The Pentax Optio S55 goes beyond most ultra-compact cameras in
its ability to be taken everywhere. The S55's 1.1" thick metallic
body easily fits in a shirt pocket and is sturdy enough to endure
being carried constantly. However, the most impressive is its
good battery life using 2 AA batteries (230 shots based on CIPA
standard). Indeed, AA batteries are the most practical
for taking digital cameras anywhere because they are widely available,
inexpensive, replaceable by disposable and rechargeable via solar
power (solar battery charger required).
Given its 5 megapixel sensor, its 3X optical zoom lens and
its rich feature set, the S55 is well suited for general
purpose photography and snapshots. Notable features of the
Pentax S55 are:
ISO sensitivity selection: Auto, 50,100,200 and
400.
White balance: Auto, sunlight, shade, tungsten,
fluorescent and custom.
Focus modes: Normal, infinity, macro, super-macro and
manual.
Metering control: Evaluative, center-weighed or spot.
Image parameter adjustment: Sharpness, saturation and
contrast.
Panoramic assist mode.
Obviously missing from the S55 are controls over aperture
and shutter-speeds, nor are these features present in the
vast-majority of ultra-compact cameras (For full-manual control
in an ultra-compact body see the Fuji F810, for slow shutter-speed
control only see the Fuji F10, Canon SD500, Canon SD400 and
Canon SD300 - note that none of these use AA batteries).
Usability - How easy is it to use?
Taking pictures is very simple with the Pentax S55. The
large 2.5" LCD is very nice for framing and provides a clear
view of the subject at normal light levels. Lacking an optical
viewfinder is one of this camera's weaknesses since very bright
light can make the LCD difficult to see. The shutter release
button is large and easy to press with a distinct halfway point
making it easy to focus before pressing it fully. Photographic
modes (including movie and voice-record mode) are easy to select
using the top-mounted mode dial which surrounds the power button
to protect it from being accidentally pressed.
Despite its diminutive size dominated on the rear by the 2.5" LCD,
the Pentax S55 has a good number of external controls. Due
to the LCD's size, most buttons are quite small and cover almost
the entire back of the camera. During use, only the size and
placement of the display mode button proved problematic. Luckily
for Pentax, it is probably the least used button on the camera's
back.
By default, the direction pad controls some commonly used functions
(drive-mode, focus-mode, flash-mode and sub-mode selection). After
pressing the Fn button, the direction pad give access to 3
or 4 user-selected functions. This is a wonderful feature
because users tend to access a small set of features frequently. Personally,
the exposure compensation, ISO sensitivity and white-balance
were my favorites. Other cameras from Fuji and Canon have
quick-access menus too but they are not usually customizable
and don't offer access to the most important functions (for example,
image resolution and quality are frequently present but personally
never used - except for testing). As for the mode dial,
it gives direct access to all the important modes and gives indirect
access to other modes like filter effects and specialty scene
modes.
The tiny display button gives access to several display
modes including one with a live-histogram. This is a rare
feature on small cameras but is very valuable to judge exposure
problems. Strangely, the camera allows the LCD to be turned
off entirely even though there is no other viewfinder! The
delete button serves to erase pictures in playback mode but
also to prevent pictures taken from being stored. Even
if the instant preview is on, the camera doesn't slow down
and pressing the shutter button partly immediately exits
the instant preview. This is good for getting the right
shot of a moving subject. Even menus can be zoomed-in
using the zoom controller for people who have vision problems.
In practice, using the Pentax Optio S55 is comfortable for
such a small camera. A small bump with the Pentax logo on
the front allows it to be held securely (this is an improvement
over the Pentax Optio S40 and S50 which lack this element). On
the rear, there is only one place to put your thumb and it
is a tight spot. During the review, I never accidentally
bumped any buttons but I believe it could happen to the direction
pad for people with large hands.
The S55 has separate doors for its SD card slot and its battery
compartment which makes it impossible to drop one while changing
the other. The SD slot door seems rather sturdy, while the battery
door seems of average built. The plastic tripod socket
is uncomfortably located at one edge of the camera. However,
the camera's light weight did not cause any problems while mounted
on a tripod. A cheap quality wrist strap is provided
with the camera but serves its purpose well. Pentax offers a
sturdy plastic-covered metal neck chain if desired. The S55 has
good-looking styling but its chrome surfaces show fingerprints
easily.
Performance - How well does it take pictures?
Straight-out the Pentax Optio S55 produces good looking pictures
adequate for printing at sizes up to 9"x12". The pictures have
nice natural colors and better than average contrast. This allows
it to keep more details in bright areas of pictures than other
cameras in its class. Noise levels are kept quite low up
to ISO 200 but become visible at ISO 400. At ISO 400, noise
is less visible than average but so are fine details which are
slightly softened. Below ISO 400, images are quite sharp
edge-to-edge except at maximum wide-angle where some corner softness
is visible. The corner softness at wide-angle is much less pronounced
than with the vast majority of ultra-compact digital cameras.
Noise levels of each ISO setting can be seen on 100%
crops here. See
scaled images approximating 4x6 prints
from the S55.
Battery life using 2 NiMh rechargeable AA batteries is better
than average. Very few cameras do much better using lithium-ion
batteries but considering the low cost of AA batteries (and the
constant arrival of better models), there is no need to worry
about the S55's battery life. The S55 can also use CR-V3
lithium batteries for even better battery life but we have not
tested this here.
The speed of this camera appears slightly less than average and
definitely far behind that of the Fuji
Finepix F10. Focus
speed is decent in bright light but tends to become quite slow
under low-lighting or when confronted with low-contrast subjects. The
zoom motor operates faster than average but behind that of the
Fuji F10. In continuous drive mode, using a high-speed
card, we found less than 1 FPS but without burst limit.
Conclusion
The Pentax Optio S55 earns our Good rating due to its image quality,
ergonomics, feature set and battery life, which reasonably offsets
its slow performance and its trouble focusing in low-light. Other
downsides of this camera are present in most competing models
in greater amounts, so we can't hold them against it. This camera
is well suited to be taken anywhere due to its ultra-compact
body, its sturdy built and its use of AA batteries. For
an ultra-compact camera, it has a pleasant abundance of features
making it more fun and flexible than competing models.
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