Customer Reviews

Pentax Optio M50 8MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Pink)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought the Pentax Optio M50 as a gift. I chose this model for the following reasons:

* It is small and compact enough to always have with you
* It is very stylish (especially for a young girl). We got it in Pink to go with her pink iPod.
* I wanted a camera with a minimum of 8MP which is plenty for home use (I have advanced digital SLRs with 8MP and they take pro-quality images)
* The zoom ratio (5x) was much better than those found on other cameras in it's class (usually 3x)
* I like the feature that automatically detects and exposes for faces (although the "Auto-Smile" feature seems to be a hit-or-miss feature so I don't suggest using it)
* It is a good value for the price

A couple of things to be aware of though:

* There is no optical viewer, you must use the rear screen to compose the image
* The "shake reduction" feature is not true electronic image stabilization, which you can find or higher-end cameras. Instead it raises the sensitivity of the light sensing chip in low light which allows the use of a higher shutter speed at the same time giving you less detail in the resulting photo. Nice feature, but not as nice as IS which reduces or compensates for actual camera shake electronically.

Over all this is a great buy. Just a few years ago a camera like this would have cost at least twice as much. Considering it's features this is a very good value and Pentax is a name that you can trust.

It's a powerful camera even when you get it light weight at first impression.
I recommend it, take beautiful pictures. Great quality.
The smile capture feature is great, so fun!
The zoom is a little to sensitive, it goes fast to the max value and you often have to zoom out to get the point you are looking for. But great if you want to go to the max zoom in fast.
I'm very pleased with my camera.

It's small and very light so you can take it anywhere. Icons that are fun and easy to use. Takes great pictures. I love the soft flash mode, the warm skin tone mode and the rechargeable battery. The only thing is that I got it in pink, great color, but my little granddaughter thinks it's her toy!

First the positives:

- The screen is large and clear.
- Camera body is compact and seems very durable.
- The menus are surprisingly easy to navigate considering how much functionality is crammed into this tiny device. The manual is over 200 pages long; you'd expect this to mean the camera is complex to use, but it's actually very intuitive.
- Auto focus works well, even at very close distances, and the shots are clear and free of shake.
- Mounts up to a computer just like any standard USB device. F-Spot under Linux sees it just fine.

Now the negatives:

- Focal length of the lens is such that indoor shots tend to curve straight lines at the edges of the frame.
- Has USB connection, yet will not charge the battery through it. You have to remove the battery from the camera to charge it.
- Charger is small and light, but its power cord is large and heavy. This means the charger rarely stays where you put it; the cord's weight pulls it off the table. I solved this problem with an old cord and a plug (see pix: http://www.xec.net/charger2.jpg and http://www.xec.net/charger3.jpg). But most people probably will not want to tinker this way.

Some people have complained that it does not have an optical viewfinder. I rarely ever used the optical viewfinders on my previous digital cameras so this does not bother me.

All in all I like it much better than the Kodak it replaced.

I have really enjoyed using this camera in the last few weeks. It takes great pictures, but what I like, perhaps most, about it is the speed of picture taking. It takes it's first picture nice and fast so you can actually get a picture of what you wanted! And it also takes consecutive pictures fast as well. I would highly recommend this camera for someone who wants to take good, easy pictures while having a bunch of great features too!

I bought the M50 a few weeks ago new...got a lemon...wouldn't focus, and the colors weren't anywhere near true! It happens. I sent it back to Pentax under warrantee, on my dime, with a detailed description of the camera's problems, fully expecting them to make it right. I got it back a few days ago and they didn't do a thing to the camera!! Nothing was fixed even though they sent a report with the camera saying it was! I talked to the retailer I bought it from, and since they are reasonable people, they refunded my money. If you bought one and it works well, I'm happy for you. But if you have problems down the road with it, be prepared to be completely disappointed with Pentax customer service! Based on my experience with Pentax, I certainly won't buy anything they make again!

Overall very disappointed and not unhappy that it recently died after an incident at a waterpark. This camera is not for people with kids who need to capture the moment quickly.

Nice camera for the price. I like the auto smile feature. Lightweight and easy to use. Able to recover photos after they have been deleted. Would recommend this camera. I bought 2 of them. A pink one for my daughter and a blue one for my son. They both enjoy using these cameras.

My Dad gave me this camera as a gift and while Im not too prone to taking pictures, when I do its nice to have this camera around. Plugs straight into your computer for easy transfer and takes amazing shots!

The reviews sounded great, but once I got the camera I was pretty dissapointed to say the least! For the money, yes...It's an ok camera, (If you really don't care
about having a ton of blurry pictures)