I've had this little gem for a year now and use it daily. The size of the camera and the quality of the pictures makes it the best investment I've ever made in a camera. I have tried other larger, more technical digitals in the past few months, thinking I would like to upgrade my little Optio, but always come back to my faithful little friend. It goes everywhere I go, weddings, outdoor shots, even my son's rollerblade competitions and I've never been disappointed. It's so easy to use, I've had no problem with the battery life as long as I keep my eye on the LCD and it shows me when it's getting low on energy. It doesn't take that long to recharge...just a matter of my knowing when.
The only thing I wish it had was more optical zoom.

This camera is small, light and easy to take along anywhere. The 4m pixel resolution is plenty for your average amateur photographer to take snapshots on vacation or when out with friends. I've printed out many photos taken with this camera and they come out sharp. It may just be the printing process, but the prints come out with better colors from this camera than they did with my film camera.

Just got this camera about a week ago. Love it!! Small, sleek, fits almost anywhere (including in an Altoids can). The picture quality is amazing and the colors are vibrant. The battery lasts much longer than I had anticipated. The camera is ready to take a picture a second after being turned on, which sadly was not the case with my bulky Kodak DX3500. The Optio is so easy to use, you almost don't need the manual it comes with. The only complaint is from my fiance -- he has rather large hands, and he sometimes has problems hitting the right button because of the buttons being so small. All in all, I would recommend the Optio S4 to anyone interested in a high quality, compact digital camera.

Great pictures and small size make this the coolest around. Have had it for a year now and had no problems with it. Outstanding battery life and great screen. Buy this camera

I have had this camera for 2 months now and I am very pleased with it. I first could not believe how Pentax put in a 4.0 mp in such a small size. It is unbelievably small! It is the smallest digital camera out there. Zoom is great. People who broke this camera simply did not handle it carefully enough. You get the best bang for the buck- cheaper than many of 4.0 mp digi cams out there on the top of Pentax rebate- I got the check in the mail in about 8 weeks. Picture quality is great. It also has amazingly many features such as sound/video recording, 3D photo, and multi-colored photos. If you want a small, compact, point and shoot camera, this is the choice.

I bought this camera because I was looking to replace my small, point-and-shoot film camera.

The Optio has been a great replacement, giving decent image quality in a very small form factor.

The interface is solid and relatively easy to use. My only complaint is that the power button and the shutter release seem to be switched around -- the power button is often pressed by people that have never used the camera when they mean to take a picture.

Overall, I am very happy with this camera.

So I figure I might as well give my thoughts on it. I don't have much to compare it too, but I really appreciate this camera, and I continue to feel, looking back, that this was a great buy.

Firstly, I used to play with the white balance, and could never get it right, but my wife discovered the easy mode on the camera, and ever since, I've had only great color. I have no complaints at all about color, resolution, etc. I find the quality much better than film cameras, and that's all I needed.

At first, the battery life was great, but after about a year and a half, it started to go. By now, I get like 60 pictures on a battery.

The one thing that annoys me is the occasional lag between when I press the button and when the camera snaps the picture. I think this is normal of digital cameras, but I can't help being annoyed by it. Fortunately, it's not too bad, and doesn't happen all the time.

Of course, size is great. I got a leather case for it, and stick it in my pocket.

The camera seems to work like new. I had no problems with it at all, which is of course nice.

All in all, very happy with it.

Bruce

I had the very first Optio S, and I could not find many things about it to improve upon, except for the battery door hinge, less barrel distortion, and more megapixels. Well, the next generation Optio's have 4, 5, and 6 megapixels, so take your pick. The biggest selling point for me has always been the size. These cameras fill niches that a bigger camera frequently cannot. It is ideally suited for street photography, travel, candids, and snapshots.

The Optio S line is tiny and inconspicuous. Your subjects won't often realize that you have a camera in hand. The Optio S4 fits inside an Altoids tin just like the first model, and it should always be that way. I would like for them to make an even smaller camera. An average-sized hand can conceal it quite nicely. I love the picture quality, even though there is barrel distortion and vignetting, but the kind of photography that I pursue often benefits from it. If I want to do architecturals and mural-sized landscapes, my medium-format camera or 4x5 view camera is what I use. Like I said, the Optio S fills a certain photographic niche, just as a large-format technical camera would for architectural photography. And like all cameras, this one won't make you a better photographer; that takes STUDY and PRACTICE.

If there was any other camera that came before the Optio S; that comes closest to it in terms of character, rendering style and other intangibles, I would say it was the Pentax K-1000. If you know anything about the K-1000's cult-like following, you would know what I mean. It's like the K-1000 was reborn as the Optio S. The Optio S is the digital K-1000.

As an owner of an older model, I had been very pleased with the camera, particularly its small size (and perfect fit in a mint tin). However, with the S4 I was very disappointed with the shot to shot time. Especially for flash pictures, the picture button must be held down for a full 4 to 5 seconds to take a picture. Reviewing pictures is also slow - there is a 3 to 4 second pause between each picture when reviewing them on the camera. After using it for a year and being very pleased with all other features of the camera, this drawback alone has gotten annoying enough to want to get a different brand. According to the Optio, the delay is a result of slower processing speed within the camera. So if I was buying again, I would go with a different model of Optio with a better processing time, or check out a different brand.