> I'd like to know what you think of the Optio 550. > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote, in part: > > > > I'm surprised myself that there isn't much discussion about other Pentax > > digital equipment. Given the slightest encouragement (you are warned!) I would > > be happy to discuss the wonderful Optio 550 ... > > > > ERNR >
Summary: I love it. Details follow: To put this into perspective: I carry a camera with me every time I leave my house, no matter where I'm going or why; I shoot a record of weird stuff I see on the street, pretty stuff I see out there, family behaviour, etc. Before I bought the Optio 550, this "carry-everywhere" role would be shared by, in turns, a small Pentax SLR (MX, LX, ZX-5n) or a rangefinder (Canonet) or a Fujifilm FinePix 6900 digital. (Any of these required carrying a bag unless I felt like hanging the camera in open view from a shoulder.) I bought the Optio at the end of July and it hasn't shared the carry-everywhere role with anything in all that time; that role now belongs to the Optio alone. I've taken two rolls of film since then, and the older (larger) digital has been used only for a few special purposes. I also do a LOT of photography documenting ministry activities and special events at my church. This used to be mainly the job of the Fuji digital, but the Optio produces a sharper image with more detail in low light and does a much (MUCH!!!) better job with auto white balance under mixed lighting than the Fuji does. Also the Fuji has severe barrel distortion at the wide end, which I find most annoying in any picture containing a rectangular feature. Optio: much less distortion. On the rare occasions that I use flash, the Optio beats the Fuji hands-down since the Fuji's flash, on auto, is completely useless; and to get it to behave with manual settings requires, for me anyway, a good ten minutes of trial-and- error adjustment. The Optio in auto flash mode will correctly expose the subject and attempt, usually successfully, to include a decent balance of ambient light as well. The Optio fits in my pocket or in a handy belt pouch, making it more convenient to carry around than the Fuji, the rangefinder or any of the SLRs. Mostly, though, I see it as fitting well into rangefinder-style photography: One advantage of using a rangefinder, over an SLR, which I've seen noted in articles and have also observed for myself, is that people subjects aren't noticing the photography and aren't concerned about it even if they do happen to see it. This advantage also applies to the Optio, which seems (from the results) to have a better quality lens than my Canonet. (Less flare than Canonet and no vignetting.) And of course, the Optio can be set to make no shutter sound at all, thereby even beating a leaf-shutter for quiet. I went to a meeting in someone's home once, where a missionary was reporting on her time overseas. I sat in the centre of the front row of the group and captured several pictures of the missionary speaking. She never noticed -- she was surprised later when I showed them to her. Then, someone decided it would be an idea to photograph the whole group, and I was the one with a camera. I hopped onto a chair and made a few exposures of the group. Several elderly people were pleasantly surprised that there was no flash! Optio, available light, 400-speed setting, group of perhaps forty people -- enlarged to 8x10, this photo looks great: good colour and exposure and everybody is recognizable. Because it allows manual control of focus and exposure parameters, this camera doesn't frustrate me the same way a film point & shoot does. It's an incredibly versatile instrument, and I greatly appreciate having that much versatility in a pocketable camera. Disadvantages: lens is a bit slow for ISO 400 indoors, so I've really had to work hard at controlling camera-motion blur. Shutter lag is longer than any of the film cameras I referred to in these comments. Cannot replace an SLR for ability to use long lenses, fast lenses, or external flash. (And, I don't see things very well in the LCD, but this may change as soon as I get into bifocals and is probably not in any way the fault of the camera design!)
