Pentax Optio W20
By Daved Brosche | Permalink | 3 comments | March 15th, 2007Pentax Optio W20 – An underwater digital camera that has consumers coming back for more.
Amazon.com $231.69
The Optio W20 is certainly the best bang for the buck. It may not have all the nifty do-dads of some more expensive underwater digitals cameras, but its users don’t seem to mind. I read quite a few reviews about this camera and the thing I was most impressed with was its repeat buyers.
There were stories of people who lost their camera while diving and went right back out and bought another Optio W20. Some were even W10 users who liked their W20 so much, they went out and got the W20 just because.
This really is the perfect waterproof digital camera for someone who only, kinda-sorta, needs a waterproof camera. It has all the features of a digital camera and some of a waterproof one.
The Pentax Optio W20’s rubber-sealed seems can be submersed up to five feet for around 30 minutes; making it great for snorkeling, but not so much for diving. The Optio is small enough to fit in your pocket, but has buttons big enough to use underwater. The only drawback to the W20 is its image sharpness. Because it has extra glass in front of the lens, it’s not as sharp as other 7 megapixel cameras.
Here’s a run down of the Optio W20 features:
- 7 megapixels
- 3x optical zoom / 4x digital zoom
- Macro lens
- 2.5 inch LCD screen
- Underwater Setting
- Records Videos
Want to get your hands on a Pentax Optio W20? Check them out here:
Amazon.com $231.69
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November 25th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Ive had the w20 for over a year now. Ive been snorkeling with it and spent all day in the salt water diving as deep as 30 feet. Been white water rafting with it too. I have carried it in my pocket for a year and beat the crap out of it. Left it out in the rain, covered it with champagne, mud really anything and cleaned it up with a dunk in a pond. It still takes great photos. If you want to take your camera outdoors buy this one.
March 10th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
This is a decent waterproof camera while it lasts, which isn’t very long. I bought this almost a year ago. After half a year it stopped working and pentax fixed it. I didn’t use it much over the winter, and the next time I used it in water, it did not work afterwards.
It was used in a swimming pool and did not come close to exceeding the 5 foot depth limit, it did not suffer any impacts, and the seal was locked the entire time and for quite a while afterwards.
When I sent it in for repair they would not honor the warranty. My best guess is that they figure this is the second repair and they are losing money on a defective unit, so they decided to just blow me off.
Buy this camera at your own risk, the company does not stand by its products.
April 8th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I have had this camera over a year and it has replaced our other cameras since we can take it anywhere and not take special care of it. I have used it rafting, tubing, canoeing, kayaking, on a speedboat (lots of spray), at the beach, backpacking & skiing in the rain, etc. I often just clip it to my life jacket and don’t think about it until I want to take a shot. And there it is ready to go!
It also works great indoors. The movie modes are reasonably good, though some sort of anti-shake would be nice.
As others have mentioned, it isn’t as sharp as other 7 Mpixel cameras, but it beats the heck out of a disposable or a better camera in a waterproof case. I also miss having an optical viewfinder, but that seems to be a necessary tradeoff for a larger display.
Other pluses: I like the battery life of hundreds of shots and/or weeks of being ready, it handles at least 4GB SD cards, nice large display, no delicate lens being extended at power on or zooming, and it won’t break the bank if I do lose it or trash it by accident.