Announced in August 2004, the Pentax Optio S5i is an upgrade of the popular S4i with an extra million pixels, some minor styling changes and a couple of new features. The S5i is almost unfeasibly small — thanks in part to the innovative sliding lens first seen at the start of 2003 in the Optio S (and since in several Pentax and Casio models) — yet is more feature-packed than most other ultra-compacts. In an ever-growing market, and with a handful of outstanding competing models (see recent reviews of the Canon PowerShot SD300 and Panasonic DMC-FX7 for example), does the Optio S5i have what it takes to become the pocket camera of choice? Let's find out. Here's a few of the S5i's headline features to get us started:
- 5.0 million effective pixels
- 35-105mm equiv. sliding zoom lens
- 1.8-inch LCD monitor
- 21 shooting modes, including new Sports mode
- New Pan Focus mode
- 0.01-second shutter lag time
- SD card-compatible and 10MB internal memory
- Live histogram
- 6cm Super Macro mode
- Battery charger stand can charge two batteries at once
Pentax Optio S5i Key specifications
| Street price |
• US: $360
• UK: £250 |
| Body Material |
Metal |
| Sensor |
• 1/2.5" CCD, 5.25 million total pixels
• 5.0 million effective pixels |
| Image sizes |
• 2560 x 1920
• 2048 x 1536
• 1600 x 1200
• 1024 x 768
• 640 x 480
|
| Movie clips |
• 320 x 240 (15 fps)
• With audio
• AVI Motion JPEG
|
| Lens |
• 35.6 - 107 mm equiv. (3x zoom)
• F2.6 - F4.8 |
| Focus |
• TTL autofocus
• 7-point mutli/spot AF
• 49 selectable AF points
• Pan focus, manual focus and infinity focus options
• Normal: 0.4 m - Infinity
• Macro: 18 cm - 50cm
• Super macro: 6cm - 20cm
|
| Shooting mode |
• Portrait
• Flower
• Self-portrait
• Sports
• Surf and Snow
• Autumn colors
• Landscape
• Sunset
• Museum
• Text
• Food
• Sport
• Green (auto everything)
• Program
• Soft focus
• Night scene
• Movie
• Panorama assist
• 3D
• Digital filter
• User
• Marine
• Marine movie
• AE Compensation +/- 2.0 EV in 0.3 EV steps
|
| Sensitivity |
• Auto
• ISO 80
• ISO 100
• ISO 200
• ISO 400 |
| White Balance |
• Auto
• Cloudy, daylight, incandescent, shade, tungsten light, fluorescent light (neutral white and white), fluorescent light (daylight) and manual (custom) |
| Image parameters |
• Sharpness (5 settings)
• Saturation (5 settings)
• Contrast (5 settings) |
| Continuous |
0.3 fps
|
| Flash |
• Built-in flash
• Auto, on/off, auto + red-eye reduction, on with red eye reduction
• Range (ISO 200): Wide 0.2m - 3.5 m (0.65 - 11.5 ft) /
Tele 0.2m - 2.0m (0.65 - 6.6 ft) |
| Storage |
• SD/MMC
• Approx 10MB internal memory
|
| Viewfinder |
Optical |
| LCD monitor |
• 1.8 " TFT LCD
• 85,000 pixels |
| Connectivity |
• USB 1.1
• A/V out
• DC-IN |
| Power |
• D-L18 Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery
• Battery Charging Stand D-BC25 included |
| In the box* |
• Optio S5i camera
• Battery Charger
• Battery Pack
• AV Cable
• USB Connection Cable,
• Hand Strap,
• CD-ROM |
| Other features |
• PictBridge
• Multi-segment, center-weighted and spot metering
• Record and playback histogram
• Optional remote control
• 2/10 second self-timer
• Panorama assist and 3D assist modes
|
| Weight (inc batt) |
120 g (4.2 oz) |
| Dimensions |
88 x 52 x 20.5 mm (3.4 x 2.0 x 0.8 in) |
* Supplied accessories may differ in each country or area
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Dec 20, 2004
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Aug 24, 2004
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Dec 19, 2007
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Dec 19, 2007
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