Pentax Optio60

After only 1.5 years, the camera stated "Lens Error" when I turned it on. There appears to be no fix to this problem. It also appears to be a common problem. To bad you pay over $200.00 (including tax) for a camera and only get a little use out of it!!!

Lucky for me, I got this new camera for a low price. It has taken some very good out-door pictures and some inside pics as well but as stated by other owners, it does lack the earlier Pentax quality I was hoping for. These cameras are a dime a dozen on ebay ( new in the box), and I believe the main reason is the power consumption. I have tried the many options with different battery types and can promise that you will be dissapointed with battery life. But for the price under $100 including shipping and buying the digipower external power supply running it at 3 volts, I think I have a pretty good little inexpensive camera to just keep in your car or throw in your drawer for emergency situations. If your a real camera buff, don't waste your time or money. If your in it for cheap toys, you will do ok.

Small and light even with external power supply. Easy to use and fairly good pics for the average guy. Don't buy retail because they are very inexpensive on the internet.

Power: requires massive amounts of power to operate normally and will eat standard batterys in minutes, not hours. Requires external power supply to operate for time exceeding an hour.

I have used other inexpensive cameras, mainly the Fuji Fine Pix E500, E550 and F700, and have been pleased with them, especially the E550.

Pentax does not advertise this camera and won't back up anything on it. It's the Edsel of Pentax.

The Pentax Optio 60 is my 4th digital point-and-shoot type of camera. I also own a digital Nikon SLR. I picked this up because I was looking for a very small compact camera with at least 6 MP, and video capability for a good price. I found a good price on a returned camera on EBay and bought it.

Pentax has made some good film cameras in the past, and even some very nice digital cameras, but this is not one of them. For whatever reason they farm out the manufacturer of some of their cameras to China and this seems to be one of cheap ones. Although I believe that it does have a Pentax lens that is where the Pentax name on this camera should end. The case is made of plastic, and the camera has a very cheap feel, unlike some of the other metal cased Pentax digitals I've played with. I handle it very gently, because I suspect even a light fall would kill it.

The camera powers up fairly quickly and you can snap a photo within a couple of seconds. NiMh batteries are a must (I recommend at least 2500 mAh capacity) as the instruction manual makes clear. Alkaline batteries will only last a few shots, but I was able to shoot all day on a set of 2500 NiMh rechargeables.

Photos right out of the camera look only fair even when set on the highest values. Colors are somewhat washed out, and photos are not very sharp right out of the camera. Although it has Pict-Bridge capability, I would have to teak the photos in Photoshop, etc., before printing. It is also difficult to set a reasonable white balance, and highlights tend to get blown very easily. My 4 MP Canon S40 delivers much better photos right out of the camera, and offers a RAW setting (the Optio 60 will only shoot JPEGs). The camera does offer some limited manual settings, which seem to deliver better photos if you know how to set them up. Low light focusing is non-existent. This is definitely a fair weather camera. The video capability is OK, and really one of the features that I got this camera for.

If you are looking for a good compact digital camera this is not one I would recommend. You would be better off going with a 4 or 5 MP Nikon or Canon, for which you would pay nearly the same amount (if you buy retail) and you would end up with a much more reliable camera which will give you much better photos. Don't be fooled by the 6 MP number, which is meaningless when it comes to quality of the photo.

A few weeks after buying this camera the USB port stopped working, which is not a big deal for me since I have a card reader, but I think that helps demonstrate the lack of quality. It is not even worth sending back for a repair IMO.

Compact size
Light weight
Video capable
AA batteries (but must use high capacity NiMhs)

Cheap plastic case - probably not very durable
Only fair photos right out of camera
List price is way too high for the quality offered
Poor relibility

Kodak 3500DX
Canon S40
Nikon 4600
Nikon D70

Untested