Daddy just got his Pentax Optio 750Z. No, it's not a Japanese sports car, but it's just as fun and the ladies luv it!
I may be the first on the block to own one, but I won't be the last. Yup, it's truly Daddy's Special Day (tm).
First impressions are even before turning it on as I had 3 hours to wait for the battery to charge...
I purchased from Newegg.com. $559 and $107 for a 1GB SD memory card. $7 shipping. Free towel!?! Shipped quickly, no problems, arrived early via Fedex.
So, bergummits, this camera is small.... Smaller than I remember! It's 1" narrower and 1" thinner than my current camera and the same height, and 8.75oz vs. 13oz (i.e. the old Kodak is ~50% heavier).
Size wise, if you put it in your pocket, people won't be making "You're happy to see me" jokes...
Case is a satin metal finish. Well, it feels and looks like metal, but it's impossible to tell these days. Actually, it's a bit of both. The lid that opens to the battery/SD card compartment is definitely plastic, although it still looks like satin aluminum on the outside. The main housing does appear thin metal. The housing of the Swivel LCD is plastic.
The 4-way menu wheel feels decently responsive and easy to use (unlike my Nokia 3650 cell phone 4-way which is a friggin' joke. There's a button in the middle of the wheel, and all buttons are definitely on the smallish side, but feel solid and not loose.
Mind you, there are probably a lot of advances you modern digital camera owners already have that I'm just getting after 3 1/2 years of suffering... Like, oh, a shutter lid that closes over the lens to protect it and a display that swivels and can be inverted to protect it.
I mean, wow... Even better, it looks retro and unassuming. I love that.
Anyway, I've just got it turned on and it's complicated, muy complicated if I want to do anything but use the auto mode. I mean, it has a picture mode called "Fireworks." That's cool. And "Food." How weird is that? It allows you to take good pictures of, you guessed it, prepared foods.
Pictures and a formal usage review coming up tomorrow.
Posted by BilFish at September 21, 2004 05:04 AM