Pentax Optio RS1500 Review

3.5

August 1, 2011 | Matt Grayson |

Buy a Optio RS1500 14 Megapixel Compact Camera - Silver (7.6 cm 3" LCD - 4x Optical Zoom - Optical, Electronic IS - 4288 x 3216 Image - 1280 x 720 Video - HD Movie Mode)

Lowest Price: N/A

Buy a Optio RS1500 Silver Digital Camera (14 MP, 4x Opt, SD/SDHC Card Slot)

Lowest Price: $129.95

Specifications

Type
Camera Type	Digital zoom compact camera
Sensor
Type	CCD
Size	1/2.33''
Effective Pixels	14 megapixels
Still	14M (4288x3216), 10M (16:9) (4224x2376), 7M (3072x2304), 2M (16:9) (1920x1080), 640 (640x480 pixels)?
Movie	HDTV (1280x720), 30/15 fps VGA (640x480) 30/15 fps QVGA (320x240), 30/15 fps
Colour Depth	12 bits x 3 colours
Sensitivity	Auto or Fixed (100-6400 ISO)?
Shake Reduction	CCD-shift Shake Reduction
Lens
Focal Length	PENTAX zoom lens 4.9 - 19.6mm f/3.2 (W) - 5.9 (T), equ. to 27.5-110mm in 35mm format
Digital Zoom	Optical zoom: 4x Digital zoom: approx. 6.7x Intelligent zoom: Approx. 5.6x at 7M, approx. 26.8x at 640 (including optical zoom).
Construction	6 elements in 5 groups (3 aspherical elements)
Focusing System
Type	Contrast detection TTL Autofocus system
Functions	Multi-AF 3-point zone, Spot AF, Auto-tracking AF (anticipating moving subject) Infinity-landscape, Pan focus
Focus Range (automatic)	Normal: 0.4m - infinity (whole zoom area) Macro: 15cm to 50cm (at wide setting), 25cm to 50cm (at medium magnification length) Super Macro: 8cm to 25cm (at focal length of 5.8mm)
AF assist	AF assist lamp at front
Screen
Type	3'' (7.62cm diagonal) colour LCD monitor
Resolution	230.000 dots
Playback	Slideshow, Image Rotation, Small Face filter, Natural Skin Tone, Digital Filter, Frame composite, Movie Edit, Red-Eye compensation, Resize, Cropping, Protect, Image copy, DPOF, Start-up image, Face close-up playback?
Shutter
Type	Electronic shutter with automatic exposure program controlled
Speed	1/2000 to 1/4 sec. 4 sec max. (Night Scene mode)
Exposure system
Metering	Multi-segment metering
Exposure Modes	Auto Picture, Program, Natural Skin Tone, Night Scene Portrait, Night Scene, Movie, Landscape,Blue Sky, Sunset, Flower, Sport, Digital SR, Kids,Pet, Portrait, Food, Candlelight, Surf & Snow, Half-length portrait, Frame composite, Text, Digital Panorama, Green
Compensation	+/- 2EV (1/3EV steps)
Flash
Type	Built-in flash: Integrated auto flash control Automatic activation in low lighting conditions ??
Modes	Flash-on, flash-off and soft flash modes. "Red-eye" reduction function
Effective Range	Wide: approx. 0.15 - 4.8m (ISO Auto) Tele: approx: 0.4m - 2.6m (ISO Auto)
Exposure Parameters
Modes	One shot Self timer (2 or 10 sec) Continuous shooting Burst Shooting (3.2 fps for up to 10 frames) Multi-Burst (takes 16 VGA-size pictures at approx. 7.5 fps and creates a contact sheet)
Face Recognition	Face recognition (detects up to 10 faces) Smile capture (smile detection and auto-picture)
White Balance	Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light, Manual setting
Digital Filter	B&W, Sepia, Toy camera, Retro, Colour, Soft, Starburst, Fish-eye, Brightness
Movie
Recording	Digital shake reduction - stabilized video Duration: Depends on memory card capacity HDTV (1280x720) at 30/15 fps VGA (640x480 pixels) at 30/15 fps QVGA (320x240 pixels) at 30/15 fps
Editing	Video Editing available
Playback
Digital Filter	B&W, Sepia, Toy camera, Retro, Colour, Soft, Starburst, Fish-eye, Brightness
Options	Slideshow, Histogram, Calendar, Resize, Cropping, Image rotation, Original frame, Frame composite, Red-eye compensation, Subscreen input, Voice recording, Protect, DPOF, Image recovery, Selection as Start image, Date printing, Pet recognition, Face close up playback
Storage
Internal	21.6MB
External	SD and SDHC memory cards
File Format	JPEG (Exif 2.3), DCF 2.0, DPOF, PRINT Image Matching III AVI (Motion JPEG)
Special Features
Features	World time (75 cities, 28 time zones) Digital Shake Reduction Noise reduction when shutter speed is slower than 1/4 sec DRE available: shadow adjustment
Language	English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Greek, Russian, Thai, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
Interface
Interface	USB 2.0 Hi-Speed, PC/AV output (PAL/NTSC, mono)
Power
Source	Rechargeable Li-ion D-LI108 battery? ? ? ?
Performance	Approx. 210* shots and 260** min. in playback mode with Li-ion rechargeable battery. Recording capacity shows approximate number of shots recorded during CIPA-compliant testing. Actual performance may vary depending on operating conditions. *According to the result of PENTAX in-house testing?.
Dimensions
Height	56mm
Width	92mm
Depth	22.5mm
Weight	110 g unloaded, 127 g loaded and ready?
Compatibility
PC	Windows XP SP3, Vista^TM and 7
Mac	Mac OS X 10.3.9 or above
Accessories
Included Software	PC: Arcsoft Media Impression 3.0 for PENTAX Mac: Arcsoft Media Impression 2.1 for PENTAX
Kit Content	USB cable, Li-ion rechargeable battery, battery charger kit, strap, software, set of 10 pre-printed skins, set of 5 pre-cut printable sheets of 10x15 photo paper, set of 2 interchangeable lens rings
Optional	Leather or neoprene cases, leather strap, AC adapter kit