Years ago on an AHQ tour to California, we were introduced to digital photography by our buds the Denton Brothers via their Sony Mavica FD91. We thought it was so cool we went home and bought one just like it!

These were great cameras in their day. Low resolution, but a monster optical zoom and floppy disk film!

Then when I moved away I didn’t have access to a digicam anymore, so I bought one. One thing I got tired of with the old Mavica was its size, it was enormous. My boss in at the computer lab (I worked at LBCC at the time) had recently purchased a Pentax Optio S, and that sucker was so small it fit into an Altoids tin! And she was really happy with it. I liked the looks of it, so I bought one on eBay.

The next model had come out by then, the Optio S40 (4 mega-pixel), but the Optio S (3.2 mega-pixel) was cheaper.

And it is a fantastic little camera. Very small, you can slip it into a pocket and not be bothered by it at all. It performs very well and has a lot of great features. One drawback is the small 3x optical zoom, that’s not much. It has 11MB of onboard memory, and I got a 256MB SD card with it so I have plenty of “film.” I don’t think I’ve ever come close to filling up the card. Got a spare battrey (NOT a misspelling) too, and a nice case. The benefits of buying used on eBay!

If you’re interested in an in-depth review, there is one here.

By now the next model is out, the Optio S5i (link at right). Same size and stuff but this baby is 5 mega-pixel!

These are great little cameras. It’s a given that you need a digicam, and if you want a compact model the Optio S is a great place to start.

As I said, I bought mine on eBay, another great place to get new or used cameras is Amazon.