OK for casual use

Author's Rating:

Pros: Small form factor, good ergonomics

Cons: Battery issues, mushy shutter release

The Bottom Line: 
Fine for undemanding users (i.e. first timers, casual shooter)

Author's Review
This is my third digital camera. My first, the Fuji MX-1200 was a one megapixel product with quality control issues. I keep this camera in my fishing tackle box. It's really obsolete, so I won't mind if I someday drop it overboard. My next camera, the Olympus c2000 zoom is a very nice 2 megapixel camera that I still use on a regular basis. The camera has numerous shooting modes including shutter and aperature priority modes. Pictures are pretty decent for a 2mp model. The only downside to the Olympus is that landscape photos tend to show the limitations of it's resolution. I took pictures of Mt. McKinley in Alaska from 75+ miles away on a beautifully clear day, and the resulting pictures were pretty disappointing. I frequently spend my free time backpacking, so I decided my next camera should be small and have better resolution for landscape photos. I'm also not a fan of proprietary batteries, so I narrowed my search to cameras which use AA batteries.

I decided this spring after seeing the new crop of cameras, that now was the time to upgrade my camera. The Pentax S40 seemed to meet my requirements. I've been using it for about 3 months now, so I feel that I've got a pretty good impression of its performance. First, the camera is housed in a durable aluminum casing, so it takes occasional bumps well. The lens assembly is made of plastic, however, so you still must be careful not to bump the lens into anything when the camera is powered on. Another issue I have had with cameras in the past is flimsy doors covering the battery compartment. The S40's battery door is made of plastic, but the hinge is made of metal, and seems reasonably sturdy. The Optio S40 otherwise is well designed from an ergonomic standpoint, and the menus are very easy to learn and master. My only real complaint about camera construction is the shutter release button. The tactile feel of the shutter button is really mushy, and not comparable to higher end cameras.

Regarding camera performance, the S40's image quality is a step up from the 2 megapixel pictures I'm used to, but when compared to other 3 or 4 megapixel cameras, it's a very average camera. (I've compared sample images from the S40 with other camera's pictures, and the S40 is often "softer" by comparison) Also, the S40 tends to underexpose outdoor photos. This is a good thing when taking pictures in the mid-day sun, but pictures at dawn and dusk seem too dark when compared to my Oly. (which admittedly, originally retailed for $1000 when new, and has much better low light performance) I'm not really concerned about lag time with my cameras since I don't often used them for action pictures. The S40 is kind of pokey at power-on and from shot to shot, but it's nothing that bothers me. Battery performance, on the other hand, seems below average and it bugs the hell out of me. I have numerous 1600 mAh nickel metal hydride batteries at home, and they've been recharged 100-150 times at the most. I figured even if the batteries need to be changed often, I've got plenty available to me. Unfortunately, I soon realized that the S40 is really "picky" about the rechargeable batteries that you put in it. Nearly all of my NiMH batteries that I've been using for a while, even when freshly charged, get a yellow battery indicator when installed into the S40 (yellow means low battery level). I went out and purchased a set of higher capacity batteries (2100 mAh), and found that two of the batteries work fine in the camera, and the other two batteries get the same low battery even when they've just been removed from my charger. I guess it just irks me that I've got a ton of AA NiMH batteries lying around, most of which work fine in other devices (including the C2000), but they won't work in my Pentax.