Pentax Optio S12

Review summary: WHEN the light is right, the Pentax Optio S12 truly shines with its potential to take some beautiful pictures.

Pros: 130 grams, relatively crisp and clear photos, good colours

Cons: Noticeable lens distortion, some fringing in high-contrast areas

Verdict: Good picture quality and a very small size make the Optio S12 a great camera for parties, day trips or travelling overseas. It's well worth considering.

Review summary: Gary Wolstenholme was quite glad to receive this slinky little camera to review rather than the S12 he wa...

Pros: Great images in good light, Good colour reproduction, High quality build, Plenty of automatic settings to keep casual snappers happy, Green panic button for a quick reset to full auto

Cons: Conservative maximum sensitivity, Noise reduction destroys detail at high ISO, Occasional Mis-focus when using face detection

Verdict: For the money, the S12 is a very well featured, high quality compact that can yield great results. Images have great colour, and sharpness, with the bizarre choice of aperture in the landscape setting being the only caveat

Review summary: What do you get when you cram 12Mp and great battery life into a very tiny, very durable, and sublimely easy-to-use camera? You get the Pentax Optio S12, a solid competitor for the upper echelons of the point-and-shoot category.

Verdict: Despite these flaws, you could do a lot worse for £119. If you want a gazillion dedicated buttons and specialized functions, you'll have to look elsewhere. But if you're looking for a sturdy, toss-it-in-your-pocket camera that takes good (though not ...

Review summary: What do you get when you cram 12 megapixels and great battery life into a very tiny, very durable, and sublimely easy-to-use camera? You get the Pentax Optio S12, a solid competitor for the upper echelons of our Top 10 Point-and-Shoot Cameras chart. ...

Pros: Durable, very compact body Superior battery life

Cons: Limited manual capabilities No image stabilization

Verdict: Despite these flaws, you could do a lot worse for $230. If you want a gazillion dedicated buttons and specialized functions, you'll have to look elsewhere. But if you're looking for a sturdy, toss-it-in-your-pocket camera that takes good (though not ...