Pentax Optio P80 12.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Zoom with Shake Reduction and 2.7

Overall, I find this a pretty good little digital point and shoot, and a good replacement for our earlier model of Pentax Optio. For indoor shooting, I am impressed at the depth achieved by the flash -much better than our earlier model. In fact, I really wasn't expecting such good results. If I were to fault the camera at all, I would say that the colors in the photos are vibrant -perhaps a bit more vibrant than in actuality. Still, that is a minor problem -if a problem at all -for a digital camera in such a portable package.

I bought this because I had given my 8mp SE phone to my mom (along with my Sony camera). I realized that my Sony was bulky to carry around and did not prove as effective as when I was a student (took it to games and stuff). So, this is my continuing saga where I research on really good brands that most of my 'desi' friends aren't even aware of. They say "Pentax??!! What the heck is that? Why didn't you buy a Canon or a Sony?" The picture quality, face recognition and the speed are very nice. This is basically what you'd NEED but may not WANT. There are a lot of built-in profiles that are very easy to set the camera to in an instant. The interface is okay but I think I personally might want some more (I see everything as computers ...)

Anyway, awesome buy. And, I did have a 20 bucks manufacturer's discount.

Buy Pentax Optio P80 12.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Zoom with Shake Reduction and 2.7 Now

I have been using a Pentax camera, mostly on vacations, for several year and am pleased with it. I wanted a camera with a wide angle lense so I could take group pictures and landscapes without leaving out part of the scene I wanted.

After I received the Pentax P80 and started taking test pictures to see how it works, I found that the advertising about "wide angle" lense was misleading. What the camera does is stitch two or three pictures together to make one wide picture. That is hardly a wide angle lense. I already had a Canon camera that allows me to take two pictures and then stitch them together with the software Cannon provided. The Canon is a much larger camera and it is still difficult to take two pictures that can match each other enough to stitch them together. The Pentax is very small (which I like) but it is almost impossible to take two or three pictures that match enough to stitch together.

I should have known better to think I could get a wide angle lense on a camera that only cost $130. But the darn thing is so easy to carry around, and takes such good pictures, that I won't leave home without it (and my cell phone, of course).

Read Best Reviews of Pentax Optio P80 12.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Zoom with Shake Reduction and 2.7 Here

For the money this is a really solid buy. Takes really nice pictures most of the time, and nice video as well. The exception to this is in medium to low light for the video. Anything short of well lit or sunlight will result in a very grainy video. We took video of my son's first birthday in a restaurant and even in that lighting the video turned out quite grainy. The camera in flash modes works very well in low light, though the flash is a bit hotter than I would like for close subjects. Turn off the flash and even in auto mode it won't compensate well. Now for the big but.

But the various modes that are provided in the camera do work well. The fireworks setting does great in low light capturing the flash of the firework. So not all low light shooting is poor, some is quite good. But trying to capture a moon rise left a lot to be desired on most attempts even shooting with a tripod and time delay so there wasn't any shake by me. If you are shooting in low light, just take as many photos of the subject you can with the hope one does turn out.

This also (of course) means that any sort of movement in a low light setting is a deal killer. But that is pretty much the norm for a camera at this level, so I'm not holding it against it, just informing you that this is the case.

The one thing I have liked the most is the setting where you can take 3 photos and manually stitch those photos together in the camera. With a tripod these photos turn out amazing.

The LCD screen is excellent. Clear, easy to use and able to be seen in all but the very worst direct light situations. The weak spot is the battery door. This thing is held on with at best a paper clip quality hinge. Start up is quite fast, and shut down equally fast. Size is very small, fits in my front pocket with no problem, or in a shirt pocket.

Would I buy it again? Yep. I got mine for under $90, so it is worth shopping around and waiting for sales.

Want Pentax Optio P80 12.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Zoom with Shake Reduction and 2.7 Discount?

What a camera! Very easy to use, lots of bang for the buck, I have three other Pentax Digital cameras of the SLR type. I bought this Pentax to carry in my shirt pocket so I have a camera available most of the time. Love it!