Pentax Optio 550

Great performance, except in extremely low light. I agree with the other reviews, this is a good little camera, with a lot of shooting options and control. Daylight and inside shooting with good ambient light results in sharp well exposed pictures. Most times I don't have to use editing software to get good prints. The camera will allow you to print up to 8X10's with little loss of clarity. The only problem is shooting in extemely low light. The camera does not have an AF assist lamp, and focusing time becomes a real problem as a result. It may some times take up to 3 or 4 seconds for the camera to find it's focus. I will say, it usually does focus and result in good photo, assuming people haven't moved on or you haven't missed the moment you were trying to catch. If you do a lot of indoor low light shooting I would recommend looking for another camera with the AF assist lamp. The new Sony's DSC P-73 & P-93 would be worth looking at. Just got the P-73 4 megapixel, and am very happy with it's low light performance. I like the color balance of the Pentax a little better, but that can be edited by photo software. Just hope Pentax puts AF assist lamps on future models, and they would have a just about perfect little digital camera line.

Image quality Good battery life Solid build Good & numerous control features (really like the B&W setting) Comes with very nice carrying case

Slow focusing in low light Slick and hard to hold on to. Higher than average shutter lag, but not too bad except in low light

Sony DSC P-73 Nikon Coolpix 3700

Fortunately haven't needed to find out

We purchased a Pentax Optio 550 about 6 months ago, and we love it. It is very compact (approximately 4" length x 2 1/2" height x 1 1/2" width)so it fits easily into a shirt pocket, which was a "must" for my husband. The 5 X zoom is enough to get close up and still be in focus. It's fairly easy to operate, and has some nice add-on features, like a small tripod which screws into the bottom of the camera, and a remote control so you can take pictures without running back and forth to set the camera and jump into the picture. We think it was well worth the price.

Great overall camera. Small package that isn't too small for my hands with most of the features you would ever want. Pictures are crisp and clear with no visible optical problems. Super macro works great, I can see the pollen on flowers. Low light pictures are a bit speckeled but the small optics will do that, at least the optics are bigger than the Optio S. Very happy overall. Convenient, small, clear and a great price for a 5MP camera.

High resolution for great price. Great zoom power. On camera editing. Extremely long battery life.

~1 sec delay on photo save at full resolution. Flimsy USB/video/power door, use an external card reader. No specs on JPEG format so I can't edit a photo externaly and return it to camera for slide show use. Light software package.

i decided to return it

5 mP, 5x zoom; very impressive in a camera of this size.

non-intuitive user interface; too many automatic functions; camera heats up noticeable when on for more than 10 min. or so

canon a40; nikon 5700;

I have been trying various digital point-and-shoots to find the right combination of quality and usibility. This one is it. The quality of the pictures is stunning--sharp and contrasty. Lots of manual settings, including nine built-in filters. As for usibility, it is small enough to slip in your pocket, and very intuitive to use. This one I'm keeping!

Great lens; color saturation very strong; ease of use; love the built-in filters.

Would have been nice if Pentax would include a small case with a belt clip.

Sony DSC 85; Canon G1; Minolta DiMage 7i

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