In summary
The smallest and lightest of the Optio ‘S’ series cameras Pentax has made thus far, the Optio S5z fits easily in a shirt pocket and its smart, brushed aluminium alloy body has a ‘quality’ look. A large 2.5-inch LCD monitor covers most of the rear panel, leaving no space for a viewfinder and five tiny rubber buttons provide a secure finger grip. The 3x optical zoom lens slides into the camera body leaving the front panel flat but pops out within a second or two when the camera is switched on. . . [more]
Full review
Quality rating (out of 10) Build: 9.0Ease of use: 8.5Image quality: 7.5Value for money: 8.5
The smallest and lightest of the Optio ‘S’ series cameras Pentax has made thus far, the Optio S5z fits easily in a shirt pocket and its smart, brushed aluminium alloy body has a ‘quality’ look. A large 2.5-inch LCD monitor covers most of the rear panel (leaving no space for a viewfinder) and five tiny rubber buttons provide a secure finger grip. The 3x optical zoom lens slides into the camera body leaving the front panel flat, but pops out within a second or two when the camera is switched on.
The S5z has the same 5-megapixel CCD as the S55 model, also reviewed in this issue. However, it’s powered by a rechargeable battery, while the S55 uses AA or CR-V3 cells. Many of the functions offered are the same as those on the S55, although they’re accessed differently. Instead of a mode dial, there’s a mode button that opens a ‘palette’ of 16 shooting mode icons or 11 playback icons (depending on the camera setting). You can see through the icons to the subject you are shooting while deciding which setting to choose.
Other similar controls include the Green Mode for point-and-shoot operation and the customisable function button. A new ‘Comment Space’ setting lets you leave a white space at the bottom of pictures that will be printed for writing comments on the prints. Unfortunately, the white balance lacks a custom (manual measurement) mode.
The test camera produced pictures that were similar to those from the S55, but with slightly higher image contrast and colour saturation. Chromatic aberration was also slightly higher and Imatest showed image resolution was not quite as good as the S55 we tested. Low light performance was identical, although the white balance proved slightly less capable with incandescent lighting than the S55’s. Digital zoom shots were also slightly softer but close-ups were equally well handled.
We measured an average capture lag of 0.4 seconds, which reduced to less than 0.1 seconds with pre-focusing. The burst mode captured four 2M/Best images at 0.9 second intervals. [24]
Specifications
Image sensor: 5.34 x 4.01mm interline transfer CCD with 5.25 million photosites (5.0 megapixels effective)
Lens: smc Pentax power zoom 5.8-17.4mm f2.6-4.8 (35.6-107mm in 35mm format)
Zoom ratio: 3x optical, up to 4x digital
Dimensions (wxhxd): 83 x 55 x 21.5 mm
Weight: 105g (without battery and SD memory card)
Image formats: Stills – JPEG (Exif 2.2); Movies – AVI (MPEG-4)/WAV
Shutter speed range: 4-1/2000 second
Focus system/range: TTL contrast-detect AF; range – 40 cm to infinity; macro 18-50 cm; super macro 6-20 cm.
Exposure metering/control: TTL metering (multi, centre-weighted & spot); Auto, Program AE plus 10 scene modes & 4 digital effects.
White balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light (Neutral White/ White/ Daylight), Manual
Flash modes/range (ISO auto): Auto, off, on, red-eye reduction; range 0.2-3.5 m
ISO range: Auto, ISO 80, 100, 200, 400
Sequence shooting: 0.9 second intervals; shot count determined by image size/resolution
Storage Media: 9.3 MB internal memory plus SD card slot; internal memory
LCD monitor: 2.5 inch, TFT colour LCD (approx. 110,000 pixels), 100% field of view.
Power supply: Rechargeable D-LI8 lithium-ion battery
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Electronics Warehouse
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Ted’s Cameras
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