Customer Reviews

Pentax Optio 230 2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Compact, Light Weight, Impromtu camera that easily fits into any pocket. Great Color and Contrast Control right out of the box. Delivers amazingly crisp images for a 2.2 megapixel camera. Of course the proof is in the printing. Never, and I can't emphasize this enough, Never attempt to judge image quality using your Desktop PC. Even the sharpest images will look soft and fuzzy on a Monitor. This little camera offers plenty of control for a "Point & Shoot", and the 3D features makes it quite unique. My only complaint is with the rather limited ISO range of the camera. In terms of Price verses Performance though, this one is tough to beat in my opinion.

Raves
We love it!!Our compact affordable pentax optio 230 has hit the floor a few times and still works fine without a scratch.We have taken it all over Canada and the USA. The swing out lcd monitor is great for fast self portriats or monitoring tripod shots from in front of the camera.The timer is handy too.The 3x optical zoom is a must considering digital zoom degrades pixel quality.Outdoors it produces good landscapes.Indoors the bright flash is more than enough.Great entry level camera. We plan to get the new optio 550 (5mp/5x zoom) but we will miss the swingout lcd of the 230.

Rants

Its not really fair to complain about the best quality most feature packed 2 MPXL camera on the market. It also has the best price. Of course a 3-5 MPXL will produce better results and features hence the higher price.Heres a few tips we found out on getting the most out of our 2 MPXL optio.

1.use highest resolution settings ("tif" for pro shots)
2.Movie mode is best outdoors in the sun. Indoors requires lots of extra lighting to avoid yellow tinges.
3.Only use optical zoom (not digital).
4.Avoid auto color on the editing software as it tends to produce a corpse like effect.The cameras auto color is better anyway.
5.Be prepared to learn the redeye reduction edit in the software to compensate for the optios powerful flash in dim lighting conditions.Its a very effective tool and can save any shot other than a deer in headlights.

Enjoy your Pentax Optio 230 digital camera

I bought this camera after reviewing several others for pleasure use only. I found that this was all I needed for what I wanted a digitial camera for. The program allowing downloading to a PC works great so long as you have a Pentium 2 or better. After adding a 256mb memory chip I find that I can spend an entire month taking pictures before having to download and sort.

After hours of going through sales ads, trying out cameras in stores, and hours of research on the Internet, my husband and I finally decided on this camera. Reasons? 1) It's lightweight 2) The digital zoom only kicks in after a long pause (if you have it activated) 3) The whitebalance feature and 4) The reasonable price. Before it was shipped, we were still a little worried about how much we'd actually like this camera. I must say that it has "wowed" us so far. The whitebalance is excellent, the picture quality is far better than our previous digital camera, it's easy on the batteries (even with the LCD on), and it's very easy to tote around. Don't worry about the plastic -- it doesn't feel "cheap". The LCD swivel makes it easy to take self-portraits (if you really wanted to) or if you take pictures from a tripod pointing straight down (like -- for auction posting), you don't have to stand on a chair to see what it looks like before you take the picture! Great camera, great price.

Recently bought this camera elsewhere for $5.
What caught my eye on the old Optio 230 is the swivel LCD, and stereoscopic mode.

What I like about this camera is that the battery compartment is shaped to accept AA, and CRV3 batteries.
Picture quality at the highest setting with flash indoors to me is very vibrant.
LCD display can swivel for front view primarily why i bought it. However the images viewed on it it doesn't do justice.
Stereoscopic 3D mode is enteresting, but i really can't tell if its 3d or not.
what I hate about the Optio 230 is the battery life. With flash I can only get 28 photos on regular Duracell AAalkaline.
Tried Energizer rechargable AA Ni-MAh's they fared better with 80 photos with flash.
Kodak CRV3's fared much better with the same setting.
One thing's for sure it's not energy efficient.

Final thoughts...
For a camera from 2002 which is fat in todays P&S standards, and only capable of 2mp size photos.
In terms of picture quality I find it superior to the modern 10mp Vivitar iTwist of similar design.
Considering its limitations in 2011 it's best relegated to Collectors Piece atleast for me.

we have been nothing but pleased with this camera. A very good camera for the price.

I received the camera in July but didn't try to use it till September. No damage to package, no reason to believe it wouldn't work. Followed instructions to insert battery (tested--it works) and card, but when I push button to turn on, it doesn't. Since it's my first digital camera, I consulted two friends who are more familiar with them; it didn't work for them either. Screen display doesn't come on. Tried taking it to a camera store but was told I'd have to send it to manufacturer. Probably a good camera if I hadn't gotten a lemon.