Would be better with autofocus
341580
As received, the low-light video quality was relatively poor.  After updating the camera software it improved.  The camera is quite easy to use and well designed in most ways.  However, it is a fixed-focus camera.  Therefore, even though it has good depth of field, many of the things you video will be either too close or too far away to be in good focus.  Therefore, the benefits of HD are lost a lot of the time.  Actually, the focus is switchable between normal (mountains symbol) and macro (flower symbol), but the macro position focuses too close up to be useful for filming people.  Autofocus would make this a much better camera.

Sony makes a similar pocket-size camcorder that includes autofocus.  (I saw it demonstrated in a store.)  I recommend that you check it out before buying this camera.
4360924
Auto focus works great but the shutter release wont... Not much good if it won't trigger the shutter to go off !!
3402391
Technological advance.  Excellent autofocus - but beware - there is no "force flash" option, so photos in borderline light can be blurry.  I point it at a lighter spot, push halfway to freeze the settings, and then go back and snap it.  The underwater capability is good, but I just want to use it in heavy rain (drops on the lens though - keep it clean).  Two AA batteries for power are an absolute necessity in the back country.  Solar recharge doesn't work if one hikes/moves around all day, and those extension cords are expensive.
4397449
I have one of these super little digitals in my pocket - smaller than my wallet, it's truly convenient for scenic shots. Its 3 X optical zoom is almost adequate, and helped by its 2X digital zoom. I agree with virtually all the pro's listed by the very enthusiastic fellow reviewers, but find the con's frustrating. These are (imho):
1. Low light focussing fails very often - the camera has no illuminating mechanism for autofocus - and allows a picture to be taken even if it has failed to find focus. Often it seems to guess - and will focus on distance once, then close, then distance again.... showing its little green "focus-OK" LED none-the-less. The focus-free setting is a partial work-around.
2. There is some barrel distortion on the wide setting - which at the equivalent of 38mm lens on a 35 mm camera - should really not yet occur. It also gets somewhat fuzzy around the edges at this setting. Group pictures focus at the centre - but people at the edges are fuzzy. This could be a depth of field problem, as the camera has only two aperture settings. This may improve significantly in the future as CCD's reduce in size, or Pentax my need to redevelop this 7 element lens with an aspherical lense system.
3. The camera emphasizes white, but I'm trying different saturation settings now.
4. The camera is not usually sold with the remote control - and the one I bought - which officially is the required one for the camera - lacks the remote controlled zoom described in the handbook. Seems there's a difference between intention and implementation at Pentax in this regard.
5. The flash ranges about 2m/6ft - much too short for a group picture in a room - compound this with the faults 1 and 2, and even some 1.3 megapixel cameras do better (less detail hides some of the errors.).
6. The camera has ISO sensitivities of 100 and 200. Many competing cameras have 400 also, which may have helped the flash range.
7. The LCD is rather small - necessarily a compromise of size - but allows one to zoom after the picture is taken - so if you want to check the quality of a picture you have taken - this is OK.
8. I soon bought a second (special) lithium battery, and the short battery life (about 20 pics at maximal quality, full resolution with flash and lcd or 32Mb - half the memory I've installed) is no longer a problem.
Lastly, it would be useful if the camera could be used as a webcam or controlled from a computer.., but cannot, as yet.
Personally, I am a little disappointed at the compromises made by Pentax - I was expecting more when I bought this little device. Its key advantage is small size, its light weight, the zoom, and its friendly and understandable menus that allow one to actually use its tremendous versatility.
The firmware version in my camera is V1.01. I bought the camera in October 2001.
I suggest you try this out with a few of the competing small cameras (and the 430) in different conditions, they all make compromises and this may be the camera you want. Pentax will probably improve this camera rapidly - they are so close to having a true winner.
4317596
Autofocus does not work at higher zoom. Have to switch to manual focus. Havent used the macro mode much. Otherwise the results are OK.
1587143
Enjoy using the new lens.  Set it wide open use auto shutter speed and auto ISO.  Compared with Sony A6000 kit zoom and the Vario is much better.
4336620
So far I haven't used it much, but without updating the os to .2 the lens does a lot of hunting and has a noticeable wobble to it on my a6000. Now that it's updated the autofocus works much better. I'll have a better idea of this lens after my Florida trip.
822048
This product has some nice features -- big display, good resolution, good optical zoom, and a lot of picture modes.  It can also capture video, and the battery life is decent.  However, it's not very quick.  It takes a while for it to auto-focus, and it takes a while for it to capture a picture.  If I were in the market for a point-and-shoot digital camera, I would probably look for something else.
3852218
I like the zoom, it is useful. It can even take pics of the moon. The bad part it the focus. It is a slow procedure.
4761013
Overall, it will improve my photography. My main purpose is for wedding jewelry, and close-ups on newborn feet, hands, ears, noses, etc. I played around with it after I received it last night, and as many mentioned the automatic focus was very loud, and seemed clunky. I switched it to manual focus, and had more success focusing as well, without the distraction of the loud automatic focus. Overall, the lens seems more "rough around the edges" than I'm used to, but I was still able to get some wonderful shots despite. It will work well until I can afford a better macro lens! A great deal for the price.
3928142
Not very useful except when on tripod* and most tripods have levels.

* Can't use it and viewfinder at same time for obvious reasons. I guess if camera has liveview it might serve a purpose.
3835435
Probably fine for the price.  I find the peaking filter hard to see at times, and have gone back to using the view finder for a lot of manual focus work.
3968094
I'm planning to use this remote for shooting wildlife like birds feeding on a bit of bread and stuff like that. It's quite difficult to take these shots as birds simply won't come close to a grown man lying on the lawn waiting for a bird to land on his loaf (shush your dirty minds!).

I understand that you have to manually focus the camera before using the remote? Wouldn't it be great if the remote would also autofocus before each take? Perhaps in a next upgrade?
610488
I was purchasing this for a gift.  The recipient is a 'aim and shoot' type and havig such a fussy process to get the automatic focus to work was out of the question.  I did not work with it beyond several photo attempts in various light situations. I would assume a Nikon product would be satisfactory after knowling its preferences.  In my estimation, it did not fill the bill of 'aim and shoot.'
3877463
I bought this camera to replace my 3 years old Panasonic GF1, a small camera that travelled with me everywhere never letting me down.

The RX1 looks and feel like the "old" Leica MP, beautifully built, incredibly lens, i own few digital SLR but this one will beat all on them in term of quality, but one important aspect let me down.

The autofocus is painfully slow, especially in low light, it takes few second to focus, honestly i wonder how this was not been noticed by anyone at Sony.

I will return the camera waiting for a fix or possibly the next RX1.
462233
I'm still in the learning process of how to use this camera.  I'm not sure if the pictures could be clearer.  I seam to be a little out of focus at times.  I need more time to practice.
709150
Fisheye and wide angle are ok, but the macro is hardly usable. I have to get the lens almost touching the item to photograph before it will even focus...and even then the edges are totally blurry.