Seems like I can pick one of these up for a decent price, used. The s4i is
hard to find. The s5i, used, is a lot more expensive. It's a little bigger
than
the smallest optio, but not by a lot.
Anyone have one of these? Your opinion? Is another 4mp optio better?
I've had lots of opportunities to play with just about every Optio camera
for the last couple years (a while before the first S model came out,
anyway), and while I'm no expert, there are three definite things I can tell
you about them:
1. The lens used in the first few generations of the S series was awful,
especially at the corners. It improved over the years, but I was never
really happy with it. I'm not sure if the latest S cameras are using a new
version or not, but I personally wouldn't recommend a camera from that
series unless you wanted it solely for its small size.
2. The Optio 33WR and 43WR were two AMAZING cameras. Very rugged, can be
used underwater (regardless of what the manual says, just not very deep),
and incredibly good lenses. I sold a ton of the WR series cameras and never
once had a return. In fact, once they got over the odd shape of the camera,
the majority of my customers were very happy with the results they got. One
of my customers took his 43WR with him to Iraq during his two tours, and
came back with better pictures from that than from his Canon 10D. As an
added plus, he didn't have to worry about dust or other extreme conditions
harming his WR. If you can find a 43WR, I would HIGHLY recommend it. I
should have bought one myself.
3. If you can't find the WR, then the Optio WP is the next best thing.
Smaller, more zoom, better screen, faster performance, and is even more
rugged and waterproof than the WR. The ONLY thing that I don't like about
it is its use of the little S-series Lithium Ion battery. It does last a
relatively long time in this camera, but I'm a big fan of lithium CRV3 and
NiMH AA batteries. But that's my only criticism for the WP. Fantastic
little camera. I hope to buy one eventually.
Hope this helps!
John Celio
--
http://www.neovenator.com
AIM: Neopifex
"Hey, I'm an artist. I can do whatever I want and pretend I'm making a
statement."
