Pentax Optio S60 Review
The Pentax Optio S60 is a straightforward six megapixel digital camera. It is a stylish model with an aluminium body. One of its biggest attractions is the fact that it is easy to use. The Optio S60 is likely to suit anybody who is looking for a point and shoot digital camera and who is prepared to pay a bit extra for the better build quality this camera offers. You should be able to start taking pictures more or less as soon as you have taken this camera out of the box and loaded the batteries.
Main Features
Megapixels:
Zoom:
LCD Screen:
Dimensions:
Weight:
6
3x
2.5 inches
89 x 58.5 x 27.5mm
130g
Macro:
HD Movies:
Manual Controls:
Batteries:
Memory Cards:
6cm
No
No
AA
SD
Image Quality
Overall I managed to produce a better set of test shots with the Optio S60 than I did with the Optio S55. The biggest area of improvement was indoors. There is still room for improvement in this area though. Although not a bad attempt the indoor portrait is not as sharply focused as I like to see. This means that you will need to make sure there is as much light available as possible for this type of shot if you are to achieve acceptable results.
The indoor shot of beer bottles is taken in almost complete darkness. By way of contrast the Optio S60 manages a sharp photo that is also well lit. There are a few reasons why it is able to do this, but struggles in better light with the indoor portrait. For a start the camera is close to the bottles. This means the Auto Focus (AF) Illuminator which helps the camera to focus in these conditions is able to illuminate the subject more clearly. I also believe that the bottles offer greater contrast against the background and therefore make it easier to focus in general.
The macro shot produced is very good indeed. The test shot shows a sharp image where the detail is clearly visible. With the right level of lighting you should be able to take a variety of pleasing close up shots.
Outdoors the camera handles very well. I like the colours it produces and they have a natural look to them. Another observation is that this camera has handled the contrast offered by very light and very dark areas better than many digital cameras I have tested. The photos are not quite as sharp as those produced by some of my top rated cameras, but then again this camera is somewhat cheaper too, so it would be unfair to expect the same quality of results. You should be able to take a range of perfectly good scenic shots.
The outdoor portrait is fairly standard and the test for colours supports my general findings relating to the outdoor scenic shots.
Shutter Lag and Recycling Times
I was able to take a single photo in 0.31 seconds. This is an average time. Five pictures took 22.37. This is a disappointingly slow time and the camera 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.
You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.
Features
The three times optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 35.6mm -107mm in 35mm format. The aperture works in a range between f2.6 and f4.8. Digital zoom is 2.6x. This gives a combined zoom capacity of 8x. It is worth remembering though that using the digital zoom causes a decrease in picture quality. In super macro mode the camera can focus from 6cms away from the subject.
For composing images there is a 2.5 inch LCD screen. This is made up of 115,000 pixels. There is no viewfinder.
For focusing you can choose between automatic and a limited manual focusing mode. For auto focusing you can select between five point, spot and infinity landscape focusing.
Movies can be recorded at a maximum resolution of 320 x 240. The top recording speed is 30 frames per second. You can zoom in and out while shooting a movie, but I found the zoom to be quite jerky rather than smooth. Movies are only limited in duration by the capacity of the memory card.
The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 4.9m. This falls to 2.8m when the zoom lens is in use. Flash modes you can use are Auto, Flash-off, Flash-on, Auto + Red-eye reduction, Flash-on + Red-eye reduction.
A number of preset scene modes are available. These help the camera to take the best possible photo in a variety of different situations. The scene modes are Portrait, Landscape, Night scene, Flower, Self-portrait, Surf, Snow, Sunset, Museum, Text, Food and Landscape Portrait. For stitching together panoramic shots there is a panorama assist mode.
To add something different you can adjust the sharpness, saturation and contrast levels before you take a shot.
A self timer is available for when you would like to appear in the photo. The delay time can be set to either two or ten seconds.
There are three types of metering available (Multi-segment, Center-weighted and Spot). For sensitivity you can choose between automatic, 80, 160, 320 and 400. White balance can be adjusted for Daylight, Shade, Tungsten light and Fluorescent light. The camera can also calculate white balance manually and there is an automatic setting too. Shutter speeds range from 1/2000 to 4 seconds. Exposure compensation is available and can be set within a range of +/-2 EV (1/3 steps).
Continuous shooting is available as well. This lets you to keep on shooting until the memory card is full.
After a shot has been taken you can apply a variety of digital filters to it. These include changing the photo to black and white or sepia, adding a red, blue or green caste or changing the shot to black and white except for a selected colour.
Pentax supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the Optio S60 to a computer, PictBridge compatible printer and a television set.
The camera can also be used as a voice or sound recorder.
Ease of Use
You should have no real problems with ease of use. The menu system Pentax uses is one of the most straightforward you will find. It is very easy to find the menu option you are looking for. A control dial sits on the top of the camera and buttons controlling key features are at your fingertips on the back. These include controls for flash, zoom, focusing, accessing the menu and reviewing images.
Cost
You can pick up a Pentax Optio S60 for around £160. This compares to around £175 for a Sony DSC W5, £182 for a Nikon Coolpix 5900 and £175 for a Olympus MJU 600.
When you consider that both the Sony DSC W5 and the Nikon Coolpix 5900 are only five megapixel cameras I would say that the Optio S60 offers you a similar build quality and style for a very reasonable price.
Style
The Pentax Optio S60 is a fairly standard rectangular shape. It has a small grip on the front to help you hold it steady when you are taking a shot. It has an aluminium body with dimensions of 89 x 58.5 x 27.5mm. The camera weighs 130g. I would describe it as a medium sized compact. Too small to fit easily into a pocket, but small enough to carry around without much of a problem.
Batteries and Memory Cards
AA batteries or a CR-V3 Lithium battery (non rechargeable) are used to run the camera. Two AA batteries are supplied. Pentax only give an indication of the number of shots you take with a CR-V3 battery (420). You are likely to be able to take considerably less with a set of alkaline AA batteries.
Images are stored on SD cards. Pentax do not supply a card with the camera as it comes with 11mb of storage built in. I was able to take just six shots with the camera before the internal memory was full. Therefore it is well worth picking up a high capacity card to go with the camera.
Click here to save money on SD cards..
Points I like:
Simplicity and ease of use
Style and design
Where it is not so hot:
Recycling times
Summary
The Pentax Optio S60 is a fairly typical compact digital camera. It has a good build quality and takes a good photo. Its ease of use will be attractive to many people who are looking for a camera that is easy to use. It is priced at the right level.
Pentax Optio S60 Front View
Pentax Optio S60 Back View
Pentax Optio S60 Top View
Sample Menus
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