Perovskite phase ferroelectric ceramics with complex oxide compositions, comprising Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O-3, Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O-3, Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3, PbZrO3, and PbTiO3 (PNN-PZN-PMN-PZ-PT), with PZ and PT < 50% by mole, were synthesized through a columbite approach at sintering temperatures as low as 850 degrees-900 degrees C. The effects of sintering temperature on the perovskite phase formation, density, dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties were investigated. A maximum piezoelectric coefficient d(33) of 393 pC/N was obtained with a composition of 0.10PNN-0.35PZN-0.15PMN-0.10PZ-0.30PT when sintered at 900 degrees C, although it was away from a morphotropical phase boundary composition. The low processing temperature potentially enables the use of economical electrodes with these compositions for device applications. The dependence of the structure and properties on the compositions of the solid solutions was discussed, and the results indicated that various excellent ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties could be obtained at a low processing temperature by appropriately tailoring the complex composition.