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REVIEWS:  Manufacturers:  Pentax:  3 Megapixels and Smaller:
Optio 230
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Pentax Optio 230

MSRP: $ 400.00

Description: 2.1 Megapixel, 3x Optical/2.5x Digital Zoom, Point-and-shoot, Digital Camera
 
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Rating
Reviewed by: tram297
 (Beginner)

Review Date
August 20, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5,
1 votes

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Review 1 of 3

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Ritz Camera

Summary:
I bought this camera as a birthday gift last year for my fiancé. We’ve used the camera for several e-bay auctions of big items and the results have been very favorable. The pictures stand out very nicely. We’ve also taken the camera to Banff (Canadian Rockies), Seattle (Olympic National Park), and New York City. The resulting pictures have been breathtaking. Frankly, I was worried that a 2.3 mega-pixel would not be enough. As soon as I saw the pictures from Banff, my worries were quickly squelched. I would caution anyone who is considering taking pictures in low-light conditions (e.g. dusk, night time, covered forest area, etc): get a tripod. We have a picture at the base of a waterfall in the Olympic National Park. A photographer (more of one than I am, at least) put our Optio 230 on his tripod and took a few shots with the flash turned off. One word: gorgeous. All of the shots I tried without the tripod were worthless. And if you keep the flash turned on, you’ll never get proper exposure of the background (in this case – beautiful waterfall, in other cases, NYC at Christmas time). If you’re wondering whether digital is the way to go, stop wondering. If you’re a computer user, and want your pics on the computer, there is hardly another way to go. And it’s a ton of fun to be able to take as many picture as you want. We have two 128 MB memory cards, and between the two, we’re able to get about 500 pictures. That’s more than adequate for your average vacation. Bottom line – buy this camera. It’s wonderful.

Strengths:
Flip-out LCD screen - some of my best picks are self-taken portraits. Small size. Good battery life. Super easy!!

Weaknesses:
Better have a tripod for low-light (no flash).

Similar Products Used:
none

Customer Service:
Haven't needed it. But Ritz Camera employs idiots (IMHO).



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Rating
Reviewed by: bevanjd
 (Intermediate)

Review Date
August 7, 2003

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

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Review 2 of 3

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Morgan Computers

Summary:
More compact than most digital cameras of its specification, I have been very pleased with its performance. I just hope it carries on working as well in future!

Strengths:
Compact, portable Good pictures Works well with 2 AA size rechargeable NiMH batteries, bought separately

Weaknesses:
Bought as a "manufacturer's return" the flash stopped working within the short warranty period. Repaired OK. Case not supplied. Difficult to find one to take camera, batteries, and spare CF card without case being far too bulky. Occasionally I press the on/off switch, instead of shutter, as itis in the same position as shutter on most analogue SLR cameras - guess I'll learn!

Customer Service:
Supplier (Morgan Computer) arranged repair OK



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Rating
Reviewed by: Ferenghy
 (Intermediate)

Review Date
March 31, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

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Review 3 of 3

Price Paid:  $370.00 from Fnac

Summary:
Value/Price excellent. It takes very good pictures at very poor light places, but you must have a tripod. I had a Nikon Coolpix 775, and taking the same photo at night, the nikon take false colors, as reds. The Pentax was perfect, same as reality. A little bit pixelized on very light ambients and also in poor light

Strengths:
Photos in normal conditions are very good. Also, the turnable lcd is a very strenght. 3D pictures, I've never used this funtion, but it exist

Weaknesses:
Rechargeable batteries not included. Case not included.But who includes a case? Battery level indicator is not very accurated. A little bit slow between photo and photo in high quality mode, don't mention in tiff format

Similar Products Used:
Nikon Coolpix 775. Forget it.

Customer Service:
Not used yet. Nikon service is horrible.



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