Small product Big performance

Author's Rating:

Pros: Size,features and picture quality

Cons: Not the latest model of camera

The Bottom Line: 
This is a reliable product that performs well and has plenty of advanced features to use.

Author's Review
**** Introduction ****
Looking back at some of my reviews you might think that I have a lot of camera's, well I do like my gadgets but I work in the photographic industry so it's usually me that gets saddled with the responsibility of buying camera's or at least giving advice to family members. This particular camera is a purchase for my teenage niece and the specification was small, easy to use, very durable, must look good and of course the most important feature as low in price as possible. So after having a look around I decided on the pentax optio s because it satisfied all of the measures above.
**** The Camera ****
The pentax optio s is not a brand new camera; in fact it has been on the market for nearly two years now. So if you are looking to buy one of these you will be more likely to have to buy one second hand, as I did in this case.
**** The Cost ****
On looking around on various auction sites you should expect to get this camera for between 30-70 pounds depending on overall condition and what accessories you will get with it. I paid just over 50 pounds for a full kit that even had the original box instructions and all the original accessories and was in excellent condition.
**** The specs ****
3 MEGAPIXELS-
This may seem low for a camera when you consider that your average new product will usually have 5-6 mega pixels but this camera is second hand and about 2 years old now. The mega pixels are high enough to give you excellent quality prints up to 9x6 inches in size (I find most people usually order prints at 6x4 sizes) so this spec should be ample for your everyday user.
3x optic zoom (2x digital zoom)-
Once again a pretty standard powered zoom even for the latest models and very good on this camera, I would advise against using to much digital zoom as this will affect overall picture quality and you may be disappointed with the end results. The zoom action is motorized and smooth in action.
The Lens
This in my opinion is the best feature of the camera, pentax manufacture not only lenses for their own cameras but make them for others as well. They probably produce some of the best performing lenses around today which deliver lifelike vibrant colours and are very durable in everyday use. The high performance lens is evident on this camera as it produces fantastic looking photographs.
Build quality-
This camera has a metal case which makes the product feel expensive and also offers better protection over its plastic counterparts. The buttons feel firm and even though this camera is very small the build quality is very robust and will survive even the roughest of handling.
The size-
This is a another main feature of this camera as it is very small in size(no larger than a credit card but about ten times thicker)making it ideal for someone who want to easily carry it around for everyday use. The camera is also very light weighing in a respectable 115g.
Dimensions-Width 8.3cm Depth 2cm Height 5.2cm

The display-
Due to the overall size of the camera the display on the back of the camera is very small (1.6 inch LCD display) but is ok when in everyday use. You may find that when it is very bright sunshine it is best to use the viewfinder as the older LCD displays are difficult to use in very bright sunshine.
Power-
Another great feature is that this camera has a rechargeable Li Ion battery which is about the same size as a small mobile phone battery and is very light. When you need to charge this you have to remove the battery from the camera and place it in the supplied charger. It will take about 40-60 mins to fully charge and I have had 130-150 shots of a full charge. If you are buying this second hand you will need to check what condition the battery is in as it will cost you about 20 pounds to replace one of these(I know because I bought a spare one for my niece to use as a back-up)
Light sensitivity-
This camera comes with 3 ISO settings which are-
ISO 200- best for everyday use in bright light conditions
ISO 100-best for lower light conditions and inside photography
ISO 50-best for night time photography and really low light conditions (I found this setting fantastic for use outside at night with the flash)
Memory-
This camera comes complete with 11mb's of internal memory which will allow you to take between 10-20 photos, but you will need to buy extra cards. This model uses SD cards which are some of the lowest priced cards you can get and you will find a large choice on the internet or your local retailer.
Flash-
This isn't the most powerful flash you can get but is ample as long as your subject is no more than 2-3 metres away; you have the option of auto, no flash or red eye on the settings. I found it best to use the auto setting so that the camera will decide when it needs to use the flash. The red eye reduction setting is ok but I found that it will not always work hence the name reduction, it will only reduce the chance of red-eye not totally eliminate it.
Advanced Features-
There are several different settings on this camera like-
Sports mode-this is for fast action photos and will help to eliminate blurred photos
Panoramic mode-This will allow you to take two or more photo's of a landscape and join them together (I have used this feature and found with practice it works really well but not a feature I would use often)
Portrait mode- This will put the focus on the subject that you are taking a picture of and may cause the background to lose focus ideal if you need the subject matter to be sharp(wedding photo's or pictures of large groups of people)
Landscape mode- This will set the focus to infinity and is best used when taking pictures of landscapes (hence the name)
Macro mode-This is when you are shooting something very close up like a flower or other very small object. It sets the focus to a very short range.
User setting-This is where you can decide on what combination of settings to use and save then for future use (this is best used by the more advanced user)
3D mode-This is a bit of a gimmicky feature that is supposed to create 3d images when used in conjunction with the supplied 3d glasses (I didn't have any with my kit so I can't comment on how useful this feature is).As a guideline this feature has been dropped from later models so I guess it didn't go down that well.
Photo finishes-You can also choose between Black & White, Negative Art and Sepia finishes to your photographs and all of the setting work very well especially the sepia to make your photographs look old fashioned.
Video-
As with most recent digital cameras this model has movie mode with sound, this does work relatively well but is only useful if you don't have a camcorder to hand. The footage is good when viewed in a small window on your PC but does lose quality if viewed back on a TV.
The photographs-
The image quality is very good for a 3 mega pixel camera and the images are very crisp and natural looking, this camera will struggle to deliver images in really large sizes but will suffice for standard size photos. Its small size may cause a problem if you don't have very steady hands so bear this in mind when considering this model. Picture quality is good for all conditions and I especially liked the lower ISO setting foot use in low light and at night.

**** Summary ****
It's size, features and overall performance make this an ideal camera for a teenager or use as a back-up to slip in your pocket, because of it's age you will need to check the condition of the camera and battery before considering what is the best price to pay. There is still a lot of life in this model so if you see one available for less than 40 pounds consider it as a useful standby camera that is really portable and useful to have with you.