Pentax Optio S: Fits in an Aloid Can

[Russell]

I really like this Pentax Optio S. I saw it at CES, and an acquaintance of mine has one. The camera is small and thin, and it fits inside of an altoid can when it is turned off. It may be small, but it takes beastly pictures at 3.2 megapixels. Comes with 11MB on board memory plus it uses SD cards, but I would stick with MMC since they are cheaper. Full specs....
http://www.pentaxusa.com/products/cameras/camera_specs.cfm?productid=18263

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Heh, you're a little late on that. There've been 2 versions since, the S4 and now the S4i, to be shown at PMA 2004. I like the tiny dimensions, however I do not like the agent doing the distribution here, therefore Pentax is a no go in my book. =(

[Jason Dunn]

Yeah, it seems two years ago the Canon S110 was the camera I saw a lot of my fellow geeks carrying, but the wee Pentax is quite popular now. My S400 looks gigantic next to it. ;-)

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Tell me about it. My IXUS V2 now doesn't look as small as it used to be. T_T

[Suhit Gupta]

Don't you guys think that the Casio Exilim series is even smaller than the Pentax? I also believe that it offers similar zoom capabilities and megapixels. Moreover, it has a better LCD, more built-in memory in most cases and better battery life from what I have heard. Any ideas about comparison of picture quality?

Suhit

[Russell]

Heh, you're a little late on that. There've been 2 versions since, the S4 and now the S4i, to be shown at PMA 2004. I like the tiny dimensions, however I do not like the agent doing the distribution here, therefore Pentax is a no go in my book. =(

Ah, you are correct. I thought they were the same thing. It must have been the S40 that I saw at CES at the press show.

[Gary Sheynkman]

The new Sony (t1?) has 5mps and is tiny 8O ....definatly a great way to blow 550 greenbacks

[Russell]

Don't you guys think that the Casio Exilim series is even smaller than the Pentax? I also believe that it offers similar zoom capabilities and megapixels. Moreover, it has a better LCD, more built-in memory in most cases and better battery life from what I have heard. Any ideas about comparison of picture quality?

Suhit
Pentax: Dimensions (WxHxD) - 3.3x2.0x0.8 Inches
Casio: 3.43" (W) x 2.24" (H) x .93" (D) (excluding projections, .78" at thinnest point)

Looks like the Pentax S series are just a hair smaller. The CASIO has 1MB more of built in memory in some models and 1MB less in others. They both have 1.6inch TFT LCD screens. Utnil I see some huge differences, they are roughly the same camera.

[Suhit Gupta]

Don't you guys think that the Casio Exilim series is even smaller than the Pentax? I also believe that it offers similar zoom capabilities and megapixels. Moreover, it has a better LCD, more built-in memory in most cases and better battery life from what I have heard. Any ideas about comparison of picture quality?

Pentax: Dimensions (WxHxD) - 3.3x2.0x0.8 Inches
Casio: 3.43" (W) x 2.24" (H) x .93" (D) (excluding projections, .78" at thinnest point)
Looks like the Pentax S series are just a hair smaller. The CASIO has 1MB more of built in memory in some models and 1MB less in others. They both have 1.6inch TFT LCD screens. Utnil I see some huge differences, they are roughly the same camera.
Russell,
You are correct that these cameras are very close in specifications, but I still think the Casio is better, especially in the built in software. The Casio offers several "best shot" presets, allows for coupling shots and has the ability to see histograms in a pre shot (as well as during the review phase, though this is quite common these days). Also, the Casio has a much larger LCD than the Pentax, at 2" (not 1.6"). Finally, the Casio, IMHO, has a much cleaner look. But this is just a personal point.

Suhit

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Don't you guys think that the Casio Exilim series is even smaller than the Pentax? I also believe that it offers similar zoom capabilities and megapixels. Moreover, it has a better LCD, more built-in memory in most cases and better battery life from what I have heard. Any ideas about comparison of picture quality?

Suhit

No, the Pentax is smaller. I've seen them side by side. They're more or less the same camera (Casio does the electronics, Pentax does the lens), but Casio chose to go with a larger but low res LCD which adds to the bulk (not that there's much) of the camera.

They produce pretty similar pictures, not surprisingly, but the Best Shot mode in the Casio is good for some mindless shooting, hehe. Used it back with the Casio 2900 some time back.

[Paul Martin]

No, the Pentax is smaller. I've seen them side by side. They're more or less the same camera (Casio does the electronics, Pentax does the lens), but Casio chose to go with a larger but low res LCD which adds to the bulk (not that there's much) of the camera.

They produce pretty similar pictures, not surprisingly, but the Best Shot mode in the Casio is good for some mindless shooting, hehe. Used it back with the Casio 2900 some time back.

The LCD is pretty good. There are times when the pics look kind of grainy in the LCD but fine when off-loaded. Also, sometimes when you use a flash indoors, there's a bluish tint, from what I've read. After taking a look at some of my pictures, I'd tend to agree. HOWEVER, Casio did release a ROM update to correce the buish tint...white balance fix I think. **Movie Mode was not added in the update..RATS :x (movie mode is present in all but the North American versions of the EZ-4U.)

I've not used the Best Shot mode yet. I guess I'm going to have to break out the manual. 8O

[Gary Sheynkman]

(movie mode is present in all but the North American versions of the EZ-4U.)



WHy is it that we always get screwed over with our cars, phones, cameras, etc etc etc ?????? :evil:

[Paul Martin]

WHy is it that we always get screwed over with our cars, phones, cameras, etc etc etc ?????? :evil:

I have called Tech support over this. They say it was a marketing decision. :evil: