Pentax Optio 430RS

First I have to say, that i won the camera, but just sold it after a half year of using it. I used it for outdoor/landscape-pictures. The Optio 430RS is a nice little Camera in the style of Canon's IXUS-cams (aren't they called "Elph" in the USA?). It has a small solid metal-body, but remains lightweight. The user-interface is really easy to understand, novices should not get problems with the menu either. For its small size and price, the camera offers a huge range of features, just like all the manual functions, the creative filters and the 3D-mode (which I did not really needed...). But that's all about the "good" points. The quality of the images is not, what it could be. For a 4 MP-camera it delivers very soft images with much of noise. I compared my pictures to the pics of a friend's Minolta F 100, and you could see the difference. The F 100 delivered crispy images in comparision to the Pentax. The colors are allright for this class of cameras. I recommend anyone who's interested in, to read this review of the camera: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/P430RS/O43A.HTM

- small size - solid metal-body - well-made user menu - many features - manual settings (white balance, exposure, etc.) - long battery-life

- Very soft pictures (softer than many 3 MP-camera!) - much of noise in the pictures - the LCD is too "bright". You can't judge the picture, because it does not look as bright in realitiy. So if it looks allright on the LCD-screen it's too dark in fact. - often too much time needed to take a picture --> fast AF, but it did not always "got" the focus-point

-

not needed