Pentax Optio RS1500

Reviews say the Pentax Optio RS1500 has one key advantage over its budget-priced rivals: It lets users personalize the camera's appearance with swappable faceplates. You can either create your own design via Pentax's website or use one of the 10 pre-designed skins bundled with the camera, though Matt Grayson at PhotographyBlog.com says "it would be nice if the skins were made out of better material such as card or thin plastic" instead of paper, which he considers less durable.

It's also worth noting that the DC Super Heroes kit featuring Batman, Superman and the Green Lantern is not available in the U.S. Otherwise, the 14-megapixel RS1500 sports identical specifications to its discontinued RS1000 predecessor, including a 4x optical zoom lens (27.5 mm to 110 mm for wide-angle coverage), a 3-inch LCD screen and 720p HD video. Unlike the RS1000, the RS1500 uses snap-on faceplates rather than screws and offers two interchangeable lens rings to further expand customization options.

Measuring 3.6 inches wide and weighing 3.9 ounces, the RS1500 easily tucks into a shirt pocket. But Jonathan Parkyn at CNET's British site says the camera's "build quality isn't its best point" with a plastic, boxy design that "just doesn't feel terribly sturdy." The 230,000-dot LCD panel also gets dinged for poor viewing angles. However, Howard Creech at DigitalCameraReview.com finds the RS1500's simplified menu easy to navigate and says that while the camera is aimed at young users, anyone with poor vision will like the large font and big icons.

Critics also say that despite the RS1500's budget price, it produces surprisingly vibrant images at low ISO levels, though some tests reveal barrel distortion at the wide-angle end of the zoom range. Video performance also rates well but you can't zoom while recording and unlike the more expensive Nikon Coolpix L110 , you can't hook it up to an HDTV to watch movies.

Comprehensive professional reviews of the Pentax Optio RS1500 are found at TechRadar.com, CNET UK, DigitalCameraReview.com, Pocket-Lint.com, StevesDigicams.com and PhotographyBlog.com, which all include sample photos. No user reviews of the RS1500 were posted at the time of this report.