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| $300.00 | Used
- Good | | | $399.44 | New | |
| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review:
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Good for what it is. May 14, 2010
My wife purchased the Pentax Optio W20 7MP Waterproof camera for my birthday a couple years ago. I needed to replace a Nikon which had drowned in a rain storm. The camera proved to be very useful and reliable. I shot both video and stills in the ocean and lakes. The camera never took on water. The picture quality was good in and out of the water.
I would say that this is a basic point and shoot with the only exception being that it is waterproof.
The layout and functions are easy to use, although coming from a fairly high end digital Nikon and an old Nikon SLR, I missed the manual controls. The 3x Optical begins with a recessed lens, so close ups can appear a bit distorted. I recommend, stepping back and zooming to capture close-ups.
High ISOs give a great deal of noise, but with the automatic 400 setting, indoor and low-light stills looked great.
Overall, I'd recommend to anyone as a second camera for rainy days, or rafting/kayaking trips. The pictures are good, but you will have to play with the settings to get really good pics.
Great for underwater! Oct 17, 2009
If you're looking for a great point-and-shoot camera with a fast flash and great clarity in most of your shots, this is probably not the camera for you. That being said, this is a great second camera for the beach, swimming pool, indoor water parks, and snow.
The Good: I have gotten some amazing and really cool photos of my kids under the water at swimming pools and water parks. The underwater video feature is also awesome. I've captured their first attempts at swimming on video from UNDER the water! I have videos of them swimming toward me and also waving, so I e-mail them to the grandparents and deployed Dad. I was even able to get shots of a friend who threw his son into the air at a water park (the son is in mid-air). I've taken pictures and video underwater of my kids swimming in a jacuzzi (the hot temperature doesn't affect it). I can take the camera to the beach and not worry about the sand getting into it. I take pictures of sand castles and then wash it off in the ocean water. No sweat. Because of its "toughness," I feel comfortable taking it out in the snow. I don't like to expose my other cameras to cold temperatures.
Modes available (I haven't tried most of these): Auto Picture; Program; Night Scene; Movie; Voice Recording; Landscape; Flower; Portrait; Underwater; Underwater Movie; Blur Reduction; Surf & Snow; Sport; Pet; Frame Composite; Syncrho Sound Record; Kids; Soft; Self-Portrait; Fireworks; Food; Text; Museum; Natural Skin Tone; Report
The Bad: Because the camera housing is waterproof, all of the menu selections are on the screen (no dial). So, to switch from Auto Photo to underwater photo to underwater video, you have to go through the menu program on screen. Not a big deal--just have to adjust. The main thing is the lag time of the flash. Unless you're at an outdoor pool, most photos (in and out of the water) need a flash. The flash is SLOW, especially the underwater flash. I sometimes have to try 3 or 4 times to get a nice shot--but worth it! Also, if there are lots of bubbles in the water (wave pool), the focus can get thrown off.
The Bottom Line: This won't likely fit the bill to capture amazing shots and certainly not indoor photos where the target is moving (takes patience and several tries). However, for places with water or sand, it will take some awesome photos and videos your other non-waterproof cameras can only dream about.
 Dead and useless Aug 20, 2009
I owned this camera for about three years. I used it often for the first two years and now am using a small LEICA point and shoot. I just tried to put the Pentax back in service and it is dead - will not turn on. A new battery doesn't help. It was stored in a drawer without a battery under good conditions. Next time I will pay more attention to the negative reviews.
No dissapointments Mar 06, 2009
I have had this camera for four years now, and i still love it. I've never had a problem with it leaking underwater (one of my innitial fears), the buttons still all work, it turns on and it ready to use in 3 seconds, it is very small (but not too small), and can go a whole day on one battery as long as you turn it off in between photos (tested in spain, portugal,poland, and prague. The bad things: the flash washes pictures out more than some of the newer camera and it tends to take fuzzy pictures if you dont have a steady hand. I do have the first edition of this camera (optioWP), so they might have fixed these things.
 Great for outdoor shots Nov 19, 2008
I had this trusty little guy for over a year while doing marine biology work in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. It survived fish guts and water. I also dropped it a handful of times, and that never seemed to phase it. It took great outdoor shots, and indoor bright lighting shots looked good too. I could take a pic of a fish on a table and zoom way in to see the scales when I looked at it on the computer. The anti-blur mode is pretty good for catching birds in flight too. Low lighting indoor shots, however, were a problem. All of my party pics from the time I had this camera are terrible. If you are looking to take pics of family and friends, look elsewhere. The final thing I will say is to get a neck strap. Mine fell out of my pocket while canoeing, and it is probably still waiting at the bottom of the river for some lucky swimmer.
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