28 mm wide angle,good lens,small package

View finder difficult to use

I shoot both slides and prints and use the Explorer for prints,rather then carry two SLR bodies,if I am traveling light,and shooting landscapes.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

Olympus 140,Epic
Olympus OM4T & OM2N
Minolta 600SI

convenient, easy to load, self-contained.

The film advance gears wore out after less than 20 rolls of film. Repair cost would have equalued purchase cost.

Was very disappointed that the gears wore out so soon. Until then it was great. I won't buy another though.

Customer Service

lost receipt so never got to try it out

Similar Products Used:

none

Very good lens: Great zoom range (28-70), low flare, very good sharpeness and relative fast aperture at wide angle (f 3.5). Good size.

- Lack of spotmetering and exposure compensation options.
- Wider autofocus area (or multiple focus zones)

For 150$ you can not find a better combination of features: wide angle lens zoom, small size and good quality construction. Other wide angle zoom lenses P/S like Olympus, Canon or the new Nikon or Pentax had slower lenses and higher cost. Try to find the last version (EX) in chrome, that include a remote control and a 28-75 lens.

Customer Service

Not required.

Similar Products Used:

Olympus, Pentax, Nikon.

-small size
-good lens (especially for a cheap zoom)
-pictures look pretty good

nope

I have this camera and I think its pretty good, especially since it was only 150 dollars. The pics look good, and the guy on the photo.net page seems to like it too. The infinity focus mode is quite handy. The viewfinder may be a bit on the small side, but its a small camera, so what do you expect? Basically, I think its a great camera and I would recommed it to anyone wanting a good zoom point-and-shoot.

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon AE-1

-pretty sharp for a point and shoot.
-good zoom range.
-light weight, program modes are easy to use.

-viewfinder is way too small, you can't just bring the camera up to your eye, you have to actually watch the little viewfinder as you bring it to your eye or you will never find it.

This is a good point and shoot camera, with good sharpness. It is small, light, and easy to use. As long as you can deal with the small viewfinder you will love this camera.

Customer Service

not needed yet (its about 4 months old)

Similar Products Used:

none

Great zoom range (24mm)
Small size, flat face (easy to carry in your pocket)
Reasonably good quality photo

No spot metering
Shutter button is getting mushy

What can I say, a versatile camera, I always carry it with me on my business trips. Take great pictures when there is ample lighting. Flash photography is also quite reliable.
Of course one cannot judge its picture quality with those taken with a SLR lens but I would say this one ranks among the top in its class.
Highly recommended over those Olympus.

Now I just would like to try the Ricoh GR-1s !!

Customer Service

Never need to try

Similar Products Used:

Olympus mu-zoom 28-70, Olympus 24-70

wide angle, size, contrast, price.

Transport, unreliable exposure, distortion at zoom extremes. Auto-feature-reset is a pain.

Tried to replace my classic Rollei with this model. Disapointing next to the Rollei. Finally the transport completely failed after two years. Will probably look for a different camera.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

n/a

compact,really pocketable;
focus and exposure accurate for diapos;
no flare; f3.5 at 28mm

would like 90 mm
cap looks flimsy

Used in mountains in winter, and in Népal. It packs in a standard Zip-Lock for cheap weather protection . I dropped it 5 or 6 times and it works. Can be used candid at 28 mm with discretion. Focus not always perfect but exposure is very good for the price for diapos; exceptional in this range of price

Similar Products Used:

fuji dl-500 wide: flare at 28mm desastrous on some photos

28mm wide angle
good exposure
excellent for night scene
aspherical elements
macro
large & clear LCD
fast to swtich on/off
easy to control
attractive look/price

noticiable distortion & dark corners at wide end
auto-feature-reset

Bought one in 1997, lost 3 years later. Performed well through out the time, without any mechanical problem. The picture results were generally good, not crisp sharp but accurately exposed with high contrast. The pictures taken at night time & low light condition, which most other p&s are rather weak at, were perticularly impressive. Well designed & priced. Miss the camera so much that I bought the updated RIVA 75W a week ago.

(some travel pics for reference:
http://home.kimo.com.tw/silver_moon/NEW-photo0.html)

Customer Service

none needed

Similar Products Used:

Olympus IS-10 QD
Canon Sure Shot 115,
Olympus Mju Zoom 105,
Minolta Riva Zoom 115EX
Pentax Espio 115M

1. compact
2. 28 wide angle
3. remote control
4. contrast sharp

1. pop up flash, clam shell lens

I own the newer version, RIVA 75W, 28-75 with remote control as standard. silver finish. my original 70W explorer (28-70) malfunctioned after 5 years of use. The pop up flash refused to pop up, the clam shell refused to let the lens come out. im worried about this too in my new 75W BUT the excellent pictures ive taken, reliability of its contrast sharpness has made me overlook the possibility of this malfunctions. I will just keep my camera well protected hopefully to let it last long life. Highly recommended due to wonderful result. Compact makes it lovely to look at and easy to bring along. I still have to find another camera this small, this wide at 28 with zoom, to produce this good quality pctures at this price!!! nothing beats it.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

1. rollei prego 145
2. rollei micron
3. minolta explorer 28-70
4. pentax 928
5. pentax 115
6. ricoh Z728