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Under 2 Megapixels
Pentax Optio S4i 4MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Pentax Optio S4i 4MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

List Price: $479.00
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutely the best!
Review: I have to start off saying how much I love this camera. I've had a few digital sub-compacts over the last few years, with the last being the Casio Exilim series. This camera totally beats all of the Exilim's hands down! I am VERY impressed with how good the camera's pictures are! This is probably the most noticeable thing right off the bat. On my old Exilim, the pictures were kind of dark and fuzzy around the corners, but not so with the Optio S4i! This camera is wonderfully easy to use and packed full of features. Even though I read the manual from cover to cover, the menu's are so simple and intuitive, I could have used it without any manual reading. To my surprise, this camera even records sound in Movie mode, something most of the Exilim's don't. The movie mode even appears "smoother" than the Exilim's, despite the fact that they both take pictures at 15 frames/second. Overall here is what I liked and didn't like:

Pro's:

-Outstanding pictures and quality (most important)
-Extremely easy to use
-Packed full of nearly every feature you can think of
-Movie mode comes with sound
-Ability to look at pictures on T.V. (can't with Exilims)
-Very large LCD screen on back of camera
-Small size makes easy carrying and encourages more pictures
-Macro mode is just unbelievable - 3" - WOW!

Con's
-LCD screen is "washed out" in bright sunlight, but then again, I haven't found a camera LCD that didn't do this, just some are better than others.

-Battery life could be a bit better! About comparable to the Exilim series.
-If one takes pictures to battery depletion (which I always do), you must recharge the battery first in order to download the files to your computer. The battery charger which comes with it only charges the battery, you cannot download the files while the camera is attached to the charger. This is a cheap shot from Pentax in making the customer shell out another $50 for the optional AC adapter to avoid this quirk.
- If you use a "normal" non-high performance SD card, (which I use), there is considerable lag in continuous picture taking since the file has to be read to the card prior to taking the next picture. Shell out more money for a high performance card, and this will be greatly minimized. In all fairness, though, the average user probably will not be using this camera for fast-paced "action" shots, so this is only a minor inconvenience!

Overall, though the Pro's far outweigh the Con's, and I have to say that this is the best camera I have ever bought! I highly recommend it! I'll probably keep it until they get 6MP cameras this size. Given the current trend, (seems about 1MP per year), it should be in about 2 years! RECOMMEND HIGHLY!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: it's so small!
Review: I just bought Pentax optio s4i on Wed, and it came on Friday, amazon is amazing about shipping. When I got the camera, there is no power in the battery, so I had to recharge it, took about 1 hour or so, not too bad to recharge. The user guide is pretty straight forward and explains everything I want to know about aking pictures, different modes and shooting movies. And I can easily use it now without referring back to the book. I put in a 256MB SD card and at the second smallest size (pixel) setting combined with best quality (3 stars)-which is optical for printing out 4x6 pictures, you can take 450 pictures. At the higest setting for both size and quality with a 256mb card, you can take about 87 pictures. I find that really good, and since I usually don't print out anything 8x11, I would set it to a smaller size and get more pictures out of it. And to comment on a previous user about fitting into an altoids can. He is right the bulging part on the left where the strap holder is does make it a little difficult to fit it into the tin, but what i did was stretch the left side of the tin a little by my thumb, and now it fits nicely without being too tight. The top doesn't close completelyy due to an uneven surface but it closes enough so that it wouldn't pop open by itself. What I would do is to go to a candy or toy store to get a cute coin purse that's that size and put in there. Coin purse fabric is softer so I think would protect it more. I have yet to print anything from this camera but i will try soon and see.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Nice digital camera for day to day uses
Review: I just got my a week ago and have been played with it a little. For me, I just need a digital camera that's easy to carry around; shots relatively good pictures; easy to use. I mostly just use it to take day to day pictures, so nothing fancy.

The camera itself is pretty slick; all metal body, the keys are pretty intuitive, large LCD screen, turn on time is fast.

Some concerns:
1) No SD card included, so you really need to buy one, the 10M internal memory aren't gonan hold much. I bought the panasonic 256M SD card here also at amazon and it worked wonderfully.
2) No protective case at all, so the LCD is exposed all the time which maybe dangerous. I haven't found a good case for it yet.
3) The battery charge is easy to use, just plug the camera in; you can also charge the battery seperately. But it takes a while to recharge. Also, the charger is made of white plastic and just looked cheap.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Something you may not have ever reviewed - dropping it!
Review: I took this camera to a trip and dropped it on the hard concrete floor accidently, much to my dismay, but beside a slightly dented corner, everything else was still in great shape and I was so amazed. Well, it was simply the best digital camera I have ever owned! ^_^ Was so impressed by the hardiness of the metal case and the LCD screen which didn't crack at all at the impact!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: No Compromises
Review: i wanted a small camera I could take to school and bars without having a big lump in my pocket. i have a trained eye for compression artifacts and image quality but i was willing to give up a little in the name of portability. turns out the thing takes damn fine pix. if you want professional grade images you need an 8 megapixel Canon, if you want a portable camera, this one produces prosumer grade results comprable to the ELPH but with a smaller size.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing little camera
Review: I was first attracted to this camera because of its size and light weight; the Pentax marketing materials will tell you that it fits in an Altoids tin. Not only can you easily carry this camera anywhere, but the number of functions it has is just amazing. I like the option of composing my photo using a viewfinder or the screen. Instant review, various flash options, and a number of other color and light adjustments that can be made assure that you never take a bad picture. The video and sound recording options are also fun. As an added bonus, the super lightweight battery is rechargeable. I like that I can easily fill the memory card with one battery charge and then quickly recharge the battery for more use. At the end of the day when you go to download your pictures onto a computer, the software and USB cable connection could not be easier to use. After initial installation, it's simply a plug-and-play operation.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: My S4i Failed right out of the box.
Review: I wish I could contact "A customer from Miami", because maybe his problem is the same as mine. I put in a fully charged battery, turned on the camera, took a couple of Pix, just to try it out and turned it off. Came back 2 hours later and the battery was dead, and the camera was warm. Recharged the battery, tried again and the same thing happened. Looks like something inside the camera is discharging the battery--Factory Defect. Now the good news is that I am returning it to the Internet seller and they've sent me a new one.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: My S4i Failed right out of the box.
Review: I wish I could contact "A customer from Miami", because maybe his problem is the same as mine. I put in a fully charged battery, turned on the camera, took a couple of Pix, just to try it out and turned it off. Came back 2 hours later and the battery was dead, and the camera was warm. Recharged the battery, tried again and the same thing happened. Looks like something inside the camera is discharging the battery--Factory Defect. Now the good news is that I am returning it to the Internet seller and they've sent me a new one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great little camera!
Review: I'd been thinking about buying a small digital camera for about 3 years. My girlfriend continues to impress me with her pont and shoot, on the go picture taking ability with her tiny camera. That's what I was looking for, a camera that disappears when you don't need it.

I was originally looking at the Nikon 3100. However, while visiting in CA, I was introduced to the Optio S4i. What a small camera! And 1 megapixel more than the 3100. All for about $50 more (or more than that, now that the 3200 is out). I did some reasearch online that night and decided to buy it the next day.

Have not been disappointed yet.

The picture quality is very good (not the bestest). The lag time is negligable and I find the interface for the most part intuitive. It has a lot of handy modes to help one take a great picture. The idiot modes included in the camera's software are great! Makes a spontaneous picture look even better. I know that a lot of people gripe about not being able to manually control the camera, but his is not what this cameral was built for. It's built for take-along point-and-shoot fun where you don't have to think too hard. Continuous movie mode at 15 frames per second is also very nice. The size is also perfect. About the size of an Altoid can - slips into a pocket easily. Tamrac makes a great carrying case which accomidates the camera and a couple of SD cards.

The only gripe I have with it so far is a minimal "fishbowl" effect that is only noticeable when a lot of straight lines are present (took a picture of a tiled floor). However, this is found in most point and shoot cameras (some more than others), so no big loss.

Overall I'd say I am very satisfied. This camera will keep me happy taking pictures for a long time. When I get used to digital pictures, that's when I will go for the SLR, control everything camera. And even then, this camera will still be great for vacations and outings where a 17 pound camera bag is a third wheel.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best ultra-compact camera out there
Review: Incredibly small (you just can't prepare yourself for how small it is), great photo quality, extremely easy user interface (didn't need to read the book to figure out the basics)

Seems to get warm after being on for a few minutes, no longer fits in an Altoids tin (because of the camera strap), buttons could be bigger/easier to use.

I'm replacing a Nikon 990 (very large digicam) with this. I'm simply tired of missing photo ops because I don't have my cam with me. I'm highly impressed with the S4i - the quality exceeds my expectations (and I've been considering this purchase for quite a while.) It's just so gosh darn cute too!


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