The good and bad

Author's Rating:

Pros: solid, excellent picture quality, settings

Cons: a little slow

Author's Review
I got this camera as a gift. I had intended to buy an SLR for the manual control and image quality but since I got this camera I kept it and did without the SLR. It is VERY solidly built, much moreso than most compact point and shoot cameras I've seen. The controls are very ergonomic and tactile feel on the buttons is excellent. It feels like a high quality machine. The zoom and optical quality of the lens is excellent. The single wheel on the back provides preset shooting parameters which are ones you would most commonly set yourself anyway on an SLR. In other words, you can get the camera to use a slower or faster shutter speed or control the aperture by choosing the appropriate dial position. Very nice for a point and shoot! Pictures I have taken with this camera have outshone pictures I took with my old Pentax K1000 SLR and constantly get praised. My conclusion is that this camera offers the opportunity to take EXCELLENT pictures. But, like with any point and shoot you give up control of exposure level, aperture etc. If you are ok with that but still want top of the line image quality, this camera is tops. The downside is that this is not a professional camera. You have limited artistic control. There is a lag between the time you press the button and the shutter click. The autofocus takes a second or two to acquire a lock. These are not problems which are uncommon with other point and shoot. Be aware of how the camera works and your pictures will come out great too.