Oooh, if I needed a point-and-shoot camera, I'd go for this.

First digital camera I owned was a Pentax Optio 33L (3.2 MP!) camera with an EXCELLENT lens and a very short focal length for manual focus mode, which made for some stunning macro photography for a relatively cheap camera.

I'm sure they've come a long way in the last 9 years, and it's very, VERY tempting...

(I also shoot film with an old Pentax K Series camera... Pentax makes GOOD cameras!)

Only time for one, I think:
previous woot (non-woot-off) was $20 more at $109.99 (price has been coming down, was $159.99, then $139.99,...)
Previous link to manual:

whatsamattaU wrote:Will the manual help?
http://www.pentax.jp/english/support/man-pdf/optio-rz18.pdf

Bye

does it come with the SD card?

Anyone knows about the shutter lag in this camera?
I really hate when I have the perfect moment in front of me but my actual camera decides to take a break and make the shot when the moment is long gone.

cleothemuse wrote:Oooh, if I needed a point-and-shoot camera, I'd go for this.

First digital camera I owned was a Pentax Optio 33L (3.2 MP!) camera with an EXCELLENT lens and a very short focal length for manual focus mode, which made for some stunning macro photography for a relatively cheap camera.

I'm sure they've come a long way in the last 9 years, and it's very, VERY tempting...

(I also shoot film with an old Pentax K Series camera... Pentax makes GOOD cameras!)

Common folks, is this a buy or not? I already have two other items being shipped. Go, or no go?

Secunza wrote:Anyone knows about the shutter lag in this camera?
I really hate when I have the perfect moment in front of me but my actual camera decides to take a break and make the shot when the moment is long gone.

Shutter lag is terrible, easy to take plenty of out of focus pics because of shutter lag.
It is not listed anywhere in the specs or reviews. Most likely because it is a negative.

I would stay away, I bought one on Woot about 4 months ago. It stopped working after three weeks and has been at the waranty center getting repaired for 11 weeks now. YES 11 WEEKS, not a joke. They should have sent me another camera as we missed many things over the summer. Just bought a Nikon as we are tired of waiting.

Whaat!?!

I bought the same one on sellout Woot! on Aug 31st for $99!!!! It's now $89?!

CRAP!

Is there 30-Day price guarantee on Woot!?

Even though I got this from Woot when it was $119, I have no regrets. I haven't noticed a significant shutter lag and in fact it's faster than the Nikon L16 it replaced. It is a bit larger than a typical point-n-shoot. The battery seems to last forever. I got 200+ shots out of one charge on a trip this summer.

No, it doesn't come with a SD card, but you wouldn't want the puny one they would ship it with anyway.

Secunza wrote:Anyone knows about the shutter lag in this camera?
I really hate when I have the perfect moment in front of me but my actual camera decides to take a break and make the shot when the moment is long gone.

It's getting better, but if you need that kind of speed, buy a DSLR. You get what you pay for.

You can press the shutter button half-way to lock in focus and exposure and then complete the press to take the shot, and that may help. But to expect a cheap camera to power up, focus, set exposure and fire the shutter instantly is simply not realistic at this early stage of digital camera technology. (We are still in the early years of these cameras. Imagine what cars were like when they were 12 years into production!)

Also, this class of camera is not meant for high speed bursts, low light gym sport shots and other situations in marginal lighting.

Learn about the relationship between f/stops and shutters speeds and ISOs to better understand the complexity of taking good photos.

There is no magic fairy dust camera that does everything for you perfectly in this price range at this time. Maybe in a few years.

I got it the last time. The zoom is excellent, picture quality outdoors is very good. Low-light performance is very bad, rather typical for a cheap camera.

Video zoom is limited for some reason.

But the worst: the camera started malfunctioning within two weeks and I had to send it back.

arthirad wrote:does it come with the SD card?

No, it does not but it does come with 96MB of internal memory which is not all that bad but I would recommend getting a card and the prices on the cards continue to fall.

For a point and shoot this Pentax has a lot of bang for the buck. The 18X OPTICAL zoom is equivalent to a 450mm lens. Shoots at a high pixel level that will allow you very large and clear prints. One thing that some will notice and may not like is the D-LI92 Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery instead of readily available AA or AAA batteries. I rather think this is a plus. The Lithium Ion is going to give quite a bit of shooting time on a single charge. An additional can be purchased for around $40 including shipping. If you stop to think about the price you are paying for standard batteries, it would not take long to make up that price and then be ahead. Last, because of it' size, the camera remains thinner thus easier to carry. This is a great little point and shoot by a good and well known manufacture and best of all, it has a great price. I am camera poor but if I needed another point and shoot to back up my SLR's, I would certainly give this deal a very hard look and most likely would bite.

baseballkurt wrote:I would stay away, I bought one on Woot about 4 months ago. It stopped working after three weeks and has been at the waranty center getting repaired for 11 weeks now. YES 11 WEEKS, not a joke. They should have sent me another camera as we missed many things over the summer. Just bought a Nikon as we are tired of waiting.

you should have just returned it to woot. Sending a cheap camera like this for repair is a strange idea.

dphillips47 wrote:Shutter lag is terrible, easy to take plenty of out of focus pics because of shutter lag.
It is not listed anywhere in the specs or reviews. Most likely because it is a negative.

The lag is not that bad, just switch off the "smile detection" crap. This way the camera will not wait until everyone smiles. Still, the camera is not worth purchasing considering how unreliable it is.

leckig wrote:The lag is not that bad, just switch off the "smile detection" crap. This way the camera will not wait until everyone smiles. Still, the camera is not worth purchasing considering how unreliable it is.

Hey good tip,that may be why my new Canon camera has some extra lag.

Bought one of these in April for about $50 more. I got about 800 pictures out of it. When you zoom, the camera freezes, beeps a couple times and shuts off. Started out doing it intermittantly, now does it all the time. Paperwork that came with it says "Hoya Corporation Pentax" was renamed Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company LTD in 2011. I still have my old Pentax film SLR that has worked flawlessly for years, but I don't think this is the Pentax of old, just the name appropriated thru a sale of the company. Camera was okay while it worked, although I got better pictures from my old 6mp Kodak. Pictures seemed grainy and lacking in color definition, ie: they just seemed a little gray and lifeless. Didn't send it in for repair because of repair nightmare stories posted previously. I'm chalking it up to a learning experience. Buy another brand.

Bought one of these in April. It cost more but came with a rebate and color choices. Very happy with the camera. Have taken about 700 photos so far without a problem.

As much as I love a great deal, you guys sharing your knowledge and experiences with these products is so appreciated! Having recently moved, I don't need more "stuff." I do need a camera but, again, thanks to you, I will wait.

karlj182 wrote:Bought one of these in April for about $50 more. I got about 800 pictures out of it. When you zoom, the camera freezes, beeps a couple times and shuts off. Started out doing it intermittantly, now does it all the time. Paperwork that came with it says "Hoya Corporation Pentax" was renamed Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company LTD in 2011. I still have my old Pentax film SLR that has worked flawlessly for years, but I don't think this is the Pentax of old, just the name appropriated thru a sale of the company. Camera was okay while it worked, although I got better pictures from my old 6mp Kodak. Pictures seemed grainy and lacking in color definition, ie: they just seemed a little gray and lifeless. Didn't send it in for repair because of repair nightmare stories posted previously. I'm chalking it up to a learning experience. Buy another brand.

So, I already have a pretty nice Canon 50D, but have been looking for something in the point and shoot size.

Sometimes the 50D is just too big to bring along. I need something that's going to take pretty decent pictures in those scenarios when I need something small. Like a birthday party. Or a bike ride. Or to the beach. You know, places that you may want to have a camera, but don't want to lug a big DSLR along.

Is this going to work for me?

I understand the quality, and perhaps the colors won't be as good, but that's what Photoshop is for anyway.

I will say, that it would be nice to have a point and shoot that took good enough pictures so that I can just have them printed without any editing.

Thoughts?

baseballkurt wrote:I would stay away, I bought one on Woot about 4 months ago. It stopped working after three weeks and has been at the waranty center getting repaired for 11 weeks now. YES 11 WEEKS, not a joke. They should have sent me another camera as we missed many things over the summer. Just bought a Nikon as we are tired of waiting.

Nuff said....pass. X

No, digital cameras don't come with the SD card.

arthirad wrote:does it come with the SD card?

I bought one when it was $109.99 and it takes awesome pictures. Took it to Mt. Rushmore the clarity with the zoon is incredible. But it is really light - feels kind of cheap. As long as it holds up that is all that I care. I do get an odd message with one of my memory sticks from time to time that I don't get in my Canon camera. Also I have to say that the button to snap the picture is hyper-sensitive. One day it kept snapping pictures one after the next. Turns out it was on smile capture mode.

Sometimes it is the camera, generally if it's a cheap one. Most of the time the lag is caused by a slow card. You should always make sure that the camera will support a "class 10" card. You will be amazed at the difference. You can determine the class by looking at the number inside a circle on the front of the card.

Hope this helps!!

Secunza wrote:Anyone knows about the shutter lag in this camera?
I really hate when I have the perfect moment in front of me but my actual camera decides to take a break and make the shot when the moment is long gone.

steviethev03 wrote:So, I already have a pretty nice Canon 50D, but have been looking for something in the point and shoot size.

Sometimes the 50D is just too big to bring along. I need something that's going to take pretty decent pictures in those scenarios when I need something small. Like a birthday party. Or a bike ride. Or to the beach. You know, places that you may want to have a camera, but don't want to lug a big DSLR along.

Is this going to work for me?

I understand the quality, and perhaps the colors won't be as good, but that's what Photoshop is for anyway.

I will say, that it would be nice to have a point and shoot that took good enough pictures so that I can just have them printed without any editing.

Thoughts?

The scenes you are mentioning are pretty much what this class of camera was designed for! I think the only thing you will miss is there is no optical viewfinder. It's harder to compose an (outdoor) shot when you can't see the screen due to harsh sunlight. But, heck, it's a 90 buck camera.

It's time to start thinking of these cameras as a good temporary investment for a couple of years. That's only $45 a year to use it, then get some next generation that is even better.

With the rapid pace of improvement, I'm not sure a current $600 compact camera is a great investment.

If you are doing just standard shooting, this camera will be just fine. It's only the gym/action/low light types who need to invest more.

You'll spend more than this on chips and salsa in the next two years.

Eventually, camera progress may level off, but right now we are still in the early years. Buy something, shoot pictures, and enjoy!

vinylpvc wrote:As much as I love a great deal, you guys sharing your knowledge and experiences with these products is so appreciated! Having recently moved, I don't need more "stuff." I do need a camera but, again, thanks to you, I will wait.

All this bad mouthing about what you have bought from Woot and this camera. Why didn't you just send it back and get your money back and quit bad mouthing Woot. I've bought so much from them and if I've ever had a problem, and most of the time, the problem was mine not theirs they took the item back no problem. This is a great company and I hate all this talk about them selling bad products. You ought to shop some where else if you are so unhappy and quit bad mouthing this great company. I'm very sick and have limited funds and without Woot I wouldn't be able to purchase the items that I need and for my friends and family for special times. If your so unhappy go away and complain about someone else. I love this people. I bought this camera myself and so far I've had NO problems at all.

nothing good to say