Pentax Optio S40 4MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Reviews.

Pentax Optio S40, October 9, 2005
Reviewer: Rayburn I. Beale

This camera was purchased because of its low price, low weight and small size. It was going to be installed in a radio controled airplane. While this camera has many interesting bells and whistles, its ability to control contrast and to capture colors is poor, compared to Nikon and Canon of similar megapixel ratings. I could see little difference in contrast when the in-camera contrast was adjusted, and reducing the ASA/sensitivity did not help. The shadows and blacks always had a strong blue cast, even when cloudy/sunny settings were manipulated. The quality of the images were even beyond the help of Photoshop CS. I recommend it only for beginners.

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What a piece of trash, October 3, 2005
Reviewer: Bobbo "Bobbo"
I cannot tell you how I hate this camera. It takes 7-9 seconds after snapping a picture to shoot the next one. By that time, the subject has left the building.
The LCD screen is tiny and hard to see almost always...as is the viewfinder
The pictures are of marginal quality.
Pentax should be ashamed. I bought this in a hurry from Ritz Cameras (I have the same feelings about that place).
So, I'll just toss it sometime and buy something else with a new lesson learned:
Avoid Pentax like the plague.
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Fun camera, but slow and "noisy.", May 25, 2005
Reviewer: Sheldon
I already have a Nikon D70, and I just wanted something I could carry around in my pocket. I got it through Amazon.com at a refurbished price, and for that price I have to give it four stars. If I had to pay list I'd only give it 3 stars.

I've been having a lot of fun with it, and it's a great little camera that didn't cost me much.

Good points: Very small and easy to use for beginners. Lots of settings that should please anyone. 4 megapixels for adequate 8x10 prints. Good closeup and super closeup macro modes. Lots of data for each picture, including a histogram. Uses easy to find AA batteries.

Bad points: Small LCD screen. Very noisy (grainy) expecially at low light levels. No way to manually set shutter speed or aperture. Very slow starting up and writing to memory. Relatively short battery life (get rechargeables). Flash seems to want to go off for any shot in low light, even outdoor's shade.

Otherwise, the camera seems to be fairly rugged. Again, perfect for someone who wants a go anywhere camera for taking snapshots. If you want great quality images I suggest you pay more and get a better camera, but this one was hard to beat at the refurbished price.
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Quality photos - Nice and Small, March 2, 2005
Reviewer: G. Tillson

I wanted a good quality camera with a zoom lens I could keep in my back pocket. The depth and clarity of the photos are truely unbelievable for such a small camera. I found that natural light is always better than the light from the flash. Also, don't expect a super-high powered zoom lens, this lens is perfect for cropping subjects a little closer. I use the movie feature often, it is perfect for making internet ready movie clips. I just plug into my powerbook laptop and without clicking anything the files mount onto my desktop.
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Pentax Optio S40: a $300 Mistake, February 4, 2005
Reviewer: swimdog
June 2004: I bought this camera literally on the way to the airport for my summer trip in Europe. In four days time, I took hundreds of photos. But then the camera inexplicably locked up on me & would not let me close the lens - I tried replacing the batteries - nothing worked - the lens was frozen in the open position. Whatever made the lens lock-up - also corrupted the SD disk & none of the digital photos on the disk were retrievable. I lost all my photos! The next day, I overnighted the camera back to my parents so they could return it to the store within the 10-day return policy. Thinking it was some defect in that individual S-40 camera, they bought me another S40 (b/c I loved the small camera size) & they shipped the new S40 to me. So 3 days after I get my SECOND "new" S-40, it does the same exact lock-up & won't let me close the lens. This second lock-up involved: a different "new" S-40, a different SD card & different rechargable batteries - all the factors were different from the 1st lockup w/ the 1st S-40 camera. Again, the lockup of the lens corrupted the SD card and I could not retrieve my photos & lost them all. Frustrated & with no way to get any tech support, I simply packed the useless $300 camera in my suitcase & still haven't touched it since. I never dropped either S-40 - both of which were actively working only for about 3-4 days each. For 2 different S-40 cameras to have the same exact defect in two completely different situations - it has to be a manufacturing defect. I certainly never mistreated either of the cameras. I'm appalled to read other people's reviews that have had the exact same trouble that I just described & Pentax is not fixing their cameras under the under the warranty policy. I have yet to act on the warranty, and it sounds like it's going to be a royal hassle. Do not buy a Pentax Optio S40 digital camera - I will avoid buying any Pentax camera in the future.

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