Product Reviews

Weighing just 120g, Pentax's Optio S5n is one of the lightest cameras we've tested. Its small enough to slip into a shirt pocket, while its rounded edges and etched front panel make it comfortable to hold. Its 2" LCD is bright enough to use on a sunny day and detailed enough for you to review your photos accurately. The control buttons are well laid out and labelled. Unfortunately the menu system isn't so easy to navigate, but it doesn't take long to master.

The S5n takes several seconds to transfer a photo to either the 12MB of internal memory

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or an SD memory card after you press the shutter button. This makes it less responsive than many cameras and can be frustrating if you're taking photos of a moving subject

Sixteen shooting modes are available, including eight scene modes, a 30fps 640x480 movie mode and a special effect mode that allows you to posterise, stretch or apply soft focus to photos. The S5n performs well in most lighting conditions, producing well-balanced and detailed photos. Colours tend to be neutral rather than vibrant, but if you want punchier pictures you can always adjust the contrast, saturation and sharpness with the on-camera controls. The S5n tends to gauge exposure for shadows rather than highlights. This looks OK for snapshots and can be corrected using the camera's controls if you wish. The camera takes around 150 photos on a full battery, which is just enough for a day of sightseeing as long as you don't use precious power to review your shots too often.

The Optio S5n is a decent camera for holiday snapshots, producing reasonably sharp and well-balanced photos. With a longer battery life and speedier operation it would be much better.