Verdict:
You wouldn't expect to get a five-megapixel digital camera capable of this kind of quality for £173. The Optio S50's controls are pretty good too - but it simply isn't quick enough to keep up with the competition.
It may be the most affordable camera on test, but this doesn't stop the S50 from delivering superb image quality. Colours were consistently natural, even when taking close-up pictures with the flash. The only criticism we could level at its photos sometimes came out a little dark, but with colours still looking vibrant this was rarely a serious concern. In very dark conditions, the S50 was the best performer of all the cameras on test, using a long exposure time to capture remarkably well-exposed photos.
The S50 offers plenty of control, including a manual focus that shows just the centre of the composition on the TFT screen to aid focus adjustment - a neat trick that works well. There are plenty of physical buttons, one of which enables the navigation pad to toggle between quick
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adjustment of exposure compensation, resolution and compression. Sadly, there's no fully manual exposure control.
The biggest problem with this camera is its lethargy. It takes six seconds from start up before it's ready to take a picture, and another six seconds between shots. Its auto-focus is the slowest here, and even its auto-exposure metering drags its heels. Burst mode starts enthusiastically at one shot per second, but at the top resolution it slows down by shot three, and gives up after four.
The brushed aluminium body is only a little larger than Canon's, so we were surprised to see that the S50 takes standard AA batteries rather than a slim lithium ion cell. Sadly, it was the first camera to run out of juice in our tests. The 11MB internal storage is laughable for a five-megapixel camera, so an additional SD card is a must.
The character of this camera will be painfully familiar to those with teenage children - it could achieve so much if only it weren't so dozy and lethargic. We could forgive its limited memory and even its poor battery life, but the sluggish performance is a more serious concern. This won't be much of a problem if you like to take your time when composing shots, but if your preference is candid shots taken on the spur of the moment, that moment will probably have passed for good before the S50 is ready to shoot.
By Ben Pitt
SPECIFICATIONS:
CCD 5 million pixels MAXIMUM OPTICAL RESOLUTION 2,560x1,960 VIDEO RESOLUTION 320x240 at 30fps OPTICAL ZOOM 3x DIGITAL ZOOM 2.6x MEMORY 11MB internal storing three images at maximum resolution, plus SD slot FEATURES self-timer, manual focus, continuous mode, exposure compensation, white balance presets, ISO speed WEIGHT 130g BATTERY 2x AA EXTRAS AV cable, USB cable, ACDSee software
