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"Excellent & Nice Improvemnts over the Optio S4i" on by optio
Pros: Outstanding LARGE display; 5 Megapixels; fine functionality
Cons: No viewfinder; minimal controls
Summary: After using the Optio S4i for about 8 months, I gave it to my son when his other camera died. My experience with the S4i was very positive except for a few minor issues such as the location of the power switch wrt the shutter switch, "rubber" covers on the USB and power connectors, and exposed connectors for charging the battery while in the camera. Also, there were some low-light level cases where the autofocus was iffy. Enter now the Optio S5z that positively addresses the issues I had with the S4i. First, the camera offers 5 megapixels rather than 4. The most impressive attribute of the S5z is its monster display. It is 2.5" and brighter than the S4i display. No wonder the viewfinder was removed ... actually, I only used the viewfinder a few times and it will not be missed. The S5z includes an active autofocus caability that allows low-light level operation. It now has integrated sliding doors to cover the USB and power connector, and the external charging connectors are gone ... you have to remove the batter to charge it. The power and shutter switches have been moved to solve that issues many users complained about.
Operation of the S5z is almost the same as for the S4i, but since it has fewer controls, they are used in very clever ways to provide all the functionality of the S4i and MORE. This camera is not for the beginner if one desires to utilizes the capabilities of the S5z. Study of the manual is necessary ... ask my son now learning the camera. If you are an Optio user already, you will learn the S5z very quickly.
The images are excellent with good color and focus under a variety of conditions it tested. Oh yes, the digital zoom has been ncreased to 8X from the 4X of the prior models.
Pentax certainly has listened to us and given a great camera to the marketplace! -
"Better than I expected." on by pete285
Pros: Compact, quick, great screen,.
Cons: Flash range is limited.
Summary: After several months research I bought the Pentax S5Z - others I considered were the Ricoh Caplio R2, Casio EXZ55, Panasonic LZ-2 and Nikon 5900.
Went for the Pentax because of size, the quality and size of the screen, and a general trust of the Pentax brand.
So far so good.
Very easy to set up - I took my first pics within a minute of charging the battery without looking at the manual.
Lag is almost nil - great feature.
Small size makes it a little difficult to hold and not block anything important. Easy when you get used to it.
Pic quality is awesome. I moved from a 2mp to this 5mp and I can't believe the difference shooting at highest res. Flash is limited as you would expect but colours are good with flash, especially skin tones. This surprised me.
I bought the Sandisc 11 card and the speed to load the pic from the camera is very quick - probably worth the extra few bucks to get the higher speed card.
Overall after a couple of days playing with the camera I am a very happy owner. As a quick snap camera which is what I needed, you would be battling to do better especially for the price.Updated
A few days further on and nothing much has changed in my opinion.
I am very happy with the camera. Make sure you get a 500 meg or one gig card as the file size is large at full res - I get about 450 shots with my gig card. Plenty for a holiday.
Have been playing with the macro and trying some of the setting choices from the picture pallette and they seem very good.
This is the sort of camera you can start with evrything on auto and then play with some of the other settings later.
You will be surprised by the size - it is very compact - much smaller than it appeared in pics.
Its a great buy for the price - in Australia I paid $440. Thats a hot price for such a good camera. -
"Small size, speedy function huge screen make this camera a good buy" on by ANTONIODOWNS
Pros: Fast when editing, resizing and displaying pictures there is no wait or lag
Cons: camera dosent seem to detect its indoors so youll have to manually change the WB to indoor lighting.
Summary: Hi, if your thinking about a slim 5 mp point and shoot camera this is the one. It has a huge bright screen but be warned there is no optical veiwfinder. Seems to have a fast processor inside there is virtually no waiting when you delete, or edit your pics on the camera. one of the great things this camera does is resize the pictures on the camera, like change a 5 mp pic to 3mp or even VGA and it does this in a flash! i was amazed ! you can also lighten the pics or darken them or give them effects like a blue effect or green effect. the menus are very easy to manuver, with icons telling you which function does what, i knew how to do everything wo looking at the manuel. It can record video also and it was soooo clear and sounds well. I previously owned sony's cybershot, thats a dumb camera, slow and every picture was blurry, its stolen but im glad i replaced it with a pentax.
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"Practical camera with convenient features" on by mesieber
Pros: Price, size, screen size, ease of use, fast
Cons: Flash weak for many applications
Summary: I bought this camera for just over $200 at BuyDig which I thought was a good value compared to other 5 megapixel cameras on the market. I've always had pretty good luck with Pentax cameras and so far this is no exception. I decided on the S5z over the Nikon Coolpix 5600/5900 ultimately because of the larger screen size. The screen, along with the small but suprisingly easy to use navigation buttons allows you to quickly search through a variety of menu options. The flat, slick metallic body of the Pentax makes it fit easilly into your pocket as opposed to the Nikon's ergonomic shape. I liked the convenient features offered, such as the quick Delete and Play buttons which allow you to perform the functions at the touch of a button. I'm a bit impulsive so I like a camera that is ready to go as soon as I see something that is worthy for a picture. The camera powers on quickly and the autofocus and zoom move just fine for my taste. The only real drawback that I've seen is the fact that the flash does not have a good reach, limiting the types of pictures you can take in low light. Overall a slick, nifty camera.
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"Both loved and hated this camera" on by Carol G
Pros: Great photo, great features, great size
Cons: No View Finder - Cannot see the LCD in sunlight
Summary: I loved the camera and the features. I took it on vacation and it was wonderful. Easy to use, small enough to fit in my pocket or purse but I did have a problem while out during the day on tours. If you want to take pictures outside in the sunlight you cannot see the LCD screen and since there is no viewfinder I was just aiming and hoping for the best.
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