Product Reviews

The S5z is the smallest of four new additions to Pentax's Optio range of digital compact cameras. The attractive metal body houses a 5-megapixel sensor mounted behind a 2.9x zoom lens. It's about the same size as a pack of cards, and even with the battery and memory card installed, it weighs only 165g. This means you can carry it around in your pocket comfortably.

Most of the S5z's back panel is occupied by a bright if relatively low-resolution 2" LCD screen. This is great for framing your shots, but to review them in detail you need to resort to a computer. The large screen leaves

ADVERTISEMENT

little room for control buttons, which are small and a little fiddly, even for the fine fingered. The control system isn't the easiest to get to grips with, but a fool-proof mode enables even beginners to take decent photos.

The S5z records images at a maximum of 2,560x1,920 pixels, which is fine for prints at 300dpi up to 8x6". The camera produces crisp photos, but noise is ever-present in dark areas. This is particularly true of low light and flash photography, because the flash lacks power and is incapable of illuminating objects and people more than 2m away. Exposure is well judged, although colours tend to be a little vibrant. You can tone these down on-camera, though.

The S5z is up against stiff competition at this price, but many other cameras sacrifice lens quality - and therefore image quality - for the sake of compactness, or are considerably bigger. Pentax has struck a better balance than most. However, its image quality, especially in low light, leaves something to be desired. We like this camera's compact design, and if that is key to your buying decision the S5z is a good bet. Otherwise, go for something a bit bigger such as HP's R817.