New replacement Camera - Pentax but which one???
Discussion
Hi All,
Just waiting for a cheque to come through from the insurance company for my replacement camera but what do I go for. The camera I have broken is a Pentax Optio S5i which has been replaced by the S5z (approx £200), however do I go for that or the S5n (the previous replacement £180) or the SVI again at a £200.
All are pretty similar but the SVI has a 5x zoom and a smaller screen than the others.
Heading towards the S5z but having been playing with my Dad's digital camera with 10x zoom at the weekend i'm starting to think again!
Thanks,
Phill
Just waiting for a cheque to come through from the insurance company for my replacement camera but what do I go for. The camera I have broken is a Pentax Optio S5i which has been replaced by the S5z (approx £200), however do I go for that or the S5n (the previous replacement £180) or the SVI again at a £200.
All are pretty similar but the SVI has a 5x zoom and a smaller screen than the others.
Heading towards the S5z but having been playing with my Dad's digital camera with 10x zoom at the weekend i'm starting to think again!
Thanks,
Phill
GetCarter said:
www.camerabox.co.uk/products.asp?DepartmentID=6
go on - you know you want to
I know I want to! Just after a compact camera to take out on nights out at uni etc though!
pmanson said:
Just after a compact camera to take out on nights out at uni etc though!
My younger daughter has much the same requirements. A firend of hers took a Casio Z57 on holiday and she decided that was the one for her. So it arrived yesterday and is now charged up and ready to go.
I have been fighting the urge to make off with it and do a comparative test with the S5i ...
It has the Pentax lens, same as the S5i as far as I can tell. It's a tiny bit bigger and seems heavier but has a 2.7 inch screen - vast! No separate viewfinder - same as the S5n/z. Controls are similar BUT unless I have missed something it does not seem to offer the same direct access to things like EV adjustment. The features seem to be there but only via the menu system or by pre-programmed settings in memory.
One odd thing is that the top quality images are mentioned as having a file size of 2Mb rather than the 3.5ish Mb of the S5i. Suggests higher compression algorithms in use perhaps?
Battery life reckoned at 400 shots.
The large screen provides for high qality graphical onboard help for functions so the printed manual is quite basic. The full manual is in pdf form on the CD so may well be having a look at that tomorrow.
Good price from 7 Day Shop, though I would have bought the Z750 had the choice been mine.
If you can hang on a few days I may be able to provide some more input.
Hmm. Casio Z57.
It's a little bigger and a little heavier and the two aspect together make it seem quite a bit bulkier but not excessively so.
The huge screen seems OK and bright mode look handy for brtight light situations, given there is no optical viewfinder.
Everything, is done via the menu system other than the red button which is the equivalent of the green button on the S5i, and selecting the focus type (Auto, Macros, Pan, Infinity, Manual from 0 to 1 meter/infinity) and flash setting. There are slight differences - only one Macro setting for example, but otherwise it seems familiar. On the other hand whereas the S5i has control from the 4 way controller for EV compensation Z57 requires menu access to make the change as far as I can tell unless you program the Left/Right functions to provide that facility. (The other choices for L/S are: Rec Mode, White Balance, ISO and Self Timer.)
On max image size and FINE setting (not tried anything else) the files ar circa 2.2Mb and on a standard SD memory card (512Mb - $17.99 from Seven Day Shop)) take about the same time to write as the 3.2Mb files I get on the S5i writing to a 256Mb Hi Speed card.
The images are certainly warmer - more yellow is evident - on the default settings. Interestingly they also appear to be sharper, noticably so at the max optical zoom. I need to play with this some more to be clear if this is a software effect or a lens effect. Interesting since the lenses are, ostensibly, identical. However whether the rest of the it is different I don't know and I have no idea how my S5i compares with others. (Maybe I need to go back and compare it with my original S5i test shots in case any wear and tear has affected the focusing ability.)
If they do have better sharpness and equivalent resolution despite significantly smaller file sizes I would like to understand why.
The pre-sets (much the same as the Pentax pre-sets but called 'Bestshot' and some posible useful ones, like a split so that you can take a left half and right half photo and another to superimpose a foreground shot on a pre-shot background) are also only available via the menu on a scroll through basis. If you want an option and know which one this is perhaps slower than the Pentax menu BUT at least there are full explanantions of what the option is intended for and what the changes to the outline settings will be.
The other main difference is that both charging and transfer require the USB cradle unless you remove the memory card.
Overall it seems OK and the big screen is handy. I would still look at the Z750 as well though and the Pentax S5z.
I hope this is of use. If you have any specific questions I will see what I can do to answer them, subject ot being allowed to borrow the thing to experiment!
It's a little bigger and a little heavier and the two aspect together make it seem quite a bit bulkier but not excessively so.
The huge screen seems OK and bright mode look handy for brtight light situations, given there is no optical viewfinder.
Everything, is done via the menu system other than the red button which is the equivalent of the green button on the S5i, and selecting the focus type (Auto, Macros, Pan, Infinity, Manual from 0 to 1 meter/infinity) and flash setting. There are slight differences - only one Macro setting for example, but otherwise it seems familiar. On the other hand whereas the S5i has control from the 4 way controller for EV compensation Z57 requires menu access to make the change as far as I can tell unless you program the Left/Right functions to provide that facility. (The other choices for L/S are: Rec Mode, White Balance, ISO and Self Timer.)
On max image size and FINE setting (not tried anything else) the files ar circa 2.2Mb and on a standard SD memory card (512Mb - $17.99 from Seven Day Shop)) take about the same time to write as the 3.2Mb files I get on the S5i writing to a 256Mb Hi Speed card.
The images are certainly warmer - more yellow is evident - on the default settings. Interestingly they also appear to be sharper, noticably so at the max optical zoom. I need to play with this some more to be clear if this is a software effect or a lens effect. Interesting since the lenses are, ostensibly, identical. However whether the rest of the it is different I don't know and I have no idea how my S5i compares with others. (Maybe I need to go back and compare it with my original S5i test shots in case any wear and tear has affected the focusing ability.)
If they do have better sharpness and equivalent resolution despite significantly smaller file sizes I would like to understand why.
The pre-sets (much the same as the Pentax pre-sets but called 'Bestshot' and some posible useful ones, like a split so that you can take a left half and right half photo and another to superimpose a foreground shot on a pre-shot background) are also only available via the menu on a scroll through basis. If you want an option and know which one this is perhaps slower than the Pentax menu BUT at least there are full explanantions of what the option is intended for and what the changes to the outline settings will be.
The other main difference is that both charging and transfer require the USB cradle unless you remove the memory card.
Overall it seems OK and the big screen is handy. I would still look at the Z750 as well though and the Pentax S5z.
I hope this is of use. If you have any specific questions I will see what I can do to answer them, subject ot being allowed to borrow the thing to experiment!
pmanson said:
Hi LongQ thanks for your help!
I'm still very tempted by the S5z as I got on very well with the S5i.
I know what you mean. The screen sizes are not so different. Neither the Z57 or the S5z have an optical viewfinder - which is a shame as I have found situations where I find even the tiny one on the S5i more usable than the screen. Panning mostly - or when the sun is too bright to see the screen. But then my age means that focusing on things quite near is getting more difficult but I'm blowed if I will even attempt to resort to bi-focals! I blame too much screen work using PH!
pmanson said:
Any experience with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ1 or LZ2? They look quite interesting with a 6x optical zoom!
Not from me I'm afraid.
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