Customer Reviews

Pentax IQ Zoom 130M Date 35mm Camera

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this camera before going on a two-week vacation in the Mediterranean. Most of the pictures I took were outdoors, bright or hazy sunlight, but some cloudy and evening pictures as well. Almost all turned out well. I was extremely pleased with the results. I previously had a Minolta Freedom Zoom 90 from which I upgraded to get the date and panorama features. Panorama works great, mid-film or anywhere. Remember it doesn't expand the viewing area, so generally you have to be far enough away to see the whole panorama in the normal viewing area of the view finder. Controls are easy to use. Normally use autofocus and let the camera make the decisions. When shooting where there are objects in foreground off center and the center objects are much further away, autofocus will alert you to use spot focus or infinity. Good results with this. When shooting at night, the moonlight/noflash mode works well. But you must hold the camera still for 2 seconds after clicking the shutter. I didn't have a tripod, which is the correct way. Shots where I could hold the camera very steady turned out great. In doors, red eye feature helps. Excellent camera for the average casual photographer.

I bought this camera last week for my trip to the Tony Awards, and I was more than pleased with its performance. After a quick glance through the manual, the camera's functions were easy and convienent.

The camera has a lot of options, including different flashes, red eye reducer, and a great auto-focus. Everything worked perfectly, and I had no problems with the camera. Even the panorama mode was an easy change.

This camera is good for someone who knows a little about photography, and needs more than just a basic point and shoot. It is simple to use, and the pictures all came out crystal clear.

I would recommend this very small and very light camera to anyone who wants to take a good picture, with very little hassle.

We have been through several rolls of film, all with good results, indoors and out. The camera is very easy to use in the automatic point & shoot mode and I'm pleased with the availability of the additional settings provided (e.g. zoom, flash options, redeye reduction, auto timer, etc.). I especially like that the camera shutter has a Bulb mode for taking extended exposure shots. I will give it a try with some astrophotography....

The camera quality appears to be good and there were no defects noted. Comsumers Union has indicated that Pentax cameras have a lower "frequency of repair" than many other major brands (which is good). We recommend this camera.

Never had anything other than simple point and shoot models before this camera, and will never go back now. This camera is very easy to use, offers a multitude of flash and focus options, and (most importantly) produces TERRIFIC results. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

On a recent trip to Italy a bag of mine was stolen at the train station in Rome containing my old Camera, a Pentax that I had had for almost 9 years. I loved it, it had everything I could every want from a camera and took excellent pictures. When it cam to replace it I decided on the Pentax IQ Zoom 130M Date 35mm Camera after a little digging and reading other reviews on Amazon. And I have been happy with it ever since. I have been using the camera now for just over a year and have used it in a wide variety of locations. It works wonderfully in almost any light condition. I have used to for portraits, scenery, fireworks, action photos, and close up stills. In every situation in performed just as expected. The only situation where the pictures did not turn out well was on a trip to the Lewis and Clark caverns. Normal flash mode did not provide enough light causing the pictures to be grainy and out of focus. I attempted to use the slow shutter sync but did not have a tripod to stand it on causing the photos to be blurred and jerky. If you are looking for a do-everything, easy to operate, compact camera you can't go wrong with this model. I highly recommend it.

I just purchased this camera from here about a week ago and I must say that so far I am very pleased. I just developed my first two rolls of film and the pictures came out very nice. There are a lot of nice little features on this camera that I have yet to use but so far it is working just fine. I am going to be taking a trip to Costa Rica next month and I needed something that was inexpensive, easy to carry around and that took nice pictures. Well, I haven't been disappointed yet. One thing to keep in mind is that this camera is VERY LIGHTWEIGHT and VERY SMALL and is therefore very easy to drop which is something you don't want to do with such a delicate instrument. My advice is to use the strap and wear it tightly around your wrist whenever you carry it around. This past 4th of July I was walking around and it actually slipped out of my hand but fortunately I had the strap tied around my wrist which prevented it from dropping on the cement. If you are looking for a camera that is compact, easy to use, inexpensive and takes good pictures then I recommend this one.

I bought this camera because my old one broke. Everywhere I go I like to take pictures as kind of like a souvenir, and I bought this camera for a recent trip. It worked perfectly. The directions in the manual were quite simple and got to taking pictures before I knew it. The size, easiness, and weight make it very convienent. I was amazed at it's toughness for such a small camera. It's also a great camera for someone who is just beginning and knows little about pictures. Highly recommended!

This camera appeared to be the perfect one for what I needed; an easy to use camera with a zoom. The day after I received it I used the zoom and it retracted one time. The next time it would not retract and the zoom is completely jammed. This in itself is not so bad, annoying and inconvenient yes, but not a total disaster. There is probably a simple fix for this. I thought I could just call the manufacturer and get some help. Fat chance of that! They do not even give a phone number for customer service. I had to send an email and was told I would get a reply in writing within 3 days. I just got a reply (a form email letter)that tells me to ship the camera back to them at my expense. Next time I will research the customer service as well as the item I purchase.

I bought this camera for an up-coming trip to New Orleans. My decision was based on the reviews here on amazon.com. This is my first time using a Pentax.

I have shot one roll of film, trying different lighting situations, different zoom lengths, in-doors, out-doors, regular and panoramic mode.

I have always used Minolta professional cameras in the past. The quality of photos from this little camera is as good, if not better, than those from my Minolta equipment.

I am now ready to take on New Orleans in style and with a camera that is light-weight, easy to use, offers lots of useful features, and provides quality photographs, confident that I will be able to capture the beauty of the Big Easy with ease.

One note to the user complaining about black lines at the top/bottom of panoramic shots. The problem may be with your processor; it certainly isn't with the camera. While you do see, or appear to see, black lines when you look through the viewfinder with the camera in 'panoramic mode', my photographs were full size, great in their detail, and had no lines at top/bottom. If you are contemplating purchasing this item, don't let that deter you.

For the price, this is a great little picture-taker.

I have owned 3 previous pentax cameras, all of which gave good performance and durability. I bought this compact camera because of its 5 spot focusing feature. The focusing features work very good and are improved over the previous models. However, there is a significant red eye problem with this camera when using the flash. As a former professional photographer, I believe this is due to the flash being located one inch closer to the camera lens than previous models. Usually, the farther the flash is off center from the lens, the less the chance of red eye reflection.