Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This camera is amazing, December 30, 2004
I've had SLRs for years and know enough to want and use the manual aspects of such cameras for the unique pictures you can capture once in a while. I wanted the same capabilities in my first digital camera. But I also wanted convenience, compact size, and a reasonable telephoto lens. Quite simply, this camera has it all. Its fully automated, night-time, and sunset modes take the most stunning pictures with a simple push of the button (get a mini tripod for the night and sunset pics). The panorama and movie mode (with sound) makes my SLR obsolete. I bought an extra battery but with charging each night, I never needed it on vacation. I bought a 1gig memory card and after 9 days on vacation, 181 pictures at full resolution, and 2 minutes of movie, it still had room for over 600 more pictures (i.e., 1 gig was not neccessary). The only disappointment is that there is a delay while taking and after taking a picture. The 5x optical zoom adds more calculation time to the auto focus and there is another small delay while it writes each picture to memory (SLR users will find this delay frustrating but I got used to it quickly). I believe this is still the smallest 5x optical zoom on the market. It's a bit pricey, but if you can afford it, you get it all in one compact camera.
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Shutter Lag, February 10, 2005
There is so much shutter lag in this camera that any kind of action shot is just pure luck. Specifications never publish this kind of measurement, but I'm sure the lag time is at least 1.3 seconds. I also have the Optio S and this thing is five times as bad. I'm writing this reveiw while on vacation in Cozumel and I put the Optio SV back in my bag and will finish my vacation using the Optio S.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great zoom, good picture quality, but two big problems, June 15, 2005
The new Optio SV differentiates itself from other slim-profile digital cameras by offering a whopping 5x optical zoom! This is just amazing achievement on the part of Pentax, being able to outgun all competition in this important area. The SV is comparable in width and height to the popular Canon SD300 and SD400 models, but is about 1/3 thicker. It takes good-quality pictures. Not quite as great as the Canon models or even the Casio EX-Z55/Z57, but still very acceptable both for screen display and for print.
But the SV suffers from two problems that may limit its appeal. Let me first say that these are not "fatal" problems. For *your* needs, you may find the pros of this super-zoom camera more than offset the two problems, so by all means if this fits your needs, go for it. I really, really like the 5x zoom, period.
The two problems are:
1) Shutter lag. All digital cameras have shutter lag (the time between you press the shutter button and when the picture is actually taken), but this one is a bit longer than its competition. It also takes longer time than many competitors (Canon, Casio, Nikon, Sony) to write an exposed image to memory. This results in a shot-to-shot time that was normal two years ago but is considered on the long side this day and age.
2) Battery life. This is where I've got a serious beef, as the rechargeable battery packs enough power for only 80 or so pictures. The Canon SD300, in comparison, can do about 200 pictures per charge and the Casio EX-Z55/57 can do 350 or more. With the Pentax Optio SV, you have to either buy 2 spare batteries or pack the charger with you wherever you go.
If Pentax could improve battery life and shutter lag, this would be the ultracompact digicam of my choice.
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