A Winner!

This engineering marvel is amazingly small yet capable of big things. As I unpacked the box I felt like I had come into possession of a precious jewel - seriously! Slipping it out of its protective plastic bag, I was impressed by the quality look and feel of the case and its various buttons and controls.

The SL300R really is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket although I wouldn't recommend carrying it that way for fear of it falling out if you bend over. A pants pocket would be much safer.

I have owned a Kodak DX3500 for a couple of years and while it has performed flawlessly, I wanted a smaller camera with at least the same features plus optical zoom and more pixels. I am a point-and-shoot photographer who wants to take pictures of the family, some landscapes and flowers and the occasional shot just for the fun of it. This camera fills the bill perfectly.

Things I like about the SL300R:

1. Though it is tiny, it is not flimsy. This machine is very well put together. It feels solid and everything works exactly as it should.

2. It's light weight. I can put it in my pocket and in a few moments I've completely forgotten it's there. Because of this, I never put it in a back pocket where I might sit on it. Scares me just to think about it!!

3. Amazing picture detail, actually more than I need for the kind of shooting I do, but nice to have just in case.

4. The LCD viewfinder is usable in bright sunlight, unlike the DX3500's which washes out easily. It isn't as bright as a Diamond Vision screen at a stadium, but it does the job.

5. The battery is Lithium-Ion, which has a slower self discharge rate than NiMH. In other words, the battery doesn't lose it's charge just sitting there, which is important especially if you have a backup battery which gets little use. The tradeoff is that Lithium-Ion is more expensive. I found one (non-Kyocera) on eBay for about $22.

6. The battery charger is included, nothing extra to buy. It is a simple cord and transformer arrangement which plugs into the camera and charges the batteries while still inside. Charging to 90% takes two hours according to the manual, and the final 10% takes another hour.

7. It has a definite 'wow' factor with my friends.

Things which could be better:

1. The case is very slippery. When it's folded flat there are no protrusions to hold on to. Some rubber grippy things would make it more secure when toting it around. I haven't dropped it yet, but it would be easy to do. Use the wrist strap!!

2. A lens cover would be nice. Fingerprints find their way there like magic even if you're trying your best not to touch. No big deal, but a cover would be appreciated. They include a little lens cleaner which hangs on your keychain. You'll need it.

3. The flash is not powerful enough to fill a room, but on the other hand it won't run your battery down with huge power consumption. It gets the job done, but don't expect professional looking pictures in dim light. It's adequate for a casual picture of Aunt Emma.

4. The white balance setting for fluorescent way overcorrected the color. I know there are different kinds of fluorescent lamps and maybe I was shooting under one that doesn't need correction. The point is, review your pictures immediately so you can reshoot if necessary. I later corrected the picture with a photo editing program and it came out looking pretty good.

5. The USB cable supplied is a proprietary type. If you need a replacement you'll probably have to get it from Kyocera. It's only about half as thick as the usual ones and probably had to be that way because of the thin case.

All considered I am extremely satisfied with this little gem. Kyocera has obviously put a lot of effort into the design and manufacture of the SL300R. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.