Pentax's previous waterproof camera, the Optio W60, has been updated. The new Optio W80 has 12 megapixels instead of 10, it's waterproof to 5m rather than 4m, and it's been toughened up to be shockproof as well, from a height of 1m. The upgrade doesn't come cheap, though -- the W80 wades in at around £270.
Versatile and tough
The W80 feels more substantial and better made than the W60, although its shape and layout are more or less unchanged. It's a versatile little beast, because it packs in a 5x wideangle zoom, a high-definition movie mode and a sensitivity range that goes all the way up to ISO 6,400. You can focus right down to 10mm in macro mode, too. The lens doesn't extend during shooting, so the W80 retains its slim profile even at maximum zoom. Round the back, you get a decent LCD that, although not particularly big by compact standards, is bright, saturated and sharp, even in dim lighting.
The toughening process this camera has gone through makes it a good deal more competitive than the W60. The Olympus mju Tough-8000 goes deeper (10m), but the W80's 5m dive depth will be good enough for most people, although Pentax only guarantees continuous operation at this depth for 2 hours. The shockproofing brings the W80 back on a par with the 8000, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT1 and Canon PowerShot D10 and, like these, it will function down to a temperature of -10°C. It's dust-proof too, so it covers all the bases. On top of all that, it's not a bad-looking camera, either.
Gritty shots
Our W80 review sample had a pretty minging lens, though. It was sharp enough in the centre, but lost focus quite badly at the edges, and it was worse on the left side than the right. A quick check of some old W60 shots (it uses the same 5x zoom lens) suggested that there might be a specific fault with our model, so it might be wise not to set too much store by the results we got. But, besides the lens issue, images had a distinctly gritty, soft look even at the lowest ISO settings.
There are more general issues, though. The control layout's pretty basic, which means you have to use the main menus to change even routine settings like the ISO and white balance, and the buttons feel quite tacky, too. The autofocus isn't that fast, and the face detection occasionally went overboard, targeting an espresso cup on our desk at one point. There's no optical image-stabilisation system either -- you only get digital shake reduction, which isn't in the same league. And, while it's good to have a 1,280x720-pixel resolution HD movie mode, you can't zoom while filming, and the W80 has no HDMI output, so you have to put up with standard PAL definition for TV playback.
Conclusion
Putting aside the lens issue, the Pentax Optio W80's picture quality is still pretty average, and its over-reliance on its menu system makes it a drag to use. Enhancements to the design mean the W80 can now tough it out with the best of its rivals, like the 8000, D10 and FT1, but the build and finish still don't quite feel in the same league.
Edited by Charles Kloet
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robjant 24 May 2011
Good: Waterproof, shock proof, good hi-def video, INCREDIBLE macro photo and video capability
Bad: Batteries run down a bit quick (plenty of cheap spares on ebay!)
Comment: Got this camera for water-based activities and general outdoor use. REALLY pleased with the results.
It's great not having to worry about taking it to the beach, canoeing or strapping it to my mountain bike.
The video footage is brilliant and I've been blown away by the macro video capability (great for mini-beasts!).
It looks great too. Mine is in blue and is the envy of all my friends. I bought it second hand and it works perfectly.
Can't recommend it highly enough.
zakkum 15 October 2009
Good: Waterproofness. Good colour rendition of underwater subjects.
Bad: Had to clear face recognition every time. Battery life.
Comment: My first camera was a Pentax ME Super SLR and I have had a soft spot for Pentax products since. I bought this camera as a replacement for a similiar Panasonic product which failed a submersion test before going on holiday. I go to the Red Sea on holiday and like to take photos and video of the fish I see when snorkeling. I have a Canon with a housing, but wanted to go 16x9 for both formats. I found the Pentax to be totally reliable in very difficult conditions. It was pounded by waves, bumped into coral and did all the rides in the water theme park without any problems.
For general photography I did take a lot of holiday snaps with the camera and I was totally satisfied with the results, but missed having proper manual control of the camera. The scene modes are ok, but found from time to time with a subject I wanted to shoot, no option in the list of scene modes offered.
Underwater capturing sharp images of fast moving fish in waves pushing both me and the subject matter around, is a challenge for any autofocus system. I found the camera had focus problems with about 70% of photographs and 80% of videos being discarded. Video was particularly irritating as my canon would re-calibrate after a few moments, the pentax once started never got things back into focus even with the subject right in the centre of the focus area.
Having said that what it did get right was beautifully rendered and the auto white balance in one of the underwater modes did really well getting all the colours of the fish spot on. The predominant blue of underwater light is a probIem for any camera's white balance and I was very pleased with the data I took. I filmed a lion fish rising up the over the reef top, which was as good as a BBC wildlife programme and showed the subtle detail in the filaments of the fins which far surpassed the 640x480 format of my old equipment. I also have some wonderful stills to impress my family and friends.
However, I still need to find something more quicker and more reliable in the focus area as quite often you will see a rare fish once during the holiday and having a blurred shot of it is very frustrating.
Battery life was also irksome. When filming fish you need to have the camera on all the time ready to catch what might be a 10 second window of opportunity. Pentax only recommend the camera to be used underwater for 2 hours, but as the battery only lasted about 80 mins of that, I never ever used my 8gb SDHC card.
And finally my biggest irritation. Why would anybody who buys an underwater camera be obsessed with face recognition. Every time I switched the camera on, I had to switch the little cheery smiley man off. I'm not manic, but I am beginning to think he is taking the michael. There is a little memory section in the setup to remember some of the settings like zoom etc, but not for that (anglo saxon expletives edited by author at this point) little man. He is there, smiling at you from the LCD screen, no matter what you do.
This camera did the job for me on holiday, never let me down and I was very pleased with what I got, but I will continue looking for something better.
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