Pentax Compact Cameras

[Ben Jennings]

Hi all,

I have been looking around for a little cheap compact that I can shove in my bag/pocket for those times when I DSLR and lenses are appropriate. I stumbled on some cheap Pentax compacts and was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with them, or can recommend any other really cheap compacts.

The models that caught my eye are

RS1000

And because they look cool/retro

H90
I-10

All are under £50, not particularly feature rich but will do the job. All seem to be the same spec more or less.

I just wondered what peoples thoughts were or can offer up some other recommendations.

Cheers

 

[Hamish Gill]

hmmm pentax compact cameras .... .... .......

pass

have a look around the fuji referb shop

an example
Refurbished FinePix Z300, Advanced, Touch Screen, Compact Digital Camera from Fujifilm UK | The Fuji Shop

can be had cheaper with discount code P10FEB15 or P258BTCC467

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in fact, with that discount code you can get a refurbed xpro1 for £809

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http://shop.fujifilm.co.uk/finepix-f300exr-black-refurbished.html
£70 with discount

 

[Ben Jennings]

Well, I threw caution into the wind (and £20) and got hold of a Pentax Optio RS1000 off ebay, it's arrived and I've had a little play. It's not the best camera by any means but is it worth £20, yeah I don't see why not.
Has a couple of features which I like, where you can shoot at a chosen ISO in any mode not just Program. It tells you when you are going to under expose too which is nice. It doesn't have aperture control or shutter but it does pop up and tell you what values it is using which is nice of them.
The screen on the back when viewing images is a little fish eye but when you load the photo's on PC they aren't which is a bit odd. Also the quality of the screen is naff, makes any photo you take look horrible but the actual images aren't bad when viewed on PC.
The battery compartment likes to spring open when fishing it in and out of your pocket, which wouldn't be a major problem except for the fact that once you load a memory card in there in no "catch" to hold the card in place ( you know when you push it in and it springs in to a locked position and push it again to release it), so when the battery compartment opens the memory card instantly pushes itself out a few mm. Nothing that can't be sorted with a bit of tape tho.
Focusing on it isn't great, its quick but the display is a little vague with what point it actually is focusing on. Cue a few soft images.
Another nice feature is you can assign what control you want on the "green" button on the back, I have it set to ISO control but you can also have it set to EV Compensation and recorded pixels.
Its also the same size and shape as a pack of 20 cigarettes, almost exactly.
There are many many different shooting modes on it which I have yet to play with, and supposedly its 14 megapixels although the noise does seem a little high when doing this, so may have to reduce that down to see if that makes any difference either way.
But on the whole at £20 I can't complain, it'll do for chucking in my work bag or pocket as an emergency camera, and should keep me going until I can afford something a little better like the Sony RX100 or Fuji XF1.
I'll try and upload so images tonight from it if I can.

 

[Ben Jennings]

Here are three shots done with the RS1000 (or ARSE1000)

 

[Hamish Gill]

Jacob looks suitably unimpressed ...
"I point my arse at you, not the other way round" ... Maybe ...
"What creates more noise, my arse or yours"

anyway, is it better than your iPhone ... That's all that matters, it looks pretty good for £20!!

 

[Ben Jennings]

It's better than the eyeFone but we will see how it performs over a longer period of time to see if it's definitely worth hanging on to. It's doing ok so far, obviously it would be nicer if I could have a bit more manual control over the camera and larger apertures would be nicer too. But like you say, for £20 it certainly does very well. Hopefully I will get to upgrade to something a little more powerful sometime soon, if funds become available. My dad turned up at my house with a Sony RX100 the other day and I was green with envy. The joys of being nearly retired I guess.