Pentax Optio S40 Digital Camera [4mp 3x Optical]

This product "is" desirable. I bought it on a whim when in Argos one Sunday afternoon for £149.99 and I snapped it up knowing the stock wouldn't last long at that price. (September 2004)

My first reaction upon taking it out of its box was, it looked nice, felt nice to the touch (even if the metal shell is actually just a veneer stuck on a silver plastic shell) and it does fit nicely in virtually any pocket (apart from a condom pocket perhaps).

It takes the cheapest small form flash cards available (MMC and SD) and it has 4 million of those pixel things. What more could you ask for in a camera that is almost made for taking to the pub?

Well, number one for me would be a camera that can manage to take decent photographs in low light. And by low light I mean anything that isn't lit by direct sunlight.

I first noticed the noise problem when I was browsing pictures using the camera's LCD display, but put it down to the resolution of the screen. The pictures had been taken in a well lit room on a lazy Sunday afternoon, with the sun low and bright. I altered the camera to take its highest resolution picture with its lowest form of compression but the noise was still there in darker areas. It wasn't like JPEG noise either. It appeared like the sort of effect the uniform noise filter in Photoshop can produce, usually used to distress retouched photographs to match composited material from older, poorer quality sources. Not a great quality to have in a 4million pixel photograph that is first generation.

It also has a hard time focusing quickly and sharply. It does have a manual focus, which is nice, but most situations requiring snaps shouldn't require you to manually adjust the focus when the camera is already set to portrait mode and your subject is 3 foot away.

The camera's own memory is also painfully slow. I cannot vouch for how quickly images can be saved to a fast SD card as the one I ordered arrived after I took the camera back to Argos, but it can take up to 6 seconds for the camera to return back to shooting mode after a shot has been taken. This is largely down to the long charge time the flash requires, but the size of the images taken also has an impact.

On the plus side, the camera looks great, has 3x optical zoom (I never count digital zoom), takes standard AA batteries and is easy to use. Despite the close proximity of the flash to the lens, the red eye reduction is very good, being almost absent when using the red eye flash. Using this does make the camera take longer to charge up for the next shot though, so be warned. It treated skin tone well too, not making faces appear flushed or patchy, like cheaper, older digital cameras do.

If you are looking for a quick point and squirt then this camera may suit your needs. If you are a bit more discerning then the niggles that I had with the camera will quickly become bugbears for you and you will be looking to upgrade in less than a years time.

Oh, and the reason I finally took the camera back to Argos? There were 6 dead pixels on the lower outside edge of the CCD that glowed white when the shot was taken in low light. They don't usually accept digital cameras back, but they can't argue if the product is faulty.

I'm a picky customer, especially with imaging kit, as I work professionally with colour printing and Photoshop. I would probably be inclined to give the camera 4 stars if it wasn't for this fact, so if you are looking for a starter camera to get yourself on the digital ladder, you could do a lot worse. Just make sure you shop around first and find a high street shop somewhere that will let you try a few out for yourself first.

The only niggle(s) I have is that it's pretty hopeless when trying to take a picture at night time - the focussing is pretty poor and the pictures end up very blurry. I would recommend you stock up on the AA batteries if you're planning to take this on holiday with you. I took it to Paris at New Year and couldn't believe the amount of batteries it went through in the space of 4-days.

It would also be a good idea to buy a memory card as the camera's memory seemed to fill up very quickly.

The record facility on the camera is a nice touch and lets you use the camera like a video-camera complete with sound. I also like the different colour filters (inc. black & white and sepia options).

This is my first digital camera and it serves it purpose well enough (holiday snapshots, nights out, parties etc.) but if you are serious about your photography then it's not for you.