Pentax Optio S6 Review

The Pentax Optio S6 is a six megapixel pixel digital camera. It is an ultra compact model. This is the type to slip easily into a pocket. The camera has a standard sized 3x optical zoom lens. The Optio S6 is a fairly straightforward digital camera and will appeal to anyone who is looking for the convenience offered by its small size and also its ease of use.

Overall I must confess to a level of disappointment with the images I managed to produce with this camera. I had high hopes for the Optio S6. I had liked the predecessor of this camera the Optio S5z so much that I had kept hold of it. So what are my main gripes with the Optio S6?

There are two really. The first and most important issue is that a number of the images I have taken look pixilated. Pixilated is where you can start to see individual pixels in the picture. This gives photos a rough look with a lack of smoothness to the shot. In my test shots this was especially noticeable in the skies. In fact this is likely to show up in any areas where there is a large section of similar colour.

My second gripe is the sharpness of the images. If you are planning to produce relatively small prints of around 4x6" or perhaps 5x7" this issue is unlikely to be too much of an issue. Go any larger and you will start to see a fall off in the sharpness of your photos, especially away from the centre and towards the corners.

Looking through my test shots these problems are most apparent in the outdoor scenic shots. As a rule most digital cameras handle these well. Apart from the levels of contrast between light and dark areas outdoor shots in good light should be bread and butter to a digital camera. The areas of contrast are handled well enough, but the overall impression is of average picture quality and below.

The portrait shots produce better results. I like the natural colours and feel of the skin tones and the photos are well lit. This is also true of the indoor portrait where the camera produces a photo worthy of comparison with many others. There is just a touch of red eye.

The indoor shot of beer bottles taken in almost complete darkness produces a better result than many other digital cameras manage. In this case the camera manages to focus well in the conditions, although once again pixilation rears its head.

Even in the test for colour the results are overshadowed by pixilation. The camera does manage to reproduce colours well though and this is one of the stronger points of the Optio S6.

Finishing on a brighter note the macro shot is bright, clear and well focused. There is a downside though. The minimum focusing distance is 15cms. This is much further away than the majority of digital cameras can manage.

I was able to take a single photo in 1.68 seconds. Five pictures took 21.93. The time taken to capture a single shot is a disappointingly slow and the camera also takes longer than it should to recycle and be ready to take the next shot. I also experienced the odd problem getting the camera to take a picture when the light was low. This sort of problem usually arises when a camera is having difficulty in focusing owing to the low light levels. This is all disappointing as the previous version of this camera the Pentax Optio S5z did not suffer from these problems.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The 3x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 38 - 114mm in 35mm format. It has an aperture range of f2.7 to f5.2. For close up work the camera has a macro mode that can focus from 15cms away from the subject. In addition to the optical zoom there is a 3x digital zoom function as well.

For composing images the camera has a 2.5" LCD screen. It is made up of around 232,000 pixels. This is about twice the standard number of pixels you will find in an LCD screen and it helps to produce a bright clear screen. There is also an option on the Setup menu allowing you to adjust the brightness of the screen. As is common with this type of digital camera there is no viewfinder.

The built in flash unit has a range of 5.1m. This falls to 2.7m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes available are: Auto, Flash-off, Flash-on, Auto + Red-eye reduction, Flash-on + Red-eye reduction, Auto backlight compensation.

For focusing the lens offers 5 point Auto Focus (AF), Spot AF and Tracking AF for shooting fast moving subjects. Manual focus is also available.

In addition to fully automatic mode the camera has a number of preset scene modes you can use. These are easy to take advantage of as all you need to do is select the most appropriate scene for the picture you are about to take. The camera will then use what it considers to be the optimum settings. The scene modes are Night scene, Landscape, Flower, Portrait, Surf & Snow, Sunset, Text, Food, Sport and Frame composition.

Before taking a photo you can adjust levels of sharpness, saturation and contrast. After taking the photo there are a number of features you can apply to your picture. These include different colour filters including black and white and sepia. You can also adjust red eye in portraits and add voice memos to pictures. I tried the red eye reduction feature and I was disappointed with the results.

The camera is capable of shooting TV quality movies. These can be recorded at a maximum resolution of 640x480 and at a top speed of 30 frames per second. Movies can be recorded until the memory card becomes full or the battery power runs out. Sound can be recorded, but the camera is unable to zoom in and out while recording.

There is also a panoramic assist mode. This helps you to take panoramic type shots that you can stitch together. The camera can also be used as a voice recorder.

Among the more advanced features are three types of metering (Multi-segment, Center-weighted and Spot), a range of sensitivity settings (ISO 80, 100, 200, 400 and automatic), white balance (Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten Light and Fluorescent Light) and exposure compensation (+/-2 EV in 1/3 steps). Shutter speeds are set automatically by the camera in a range from 1/2000 to 4 seconds.

When you would like to appear in the photo there is a self timer. This can be set to a delay of either two or ten seconds.

Pentax supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the Optio S6 to a computer, television set and a PictBridge compatible printer.

There are no real problems when it comes to ease of use and this is one of the strengths of the camera. The menu system is easy to find your way around and all the key features such as flash, self timer, zoom and focusing are controlled through buttons on the back of the camera. This model has been well thought out and you should have no real difficulty operating the camera.

You can pick up a Pentax Optio S6 for around £190. This compares to around £185 for a Nikon Coolpix S3, £225 for a Casio Exilim EX-Z750 and £240 for a Panasonic DMC FX9.

Although this camera compares quite well price wise when compared to other digital cameras of six megapixels and above I feel others offer better value.

The camera has a pleasant, simple design. Obviously the main attraction of the design is its slim size. It is a standard rectangular shape and is also a standard silver colour.

The Optio S6 weighs in at a trim 100g. With dimensions of 86 x 54 x 19mm it fits comfortably into the ultra compact category as well as into your pocket.

A D_LI8 rechargeable lithium ion battery is used to power the camera. According to Pentax the battery should be able to take around 130 shots before it needs to be recharged.

As there are 23mb of memory built into the Optio S6, Pentax do not supply a memory card with the camera. I was able to take 12 photos before the memory card was full. You can see from this figure it is advisable to buy a high capacity memory card to go with the camera. The camera is compatible with SD cards.

Click here to save money on SD cards.

Simple design
Ease of use

Picture quality
Shutter lag

Overall the Pentax Optio S6 proves to be a disappointment. Two key features of any digital camera are photo quality and a fast shutter response time. Sad to say the Optio S6 does not come up to scratch in either area. For me this is a step backwards for Pentax slimline digital cameras.

Pentax Optio S6 Front View

Pentax Optio S6 Back View

Pentax Optio S6 Top View

Sample Menus

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Pentax Optio S6