28-90mm P&S: Pentax vs Rollie

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I have decided for a 28-90mm P&S, and am deciding between the Pantax 928 (and 928M) and the Rollie Prego 90.

Functionalities seem fairly simliar between them.

Rollie: f/3.7-10.2, shutter speed, 1/3-1/400. Bulky.

Pentax 928: f/3.5-9, 1/5-1/400 Blukier than the 928M.

The 928M is smaller and lighter, but with a slower lens, f/4.8-10.9 and slower shutter speed highest is 1/300 sec.

Tending to favour Pentax 928M, but unsure if I am sacrificing too much by getting the f/4.8 (as opposed to 3.5 or 3.7) for the more compact body. What is the impact of the smaller f?

And are there any other considerations?

Cheers Mark

-- Mark Huang (mark_genevieve@yahoo.com), June 13, 2000

Answers

I wouldn't worry about the slight difference in aperture wide open. They're all fairly slow anyway. At the long end they're even worse. The small mazimum apertures when zoomed long makes them essentially useless for all but the brightest light.

As with any camera, buy the one that feels best in your hands and works the way you want it to work. You're going to miss the shot if you're fumbling around with the camera trying to remember how to set a specific function.

None of these cameras is going to take as a sharp a photo as a 35mm SLR. What you're buying here is convenience, so get the one that is most convenient for you.

-- Darron Spohn (dspohn@photobitstream.com), June 14, 2000.


I own a Pentax IQ 928. I love it except for two gripes; it lacks a flash output reduction at close focus distances (which for instance the Minolta FZE 28-70 has) and so it tends to burn-out subjects close- up. Note that this is a real problem as you would probably always have ISO 400 or so film in it (to offset the lens speed). The other thing is the lack of an auto speed below 1/3 sec. It has an absolutely fantastic control layout and is beautifully built. I recently used my Aunt's 928M. I was absolutely amazed by the size (same as my Yashica T-4) as well as how absolutely QUIET it's operation is (compared to anything P&S I have ever used). Though a stop slower, and it has a Passive rather than Active AF, it retains the great control layout and has a great size so I would suggest you look at it. (It also has auto speeds down to ~3 sec). I have seen the Rollei and it has the most confusing controls and is pretty large. You should also consider the Oly Stylus 80W (28-80) which is also weatherproof and has spot metering and the just released Canon Z90W, which should also be great.

-- Salman Akhtar (salmanakhtar@juno.com), August 26, 2000.

Rollie is my 1st choice in this case, since the most important part of a camera is the len. The quality of the Rollie len is better than that of the Pentax.

-- Thomas CHAN (thomaschan1102@hotmail.com), June 27, 2002.

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