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Summary: DO NOT BUY PENTAX
Review: Do not buy pentax - products are poorly made and the customer service is terrible - Play it safe buy anything but Pentax
Rating: 
Summary: After lengthy research, I bought two...
Review: Each of my three 20+ year old children now own a Pentax ultra-compact. My oldest was the first to discover the convenience and quality of the Pentax Optio series and I bought them an Optio S as a gift. The new Optio S4i provides the same compact convenient size and 3X optical zoom with the improvement of a larger display and 4MP, along with the convenience of a docking charger. I just bought one for each of the other two as gifts. I believe the total cost of ownership to be extremely competitive due to some unique features: The included docking charger means that most users will not need an extra battery, as the included battery stays charged; An Altoids tin really is a cheap, convenient and inconspicuous case that fits easily in purse or pocket; A 512MB memory card can be purchased for under $40, providing more than enough photo storage for most users. So, when you add the cost of the S4i and a memory card, and then compare it to the costs of an different camera that requires purchase of additional (re-chargeable) batteries, a battery charger, a memory card to replace the 16 MB card that came with the camera, and a case to carry it all, I estimate the Optio S4i to be $100 to $150 less expensive overall than comparable cameras.
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Summary: Perfect Little Camera
Review: Everyone has different Camera needs.....We started with a Nikon 995 (that we have had since it came out).
** My wife wanted a purseable camera. She wanted a Large screen and for it to be easy to use for good photos. I wanted it to take good pictures, have a real Macro mode (around 2 inches), remote (a $30 option) + video out (for family portraits), Manual focus, good low light focusing, and to be a fast shooter, Tripod Mount and a good battety life. This Pentax Optio S4i does all this and more and it is incrediably easy to operate. Not just the basics, even the more advanced features. I considered its almost twin the Casio Exilim EX-Z40 (same lens)but worse menus, (Casio has No remote option or video out), but it has a 2 inch sreen instead of 1.8 (both screens are same Resolution though) the casio does have an almost double life battery that so far is not available separtely for eihter camera (the two take the same batteries). Basically the Batteries last about 300 shots, the old around 150 (710ms vs. 1230mA [the battery model #s are D-LI8 and NP-40] Addiitonal and OEM and third party ones are $18 to $40). If it matters pentax is actually also smaller then casio about 2/3 the size. Also considered Sony T1, and all Minolta's Dimage X/t/i/g and of course Canon's Elph series. For me they were all lacking a feature or two or three+ (Be it Macro, Tripod mounts, remotes or more). You can go to reads reviews on dcviews.com (a meta site for news and other review and news sites). As I write this the Casio is reviewed the Pentax has not been. What could they have added still: 1) (a tiff/raw image mode) 2) An AF Lamp always helps even though this camera focuses 10 times better in low light then my Nikon.
Rating: 
Summary: Optio S4i Trial
Review: Hi, I just tried out the S4i and have to say I'm disappointed with it. I was really excited due to the size and small lag time. I did a comparison of the s4i and my existing Canon S400 and the Canon wins with no question. The image quality of my Canon is much brighter and sharper than any of the images on the S4i. Couple of other things I don't like about the S4i. The USB Cable isn't a standard size. Why? Also, you need to load the specific USB software to get XP to "See the USB Storage Device". It should show up as a camera. I didn't have this problem with the Canon s400. This is Pentax's way to get the consumer from returning it once they've tried it. All stores say that you can't return it once the software's open. When I opened my camera the software was already opened so I'm sure I'll have fun returning this. I would go the the S400 or better for brighter and sharper pictures without the fuss and software. Good Luck
Rating: 
Summary: This one's a keeper
Review: I bought the Optio S4i because it's well reviewed and I like the idea of a camera so small I can take it anywhere without thinking about it. I began to have some second thoughts after I started using it, though.
Pros:
* Ultra-small and lightweight. Goes anywhere!
* Easy to use
* Fairly intuitive menus
* Fast, very little shutter lag
* Pretty good picture quality, overall
* Sturdily built
* LCD screen is big and bright
Cons:
* It's almost TOO small -- a little hard to get your hands on.
* Some barrel distortion is noticeable
* Flimsy little rubber cover over PC/AV port
* In very low-light conditions, both viewfinder and LCD become unusable
After a week of playing with the Optio, I decided to buy a Kodak DX7440 for comparison, and spent a week trying them side by side. The Kodak is considerably better ergonomically because it's bigger and fits in my hand better, has a more powerful flash, shows less barrel distortion, offers many more scene selections and manual override controls, and its menus are (amazingly) even easier to use than the Optio. The Kodak cameras are often praised in reviews for their picture quality. But I actually found the Optio's pictures better than the Kodak's in most cases. The Kodak produced rather garish, unnatural-looking colors, whereas the Optio seemed to render colors more naturally and realistically. And although I like the feel of the Kodak in my hand, in the end I decided that its relative bulk would make it a lot less likely that I would actually carry it around and use it.
Bottom line: I'm returning the Kodak and keeping the Optio S4i.
For a go-anywhere, easy-to-use, point-and-shoot camera, it's great!
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Summary: Great vacation camera
Review: I bought this camera to take on vacation to New Zealand. Its very easy to use. Having never used many cameras before, I was able to figure out my way around this camera, its modes, and even began messing with exposure times. The image quality is exceptional, especially for a camera that is so small and light that I sometimes forgot I had it strapped to my belt.
The battery life was quite good. I was able to take a couple hundred pictures with flash and display on before having to recharge.
A couple of things to note, though. The battery life indicator isn't very accurate. When the battery started draining fairly low, I'd power on the camera and sometimes it would show that it was fully charged, sometimes it would show that it was about to lose power alltogether.
Also, don't plan on taking either action or night shots with this camera. The shutter delay (time between pushing the button and it taking the picture) was long enough that I missed taking a few shots that I really wanted. (ie, a whale's tail as it was diving). For night shots, there is a lot of noise on the images, and objects tend to blur a little. (lacking detail on faces/etc)
That aside, I'd still recommend it for point-and-shoot users that want a record of their vacation. For the price and size, I couldn't be happier.
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Summary: Nice camera until you need service
Review: I enjoyed this camera for several weeks. Photos are good and it is small. However, it stopped working suddenly and I sent it in for service. After four weeks, it was returned to me with a handwritten note simply stating "battery needs charging". Of course, the camera still did not work. Stick with Sony or some other more reliable manufacturer. Also one of the downsides of dealing with an internet retailer----no one to talk to about the problem.
Rating: 
Summary: It was the best camera I ever had until the sand...
Review: I got a Pentax Optios S4i camera last Christmas from Amazon and it worked really well until this summer. First day on the beach, I started taking pictures of my daughter, when suddenly the camera stopped responding. There was some wind and despite my precautions some sand must have gone inside the zoom mechanism. By zooming in and out and then trying to turn off the camera a sand grain cracked the zoom and then entered in the lenses, blocking them. The result was the camera didn't work anymore. All my picture went blank, overexposed.
I called Pentax and was told that a digital camera is like a computer and shouldn't be taken to the beach. That sound really wrong to me, and in any event, the lenses part broke, not the "computer" part.
You can imagine, though, that few people would buy this digital camera if they knew they could not take photos at the seashore. I never read anywhere that sand damages are not covered by the warranty. I went to the Pentax Optios web page and first thing I saw was a picture of a kid with his dad playing on the beach. I found this totally misleading since people at Pentax told me if I wanted to bring the camera to the beach I should have bought a different camera possibly sand proof.
Despite my complains to get my camera fixed I had to pay 110$. Actually 105$, I got 5$ discount because of the phone call.
I'm stuck with this camera. I had a digital Sony before and never had problems with sand or dirt. This one is just too fragile. I will no recommend anybody to buy it, unless they plan only to take pictures of interiors.
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Summary: not perfect but very good !!!
Review: I have the camera now a few weeks and I can say it is great!!! is small fits in every pocket !!! very good pictures i mean for digi cam ! if U want the best and the perfect pictures then U have to buy the pentax SLR ZX-7!!! nobody has to forgett this is a digital camera and a friend has the new sony with 5 mega pixel and these camera make not better pictures!!! i can say I'm very happy with the s4i !!! I would buy again!!!
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Summary: Want simple and compact? Go Optio!
Review: I have the Canon Digital Rebel SLR for use in all of my performance shots. However it's terrible for vacations where hiking, biking, or activites are involved. In comes the Optio. #1 on my feature list when looking for a second camera was size. The Optio will fit in a tin of Altoids. Second I wanted a good lens, optical and digital zoom, and simple menu navigation. Check, check, check. I was also surprised to find that the Optio had an LCD screen that rivals some of the larger SLR camera's. This camera is absolutely perfect for the activities that I take it on. You won't be dissapointed.
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