Home > Consumer Reviews > Pentax Optio S12 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Black)

First off: I am hardly a professional photographer,but I have been taking pictures for 45 years. So my review will not be full of technical stuff.
I gave up film cameras quite a while ago.My first digicam was a whopping 1.3mps,which I thought was astounding.I gradually progressed up to the point where I have this little gem,all 12MP's of it. I am using it as a replacement for a small,but hard-working Nikon P&S.Not a replacement,more of an addition...but I didn't want to carry a really expensive camera on my motorcycle,or when I take the menagerie to the dog park,so I use the Nikon for those things,and this Pentax for everything else.
It takes wonderful photos.It's very intuitive,and if you have ever used a typical P&S camera,you will catch up to this one in a few shoots.It takes good shots in any kind of outdoor lighting,and indoors as well.The clarity of each shot is great.Close-ups of my animals are especially good.I can see every whisker and the evil glistening in their eyes as they plot yet another way to create havoc in my house.I took one of my parrot,who hates cameras,and the "pinning" of his eyes was caught in all its maniacal glory.
I am going to use this tiny thing for a long time.It is extremely tiny,but that makes it more useable.Pocket-size is great for a P&S.I haven't noticed any unusual color problems.
All in all,it's a great camera,and I am quite happy with my purchase.

13Feb09 Update: The camera is still working beautifully.And,now I have purchased my very first d-SLR,a Pentax,of course.Together,these two cameras will cover just about any situation I might find myself in,photo-ready.Pentax optics are still astounding.I am old-school film camera,and had Pentax cameras in different formats.I am so glad to see that people are still appreciating the work Pentax puts into their cameras and lenses.

I would like to say that this is the best camera that I have ever had. Excellent quality of the pictures, simple menu, too many options, small size and so on. I had a Sony Cybershot and I was extremly disappointed from them. So bad camera, bad quality of the pictures,problem with the batteries and so on... Highly recommend Pentax brand and especially this camera!!!

I bought this camera for my wife's birthday present (Dec. 15). She is "electronicly challenged", but it is so easy for her to use. The pictures are so clear. I am sure there are better cameras out there, but I don't think you'll beat this one for the price. I am more than pleased, I am ecstatic. You would have to know my wife to appreciate this review!

Camera is easy to operate and fun to use. When my wife saw it she started using it and likes if better than her large big name camera and I have to fight her to get to use it.

For its small size it has a lot of features that normally are only found on larger more expensive cameras. I have owned Pentax cameras since Viet Nam and they usually match up nicely with most of the more well known brands.

Would purchase this camera again today!

I agree with the first four reviewers of this camera who all gave it top marks. I have owned a 35mm Pentax for years and still prefer it for some types of photography. I bought this Pentax digital just to get some experience with digital. I am very impressed. Operation is relatively easy to figure out and the pictures came out very clear just using the automatic settings. As I learn how to use the camera I think my results will get even better. I shied away from some of the other brands like Sony and Canon because of some of the bad reviews I read here at Amazon. I think anyone who buys and uses this camera will be well pleased.