Pentax X90 Digital Camera - Metallic Blue (12MP, 26x Optical Zoom) 2.7 inch LCD

We had spent a long time checking out cameras as our old point and click was dying slowly ... I had finally settled on Panasonic's similar one to this: loads of excellent reviews and obviously well-used by a large number of people. In fact I had virtually ignored this particular camera as there was only a small handful of reviews ... hence I'm writing this to boost the numbers as the world needs to know how good it is!!
The Pentax X90 is amazing! We are pretty hopeless knowing SLR type manual settings, but the automatic settings plus the huge range of various possible modes where you need a little extra help, (sunsets, night time, sports etc) are wonderful. We can't believe some of the shots we've taken - needless to say our favourites are the incredible telephoto ones (clear in spite of wobbly hands due to the Shake Reduction function - even without a tripod most of the time) and also the macro shots that show such detail ... not sure I always want to see insects like that!
Frankly, we are amazed at the great pictures we are getting with little effort. The other thing is that we are looking at our world differently now - looking for new angles, interesting views, plants and insects that we wouldn't normally look at. The zoom is simply phenomenal. We have an excellent pair of binoculars, but the Pentax zoom is even better than these as, short of using a tripod, the binoculars are always shaking at long distances - we can take a photo and, Abracadabra, the photos is solid and un-blurred! Neat!
Light and easy to carry - not sure how robust it is as we've only had it 6 weeks and we've been treating it very, very gently - never had a camera as good as this!

I have used Canon cameras for quite a long time and when my son decided that he needed to "borrow" my Canon supershot I looked around to see what I could replace it with. All the cameras in that range seemed to have dispensed with the view finder, something which I find invaluable in framing a picture. I looked at the Pentax X90 and liked what I saw.
I have had this camera for some six weeks now and overall I am very happy with it. Battery life is good, lasting for just under 300 frames of fine standard. The quality of images produced is excellent,sharp and clear.The range of options within the menu is staggering. My only gripe is that the zoom facility does not allow you to zoom back if you need to without going all the way and then having to re frame to get the image you want. It would be better if you could go partially back to change rather than going the whole hog!!
Overall I would recommend this camera despite not being too sure about the colour!!

It does what it promised. I purchased it for my wife who is the family photographer. She finds it simple to use and it produces excellent family photos.