Pentax Optio SV 5MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: This camera is amazing
Review: I've had SLRs for years and know enough to want and use the manual aspects of such cameras for the unique pictures you can capture once in a while. I wanted the same capabilities in my first digital camera. But I also wanted convenience, compact size, and a reasonable telephoto lens. Quite simply, this camera has it all. Its fully automated, night-time, and sunset modes take the most stunning pictures with a simple push of the button (get a mini tripod for the night and sunset pics). The panorama and movie mode (with sound) makes my SLR obsolete. I bought an extra battery but with charging each night, I never needed it on vacation. I bought a 1gig memory card and after 9 days on vacation, 181 pictures at full resolution, and 2 minutes of movie, it still had room for over 600 more pictures (i.e., 1 gig was not neccessary). The only disappointment is that there is a delay while taking and after taking a picture. The 5x optical zoom adds more calculation time to the auto focus and there is another small delay while it writes each picture to memory (SLR users will find this delay frustrating but I got used to it quickly). I believe this is still the smallest 5x optical zoom on the market. It's a bit pricey, but if you can afford it, you get it all in one compact camera.

Rating:
Summary: Shutter Lag
Review: There is so much shutter lag in this camera that any kind of action shot is just pure luck. Specifications never publish this kind of measurement, but I'm sure the lag time is at least 1.3 seconds. I also have the Optio S and this thing is five times as bad. I'm writing this reveiw while on vacation in Cozumel and I put the Optio SV back in my bag and will finish my vacation using the Optio S.