Equipped with a sharp 2.5-inch
monitor, the Pentax Optio S7's interface is easy on the eyes.
Text is clear as are the icons that identify most camera settings.
But, as is often the case with cameras that offer only a monitor,
the screen can become difficult to decipher when it is used
under bright outdoor light.
In general, the menu system is also quite legible and understandable.
Worth noting, however, the differentiation made between the
"menu", which contains capture mode options along
with the access to the Setup menu, and the "Mode Palettes"
which serve to select the shooting mode, and which also serve
to play back images and edit them are not as logical as designs
that use recording and playback menus. Using the down direction
(Mode) to display what is effectively a Playback menu is an
unnecessary complication, which is further complicated by
the use of icons — to match the design of the shooting
mode selection palette — to describe playback and editing
functions that would have been clearer as text.
The Setup menu, which appears first when the menu
button is pressed in Playback, contains most of the basic
camera settings:
Format: serves to format the internal memory, or
a memory card.
Sound: allows selecting the volume for sounds produced
by the camera during operations, and the playback volume.
In addition, a sound or none can be selected for start-up
sound, shutter sound, operation, and self-timer. Pre-set
sounds include chimes, a cat's meow, and a dog's bark.
Date Adjust offers three sub-options:
Date Style: to set the date format (mm/dd/yy,
dd/mm/yy, yy/mm/dd).
Date: to set the date
Time. to set the local time
World Time serves to set two different time
zones:
Destination time (useful when traveling) allows
setting a destination time zone.
Hometown time allows selecting the local time
zone.
Language to select the interface language: English,
French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish, Dutch,
Russian, Thai, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese,
or Japanese.
Folder Name: decides how new folders are named,
either based on the date or standard, a three-digit number
followed PENTX.
USB Connection: offers a choice of PC, for connecting
to a computer, or PictBridge, to connect the camera directly
to a PictBridge compliant printer and print photos.
Video Out: selects either NTSC or PAL for the video
out signal.
Brightness Level: serves to adjust the brightness
level of the monitor.
Power Saving: automatically dims the monitor when
the camera is inactive (Off, 5, 15, 30 seconds, 1 or 2 minutes).
Quick Zoom: when set to On, using the zoom button
in playback immediately magnifies the image to the maximum
of 4X.
Auto Power Off: to automatically turn off the camera
(3 or 5 minutes, or Off).
Guide Display: displays the Mode in plain text
when it is changed, or displays text to describe the Functions
assigned to the green button.
Reset: returns the camera to factory defaults.
The Optio S7 kit includes a printed manual that runs, in
English, to over 180 pages. The manual is well-written and
explains all the functions of the camera quite clearly. Details
about a few options, however, require a bit of hunting through
the index as they are not presented in the same sequence as
they appear in the camera menus.
Software
A single disc is bundled with
the Pentax Optio S7. The disc includes a custom designed version
of ACDSee (version 6) for PC and Mac, and also offers
installs of DivX and DirectX.
ACDSee 6 is not the most current version of the software
— ACDSee 9 has been released — but it is nevertheless
one of the most powerful image viewers and organizers, and
a solid basic image editor. In fact, ACDSee has been our own
(megapixel.net) preferred image viewer for many years and
still is.
ACDSee 6 can be used
to do some basic but very effective image editing, however
changes are applied to the entire image and not to selected
areas. Adjustments can be made to exposure, colour, red eye,
sharpness, and noise. In addition, images can be resized,
cropped, or rotated. Beyond these basic corrections, images
can be altered through effects such as crosshatch, edge effect,
emboss, negative, oil paint, pencil drawing, or simply turned
to a sepia image.
Altered images can be saved by overwriting
the original, or as new images preserving the original image.
ACDSee is also designed for printing, and is able to print
photos in a variety of layouts and can even be used to e-mail
photos.
The other two programs included on the disc, DivX and DirectX
serve, respectively, to view movie clips captured with the
S7, and to ensure full compatibility with the DivX.
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Interface & Software
