Pentax Optio WPi 6MP eatures JIS Class 8-equivalent waterproof performance and has a body only .9 inches thick. What’s more, the OptioWPi also features a 2.0-inch LCD monitor, a 3x optical zoom lens, and the imaging power of 6.0 effective megapixels.
Developed in line with the three keywords Sportiness, Elegance, and Leisure, the OptioWPi provides the user with the advantage of waterproof performance that enables confident shooting during a range of water sports. And unusually for a camera with such sporting capability, the OptioWPi also has surprisingly sophisticated styling that makes it ideal for use on practically any kind of occasion.
With the incorporation of a truly easy-to-operate user interface and other innovations, the OptioWPi enables truly stress-free operation. A key example of this is the unique Pentax Mode palette function, which redefines user friendliness and has been exceptionally well received on other models. Indeed the OptioWPi takes the palette function a couple of steps further, allowing it to be used for playback mode selection as well as for shooting mode selection by displaying the icons for various modes on the screen at once. Additionally, the OptioWPi features a function that displays easy explanations for each function too, and all Playback operations have been carefully reviewed and simplified.
With a thin body of just 22mm, the OptioWPi can be easily slipped into and out of a pocket or bag. And despite its compact dimensions, its well-designed grip ensures the camera remains safe and stable in the hands when shooting at all times. With a front panel crafted from an aluminum alloy, the camera conveys a sense of accessible sophistication, while the round water ring design and four-way key are every bit as attractive as they are practical.
Offering JIS Class 8-equivalent waterproof performance, the OptioWPi enables the user to shoot continuously for up to approximately 30 minutes underwater at a maximum depth of 1.5 meters. Such waterproof capability also allows the user to wash the camera with water to rinse away sand and dirt. The perfect companion for watersports, skiing, and other outdoor leisure activities, the OptioWPi also allows the user to shoot in places that would be too dirty to take other cameras.
Helpful consumer’s review
I picked this camera up about a month ago at samys.com (much better price than Amazon) and took it on a week-long trip to the Bahamas. Since I forgot to bring a decent memory card, I was limited to a 256 mb card that I had in the camera, so I took all of my pix at 4mp under the medium quality setting. I found the image quality to be perfectly acceptable and got about 300 pictures and a few very short videos on the card.
Many other people have left great reviews of the camera, so I’ll concentrate on the waterproof aspects. I had the camera in the water for an hour or more on each snorkel, typically twice a day, and never had any problems with water getting inside. This is about twice the recommended length of 30 minutes in the water. I don’t dive, so never had the camera below 5 feet. I attached a floating key ring (available at any marine store for a couple of dollars) to the strap so that I wouldn’t have to worry about letting the camera go and having it sink to the bottom. The camera is light enough that the key ring would actually keep it at the surface–I’d expected that it would simply slow it down on the trip to the bottom. This was a nice bonus, since I could just leave the camera floating while I dove to the bottom to get shells. I’d recommend a closed-cell foam float instead of the hollow plastic kind, as the plastic will eventually fill up with water and lose buoyancy.
In the water, I found the camera quite easy to use, although the buttons could have been a little bigger. The camera seemed to struggle to focus in areas where I was shooting fish from a distance or fish that blended in with the water (like a barracuda), but the pictures came out pretty well at the end. Snorkelers will note that it takes some practice to get a picture of a fish as the camera moves around with the smallest waves and there is just enough shutter delay to make things difficult. I found that by prefocusing (press shutter halfway and hold, with a green box indicating the focused area) and then waiting for the right moment, I got much better results. I couldn’t tell a difference in photo quality between the camera’s underwater setting and the normal setting. I used the macro setting for some close ups on land and was quite impressed with that.
If you’d like to see some underwater pictures for yourself, here is a link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/turgeon/sets/72057594083368500/ Remember that I used the 4 Mpixel setting and 2 star quality setting to save space.
