I've had a 120mi Pentax point and shoot for a year or two. It's been my "go everywhere" camera. It's always handy. Until Saturday morning I considered it to be my small camera.
Saturday morning I picked up an Optio S and a memory card. The 120mi seems very large and my SLRs seem downright huge.
I won't get into the features, they're listed on the Pentax web site. All I can say is that it is a much more fully featured camera than I expected. Everything that needs to be adjustable is. It doesn't go fully manual, but there are enough adjustments to get the job done.
I spent some time Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning taking pictures. Late Sunday I dumped the files to my PC and printed everything using the Picture Window Pro software, a Canon 9000 printer and Ilford Galerie Classic Pearl paper.
I made no modifications to the files, but I did resize them to print 6"x8" at 300 dpi. This had some, minimal effect on the prints. However I believe they are a true representation of unmodified results from the camera. Any print is a result of the entire process.
The prints came out very good and a couple of them are just plain great. I showed them to a few people at the office today. Each person had their favorite. Most mentioned the detail in the "macro" shots. I didn't show anyone the camera until after they viewed the pictures. They were even more impressed with the prints after seeing the camera.
My initial impression is that this is a very nice camera that fits in much smaller pockets than my 120mi. Both cameras have their advantages and disadvantages.
The function of the 120mi was to sit quietly until needed, then be used for a few impromptu shots and go back into hiding. I had a lot of half-shot rolls of film developed in the last couple of years. I replaced the battery every few months whether it needed it or not. The 38-120mm zoom drops from f/4.8 at the wide end all the way down to f/12.5 at the telephoto end, so it's almost always been loaded with 800 speed film, and it can be depended upon to produce very good results when used within it's limits. Exposure compensation was the only feature I ever felt was missing from the mi. This has been a great knock-around camera for me. I think the price is just under $200 at B&H.
On a day-to-day basis, the Optio S will replace the 120mi, but... and this is a big but... the battery will need baby sitting and the maximum "film speed" is 200. The 35-105mm (equiv) lens is f/2.6 at the wide end and f/4.8 at the tele end, so the lower "film speed" may not be noticed very often. The tele range from 105 up to 120 might be missed.
Neither camera gives a guide number for its built-in flash. My rough calculations based on the recommended max distances at the quoted ISO sensitivity rating puts them fairly equal. I have a gut feel that the Optio is slightly less powerful.
Beyond that, the Optio smokes the mi on specs. I suppose it should. It was more expensive than my 5n. The mi is a very nice point and shoot, but no more than that. The Optio is an incredibly capable little camera.
I just have to say I'm having a ball with the close focusing. It can get down to a couple of inches in super macro mode. A small bonus, the Optio uses the same remote as the mi. The remote was very handy when I had the Optio perched on a small table-top tripod shooting macros.
I had heard and read about shutter lag in digital cameras. It didn't seem to be any worse in the Optio S than in the SLRs I've used. The procedure is the same with the Optio. Pre-focus and lock it in by holding the shutter button halfway down, shoot when ready. No lag I can sense.
I have a feeling that the Optio may slightly over sharpen the images for my taste. I may adjust it to be a bit softer and do my own sharpening later. Or not.
The colors seem to be very neutral. It could be adjusted to boost the saturation. Again, I think I'll let it be neutral and adjust later in post processing.
The 4-way selector button on the back could be just a bit bigger, but I got used to it in the first few minutes.
The user interface wasn't totally intuitive, but I figured it out pretty quick. One pass through the manual answered any remaining questions.
I've been using film scanners and the digital darkroom for quite some time now, but the Optio S is my introduction to the regular use of a digital camera. My experience with this little camera will help me make a better decision when I buy a DSLR.
This is a very capable little camera that is very quickly earning a top spot in my equipment list.
See you later, gs
