The Pentax Optio S5z, a 5 megapixel compact camera with a 1/2.5-inch CCD, 3x zoom, and a 2.5-inch LCD, is the smallest camera in Pentax’s Optio S line at 3.3 x 2.2 x 0.8 inches and 4.2 ounces. It’s also the most expensive, with an MSRP of $349.95, though online prices range from $270 to $350. It’s about $50 more than Pentax’s Optio S55, and about $120 more than the Optio S45.
Like the other cameras in the Optio S line, the S5z is clad in a bright aluminum alloy, and features the Pentax Sliding Lens system, which allows the lens to retract fully when the camera is shut off. Also like other cameras in the S line, the Optio S5z is very easy to use. Pentax’s slogan for the cameras is in fact, “No experience required,” and they deliver.
The Pentax S5z surprised us with its substandard color performance, earning just a 3.73 overall color score. Many colors produced by the camera were extremely under-saturated, resulting in a dull overall color pallet, while others stayed completely from their intended hue. Cooler tones, namely tones in the blue and green channels, were grossly inaccurate, and some orange tones shifted colors to near white (#16 and green #11). While many compact digital cameras earn low scores on color accuracy tests, none we’ve tested so far have strayed so significantly from the ideal tones. The S5z, like many compact cameras, will consistently produce images with inaccurate color tones; however, the problem is severe enough on the S5z to render many of the produced images unusable.