Compact and Good

I just got this camera last week. I was previously using a Canon A40 which I bought new in 2002. Now it's old technology and only 2.1mp. I wanted more details in my shots. So far I love this little wonder. It's extremely small and compact compared to what I was using. It only uses 2 AA batteries, and since the Canon uses 4, I have two sets of rechargeables so I always have lots of spare batteries, but I don't notice this uses much battery for what I've done so far. You WILL need to get a fairly large SD card since the internal memory at full resolution only holds about 3 pictures. I bought a 512 mb card to start with and plan on getting another card. The LCD is really large on the back considering the size of the camera, and the optical viewfinder (which has a diopter adjustment which almost works for my -4.25 near-sightedness)is almost too small to really use. Unless I am in really bright light, I can't see very well through the viewfinder, and I find myself using the LCD -- something I never did with the Canon which had a really small LCD on the back and a rather large viewfinder. I would probably use the viewfinder, however, if I were taking pictures in really bright sunlight. I don't think I would be able to see the LCD that well. I'm not sure though -- I haven't used it outside that much yet. The SD card fits into a slot near where the batteries are, and so you have to slip open the battery door to remove the card. I guess this is good since the instructions say to turn off the camera before removing the card, and when you open the battery door, the camera is shutting off. The Canon had it's compactflash card on the side in a dedicated slot. I liked that. It also had a spring to push to remove the card. This camera does not, but all you have to do is push on the card and it pops up and out. It's not hard to do, but just a difference in removal. I took one short movie with it, and it came out rather well. I could even hear my voice pretty well from behind the microphone where I was shooting. This camera takes in a wider picture than my Canon. I was trying to shoot a display of swords on the wall that my husband designed with the Canon awhile back, and I couldn't get far enough away from it to get the whole display in the picture. With the Pentax I could get up quite close and still get the whole display in the picture. The colors it shoots are true.

The best thing about this camera, aside from the fact that its 6 megapixels for under $200, is its compact size. It is really tiny, and really cute. The lens retracts when you turn it off, and it's about the size of a pack of cigarettes. All in all, I am very very pleased with this little camera, and plan on using it for a long time.