Pentax Optio A40 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Shake Reduction Zoom

by Pentax

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.6 x 2.2 x 0.9 inches ; 5.3 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000WJMJMQ
• Item model number: 19361
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,405 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Manufacturer Description

Featuring 12-megapixel resolution, the Optio A40 features three types of Shake Reduction, including mechanical, digital and movie. Each version helps deliver sharp, blur-free shots where camera shake is an issue such as action photography or in low light conditions at dawn, dusk or at night. The Optio A model also features the newest Face Recognition technology including a Natural Skin Tone mode and a Half-length Portrait mode, which automatically takes a head and shoulder photograph of subjects.

Optio A40 Highlights

• The 12-megapixel CCD and 3x optical zoom assure high resolution images
• The triple Shake Reduction technology includes SR, Digital SR, and Movie SR
• Enhanced Face Recognition Auto Focus and Auto Exposure assure properly exposed portraits
• With Dynamic Range Adjustment, highlights and shadow areas will be properly exposed to show more detail
• The 2.5-inch LCD monitor, with Bright mode and wide field of view, makes sharing images easy
• High-quality movie captures MPEG-4 DivX (640 x 480) at 30fps with anti-shake and editing functions
• Wide range of automatic and manual exposure modes includes manual exposure and shutter priority modes
• Intelligent zoom function enhances the digital zoom
• Ultra compact and lightweight design

Product Description

Image resolution up to 5x digital zoomShake reduction system to eliminate camera shake and ensure sharper imagesFace Recognition Auto Focus and Auto Exposure automaticially detects a persons face assuring proper exposureIntelligent Zoom Mode allows high zoom ratios without degrading image qualityDivX movie modeUses Li-Ion batteryUses SDHC or SD memory cardsIncludes USB cable AV cable rechargeable D-Ll8 Li-Ion battery battery charger AC adapter wrist strap and software

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent pix, lots of easy to use features, great movies, April 22, 2008

By 

Carol "kepela" (Chatsworth, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pentax Optio A40 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Shake Reduction Zoom (Electronics)

This is really tiny and I love carrying it all the time. I had the A10, A30 and now the A40 and they are all great cameras. This has easy access to flash options (off, on, red eye, soft etc) as well as focal lengths (macro, super macro, infinity etc). The screen is nearly as big as the camera and makes for great viewing of your photos and movies. The flash works pretty good, even up to distances of greater than 20 feet. It's really easy to set up and understand. The zoom is steady and you can view the screen all the time you're zooming with little or no distortion. I notice a slight purple cast from outdoor light coming in from windows (indoors), but I have a Canon sd950is that does the same thing, so I think this is something with most if not all digital cameras. It's so small and light it's really nice to carry around and the photos are really fantastic. The anti shake is the best I've seen on any brand of digital camera, I have a 16 month old I'm always chasing around, so I really appreciate the anti shake feature. It's a hundred dollars less then the Canon and I'm not sure why because I like the Pentax better.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good camera, kind of slow, May 17, 2008

By 

Gregory J. Walther "schmaofizzle" (Hoco, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pentax Optio A40 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Shake Reduction Zoom (Electronics)

This is a great camera, it has a quick startup (not counting charging the flash) and it does everything a point and shoot should.

--> Make sure you use one of the high speed sandisk cards<--The pictures can be over 2 megs a piece, if you dont, the camera lags tremendously (I was about to send it back)

Also, the directions say the charger lights green and goes out when charged, in reality, it lights red when charging and turns green when done.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Small camera, big features, June 2, 2008

By 

Credomatic "epesa" (Costa Rica) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pentax Optio A40 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Shake Reduction Zoom (Electronics)

I was looking for a small camera with a lot of features.
What I like:
12 MP, 3 systems of shake reduction, High Dynamic Range, manual focus in almost all modes (you can record a movie in macro, super macro, manual focus, excellent!), ISO range (you can decide a maximun auto ISO), document photos are very clear (I like negative mode to take pictures of my 35mm negatives films), fast focus mode, big movies with a small size.
What I don't like:
Big problem - you can disable Face Priority in Auto mode, this causes the camera found "ghost faces" in what are you focus (my camera found 5 faces when I was taking a picture to a TV remote control). This also causes the camera fires red eye reduction flash (when is not necessary) and the battery runs low too fast. You can not change the zoom in movie mode(while recording). You can record more than 2 hours in HQ but the battery only give 1 hour of life.

I ask people from Pentax to give the posibility to disable Face Pripority in auto mode in the next firmware (please, please!!!).