of most other people too! The 3MP resolution is more than adequate for generating quality 6x4 images (I get my pics developed at Jessops - very convenient service) and the camera has works well in all kinds of conditions.

This camera pretty much addresses all the criticisms I had of my old Cybershot camera:

No zoom - this camera has a 3x optical zoom, which works great.
Short battery life - this one seems much better than the Sony, and my battery really takes a hammering as there always seem to be people who want to look at the pics on the display screen again and again afterwards.
Can't charge batteries without removing - this camera has an optional AC adaptor to charge the batteries whilst in the camera.

Small buttons aside, I really can't fault this camera. It's very simple and intuitive to use, it's a very smart design, and it gets just as many admiring glances as my old tiny Cybershot did! The camera uses an SD memeory card, and I've just upgraded to a 1Gb SD card - these are now quite widely available.

Summary: