Pentax Optio 330 review by Christian Skofteland I'll start out by noting that I purchased this camera as a digital replacement of my IQZoom 120 film camera. I still use the IQZoom but not as frequently as the Optio. I should also add the disclaimer that I've only used one other digital camera prior to buying the Optio.
1. First impressions, feel, ergonomics, fit and finish. overall the Optio 330 is well built camera. It is small. REALLY SMALL! It easily fits in the front pocket of my jeans, inside jacket pocket or shirt pocket. It is constructed of metal (except the CF and battery door) and feels very solid. The camera controls are well laid-out and become very intuitive and natural to use. Because of its small size I find gripping the camera to be a bit awkward (the small size was a big selling point for me). I still have not come up with a "universal" way to hold the camera that doesn't feel strange. Two other negatives: The power-on and zoom are very loud and the front cover tends to get warm (almost hot) during normal use. 2. Controls, viewfinder, LCD. As mentioned above, the controls are very intuitive and natural to use. Menu options are easy to understand and straight forward. The viewfinder is small and almost useless for people who use eyeglasses (such as myself). I find myself using the LCD screen rather than the optical viewfinder. The LCD screen has multiple modes and settings and is overall very good. 3. Use The first thing I did (after the battery charged) was start messing with all the settings while popping off shots left and right. DON"T DO THIS!!!! Of the main settings (sharpness, contrast, saturation) KEEP THE DEFAULTS!!!! I ended up with a lot of people with very red faces. The white balance settings are perfect for what they are designed, ie: Daylight, Shade, Incandescent, Fluorescent work well. Auto works in a pinch but still gives you odd colors depending on the situation. Initially I had problems with focus. The default of "Wide-focus" was inadequate. I would think I was focusing on a subject and the camera would focus on a distant object.. I know use spot focus and I have not had issues. Manual focus is useless. The preview and display functions are probably the same for any digital camera. Movie mode is fun if all you want is cheezy, low-res, choppy video. My 6 year-old daughter loves it. I have not used multiple exposure modes yet. 4. Results, conclusions. As stated before I initially was disappointed with the results due to a) my messing with the settings and b) focus area. Now I get the results I would expect. Actually, being new to digital, I am very pleased with the quality of images captured by the camera. The optical zoom is quick and at 3x a very good range. Digital zoom gives surprisingly good results. Many people have told me that digital zoom is crappy but I have no complaints (although it never really gets used). The flash coverage seems adequate but I have not tried to push it very much. Again, this is a snap-shooter, I'm not trying anything artsy or fancy with it. I have not tried any manual exposure modes so I can't comment on their usage. All in all I'm pleased with the camera. It is a worthy replacement for my P&S. Links: dpreview.com: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxoptio330/ An extensive review of the 330 optio underwater: http://photography.skofteland.net/optiouw/ All images (except those of the camera in the case) were made with the Optio 330. Optio samples: http://photography.skofteland.net/optiosamples/ I just threw this page together. It's not pretty. Christian
