Pentax Optio S7 - UK Digital Camera Review

Pentax Optio S7 Review

The Pentax Optio S7 has a slim and stylish body with 7 megapixels and 4x digital zoom giving great results which can be viewed on the 2.5" TFT colour, reflective LCD which has approximately 100% field of view.

Two other additional features to this camera are the Blur Reduction mode and the Face Recognition feature. Both of these modes improve the Pentax Optio S7 performance with the blur reduction reducing camera shake and therefore eliminating the blurring of your subject and the face recognition feature automatically adjusting focus and exposure when taking portrait shots.

Pentax Optio S7 Front
Pentax Optio S7 Back

Still images or movies can be shot using the Pentax S7. Movies can be taken at 30fps AVI and have sound/movie anti shake with a still image format of JPEG, DCF, DPOF, Print Image Matching III.

The Optio S7 has a built in memory of 23MB and is compatible with SD and SDHC. The camera is powered by a rechargeable D-L18 lithium-ion battery and there is an optional AC adaptor available.

ISO sensitivity is auto or manual with a range of ISO 50/100/200/400. When using the blur reduction mode, the sensitivity is equivalent to ISO 800 and 1600. White balance modes include; auto, manual, shade, daylight, tungsten and fluorescent.

The Pentax Optio S7 has still focus ranges of panfocus, manual and auto. Using wide-angle setting - pan is 1.3m to infinity, manual is 0.15m to infinity and auto is 0.15m to infinity with macro at 0.15m to 0.5m. Movie ranges in wide setting are; pan from 0.5m to infinity and manual at 0.15m to infinity.

The Pentax S7 also offers scene modes such as auto picture, landscape, portrait, night, surf and snow, kids, sport and pets where the appropriate settings are selected automatically. There is a built-in auto flash within the Pentax Optio S7 together with choices of flash on, flash off, soft flash and red-eye reduction. Other modes available.

The Optio S7 is compatible with NTSC, PAL formats and PictBridge.

For the Pentax Optio S7

Pentax Optio S7 Specifications & Features

  • 7 Megapixels
  • 4 x Digital Zoom
  • 15cm Focusing Distance
  • Automatic, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten Light, Fluorescent Light and Manual White Balance Settings
  • 2.5" LCD Screen, approx. 232,000 pixels
  • Auto Flash, Flash On, Flash Off, Soft Flash and Red-Eye Reduction Flash Modes
  • Maximum Image Size 3072 x 2304 Pixels
  • 640 x 480 Movies up to capacity of memory card
  • PictBridge Compatible
  • Secure Digital (SD) Card - 23MB Internal Memory
  • Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
  • Approximate Weight 120g

Pentax Optio S7 User Reviews

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Reviewer: Keith - UK
Having been used to using larger SLR-type digital cameras in the past, I bought the Pentax Optio S7 to take on holiday - that way I could leave my more bulky cameras at home.
It's so small it easily fits into a pocket. At first I have to admit I was a little bit sceptical, but after using it for only a little while I was genuinely surprised.
The only drawbacks I found were that in bright light (ie strong sunlight) the large screen on the back of the camera is difficult to see, and in low light, flash is limited to only a few feet.
But apart from that I found it worked fine.
Colours were bright and images were sharp and crisp, especially when using fill in flash in sunny conditions.
The red eye correction facility is great, but to avoid it in the first place always use the red eye reduction flash setting.
The ability to crop pictures in camera, not always found in a camera of this size, is also a big bonus. In doing so you lose pixelation, but if you have it set at 7m pixels in any event the loss of quality in the cropped print is minimal.
All in all a great little camera. If you have big hands the small buttons may cause you some problems, but this is only a minor grumble.
Who was it that said 'size matters?'

Features
Rating 8/10
Image Quality
Rating 9/10
Usability
Rating 8/10
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Pentax Optio S7 Review & Features - © UK Digital Camera Reviews 2008
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