Barnes and Noble introduces the NOOK
CNET editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 12/05/2005
- Released on: 10/15/2005
The 4.3-ounce S6 is a clean block of silver metal dominated by a 2.5-inch LCD screen and the usual array of point-and-shoot controls on the back. In addition to the standard power, shutter, zoom, playback, and menu buttons, there is a programmable function button that shifts the four-way controller to give direct access to four additional settings. Combined, the camera offers one-touch access to drive, flash, autofocus, and shooting modes as well as options such as image size, compression, white balance, and ISO sensitivity. Achieved through a clean button layout that complements an easy-to-use menu system, the S6 is a pleasure to use for snapshooters and more advanced users alike. There is no optical viewfinder, a feature being omitted from more and more manufacturers trying to squeeze bigger LCDs into ever-smaller cameras.
While the Pentax Optio S6 offers nothing terribly exciting in the features department, users will appreciate several conveniences with practical benefits. The LCD can be shut off to save battery power, though the lack of an optical viewfinder makes shooting this way difficult. An SD card slot supplements the 23MB of built-in memory, and several image parameters--sharpness, saturation, and contrast--can be adjusted beyond the default settings. There are also 13 built-in color-effect controls, including black-and-white, sepia, and other solid color tints, and a brightness filter to correct a too-dark image after it has been shot. While there are no manual or semiautomatic exposure modes, there are 13 scene modes besides Program Auto. A TV-quality movie mode captures 30fps, 640x480-pixel MPEG-4 movies using the DivX encoder. The 37.5mm-to-112.5 mm (35mm-film equivalent) lens is pretty slow at f/2.7 to f/5.2. It's also a poor macro performer, working at only the widest angle with a closest-focusing distance of 5.9 inches.
The Pentax Optio S6 feels snappy when operating the lens, menus, and image playback, but it lumbers during shooting. It takes 4.9 seconds to fire off a shot after pressing the power button, 5.2 seconds between shots without flash, and 1.5 seconds to focus on and capture a high-contrast test subject. Continuous shooting is unimpressive at a maximum 1.2fps.
The S6 also suffers from less than stellar photo quality. While many of its flaws aren't noticeable in common snapshots, discerning eyes looking at enlargements will be disappointed. Numerous lens flaws contribute to corner softness and vignetting (darkening of the corners), as well as a slight and asymmetrical barrel distortion--in which straight lines bend outward--that remains, oddly, in the telephoto end, where lines usually curve inward. There's also a noticeable green fringing around moderately backlit objects. Both of these oddities can likely be attributed to Pentax's new lens design. The sensor is remarkably clean until ISO 400, where it exhibits an ugly multicolored noise pattern. But it also yields a sometimes oversharpened, videocam look with white halos around high-contrast areas, as well as poor shadow detail. All is not poor in the S6's image, though. Colors, including flesh tones, are natural and pleasing, and flash exposure is even and accurate, with an additional Soft Flash option for close-ups.
The Pentax Optio S6 is a great camera--as long as you're shooting slow-moving subjects for 4x6-inch prints or Web galleries. For real snapshot photography, it's just OK.
Shooting speed
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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Typical shot-to-shot time | |
Time to first shot | |
Shutter lag (typical) |
Note: Seconds
Typical continuous-shooting speed
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Note: Frames per second
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