Pentax Optio S7

Reviewed October 2006

Characteristics

The Pentax Optio S7 is equipped with a 1/2.5-inch CCD composed of 7.38 million pixels, of which 7.0 million (7 megapixel) are effective and yield an maximum image size of 3072 x 2304 pixels.

A total of 7 images sizes are offered on the camera:

any of which can be saved using any one 3 compression levels:

CCD sensitivity starts at 50 ISO, but can be manually set to 100, 200 or 400 ISO. An Auto ISO mode is also available, adjusting the camera sensitivity over a range of 50 to 400 ISO. In addition, the Optio S7 provides a Blur Reduction mode that can increase sensitivity from 800 to 1600 ISO to maintain a fast shutter speed and avoid camera shake.

The 3X optical zoom of the S7 has a focal length of 6.2 mm to 18.6 mm, equivalent to 37.5 mm to 112.5 mm on a 35 mm format camera. The lens is composed of 6 elements in 5 groups including 2 aspherical elements to minimize distortion. Apertures begin at f2.7 when the zoom is at the wide angle end, and f5.2 at the maximum telephoto.

The shutter speeds available to the S7 cover from 1/2000 second down to 4 seconds, however, that range is only available to the Night Scene mode, and all other modes are limited to a maximum exposure time of 1/8 second.

When the ambient light is too low, the autofocus is assisted by a lamp fitted into the front of the camera, near the top left side of the lens when facing the camera. The Autofocus itself is a contrast detection system with 5 focus points.

Many of the photographic settings of the Optio S7 are decided in the camera's menu. The Optio S7's capture menu is composed of 2 sections. The first section, called the REC. Mode menu, identified by a tab at the top left of the display, deals with capture options, the other contains the Setup menu (the Setup menu is covered in the Interface and Software section of the review).

The Rec. Mode menu provides settings for:

• Recorded Pixels: (image resolution) serves to choose the image size (see above).
• Quality Level: serves to choose the image quality setting (compression) (see above).
• White balance: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Manual (set under ambient light).
• AF Setting contains three sub-options:
  • Focusing area:
    • Multiple: allows the camera to focus automatically, using any of its 5 AF spots.
    • Spot: focuses on what is found in a narrow area in the middle of the frame.
    • Automatic Tracking AF: allows the camera to track a moving subject once it has focused on it.
  • Focus Limiter: limits the distance over which the autofocus will focus, making focusing faster.
  • Aux AF Light: provides assistance to the contrast detection autofocus system when there is insufficient light for it to operate reliably.
• AE Metering: Multi-segment, Centre-weighted and Spot.
• Sensitivity: Auto (50 to 400 ISO), 50, 100, 200, 400 ISO. And when using the Blur Reduction mode, 800 or 1600 ISO, or Auto (50 to 1600 ISO).
• EV Compensation: offers a range of ±2 EV in 0.3 EV increments.

• Movie opens a 3-option sub-menu:
  • Recorded Pixels serves to set the frame size: 640 or 320.
  • Quality Level: sets the movie image quality over 3 levels.
  • Movie Anti-Shake: on or off, uses the entire CCD to electronically compensate for the involuntary movements of the user.
• Digital Zoom: turns On or Off the 4X digital zoom, for up to a 12X magnification when combined with the 3X optical zoom. Note that the Optio S7 interpolates the images to the selected size. (For more information on digital zooms, see our article.)

• Instant Review: decides how long the image is shown on the monitor immediately after it has been captured: 0.5 second, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 seconds, or Off.
• Memory: allows selecting from a secondary screen which of the settings, or options, will be recalled. 12 separate items can be recalled after the camera has been turned off (flash mode, drive mode, focus mode, zoom position, manual focus position, white balance, AE metering, sensitivity, EV compensation, digital zoom, display mode of the monitor, and file number).
• Green Button: offers two primary choices: Green Mode, or Function Setting. When set to Green Mode, the button simply starts the most basic shooting mode (see the Ergonomics section of the review). When set to Function setting, the button can be configured to present a 4-function choice superimposed on the monitor's image, and any of the four choices can be set to any of 10 settings (recorded pixels, quality level, white balance, focusing area, AE metering, sensitivity, EV compensation, sharpness, saturation, contrast) or Off.
• Sharpness: normal, soft [-], or hard [+].
• Saturation: normal, low [-], or high [+].
• Contrast: normal, low [-], or high [+].

While the REC. menu of the Optio S7 is the same whatever the capture mode, when the camera is in the Playback mode, pressing the menu button presents the same menu, but opens it on the Setup section.

A "Playback" menu is available, but only when the down direction of the 4-way controller is pressed, and it is called the Mode Palette, just like the menu for the shooting modes.

The Playback Mode Palette contains 15 options, each represented by an icon:

• Slide Show: serves to start a slide show of the images on the memory card, looping or not, and with a selectable on-screen time for the photos (3, 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds), with dissolve or wipe effects between images, accompanied by a harp-like sound, if desired.
• Resize: makes it possible to resize an image to a lower size or increase its compression. The resized image can then be saved as a new image, or be overwritten on the original.
• Cropping: makes it possible to select a part of an image displayed on the screen so it can be trimmed (cropped), and re-saved as a new image.

• Image/Sound Copy: serves to copy images or sounds from the internal memory to a memory card, or vice versa.
• Image Rotation: serves to rotate an image so it plays back the right way up. Unless the image is protected, the rotated image is saved in its new orientation.
• Colour Filter: allows editing an image by changing its colour using any of thirteen colour filters such as Black and White, Sepia, or any of eight colours, etc.
• Digital Filter: allows applying any of five effects to an image (soft, illustration, special effect 1, special effect 2, or thin/stretch).
• Brightness Filter: serves to alter the brightness of an image over ±2 EV in 1/3 EV increments.
• Movie Edit: serves to divide a movie into 2 parts, and save the edited parts, or extract a frame from a movie and save it as a still image.
• Red-eye Compensation: serves to correct red-eye, either automatically, or manually by selecting the area where the red-eye effect can be seen.
• Voice Memo: On or Off, allows recording a voice annotation that will be attached to an image.
• Protect: serves to protect an image so it cannot be accidentally erased.
• DPOF: serves to select images to be printed, the number of prints to make of any one image, and decide whether or not the date and time will be imprinted on it.
• Start-up Screen: serves to select the start-up image that is displayed on the monitor when the camera is turned on (none, three choices, or a user captured image).
• Frame Composite: allows adding a decorative frame to an image and re-saving it as a new image.

The Optio S7 has a 23 MB internal memory and is therefore normally retailed without a memory card. It is, however, compatible with SD (Secure Digital) and MM (MultiMedia) cards. The card slot is located on the right side of the camera, behind the same door that also covers the battery.

The chart below provides approximate image capacities for both the internal memory and for an optional 1GB SD card, which in view of the S7's resolution, should be considered a necessity:

The Optio S7 is powered by a proprietary Lithium Ion battery (D-LI8). As noted above, the battery is covered by the same door that covers the memory card and is held in place with a spring loaded clip that prevents it from sliding out when the compartment door is opened to access a memory card.

A wired battery charger (D-BC8) is included in the camera kit. Recharging the battery fully takes a little over 1.5 hours, and an indicator on the charger changes from red to green when charging is complete.

The same area also contains the 2 external connections of the Optio S7: at the top a DC-IN to connect the optional AC Adapter Kit (K-AC8), and below a connection that serves for both USB (2.0 High Speed) or A/V Out (NTSC or PAL), depending on the cable used.