Oh, you silly Internet. You never forget, do you? You make it so easy for me to see where we've gone. For instance, in February 2006, right here on Gearlog, our own Jennifer "Weird Hunter" Jen DeLeo took a look at Pentax's OptioWPi waterproof digital camera.
Throw it in a drawer, Jen. There's a new sheriff in town. Pentax has upped the stakes with the Optio W60. When you're putting the camera on a site named H2Ocamera.com (as in H²O), you know Pentax is still not shying away from water!
Jen, I laugh at the old-school 6.0 megapixel sensor, 3X optical zoom and operation at depths of 5 feet. The bar has been raised... or maybe lowered. I'm not good with this metaphor stuff.
The new W60 features 10 megapixels and a 5X zoom lens, and it's waterproof down to 13 feet for 2 hours. My fingers are getting that damp, froggy look just because I'm thinking about it. Custom white balancing to counteract the effect water has on light is built right in.
For video, the Optio W60 captures as high as 1,280 by 720 pixels; comparable to HDTV resolution at 720p (15 fps). The camera also features Movie Shake Reduction to automatically correct camera shake with video and Digital Shake Reduction for stills, which automatically adjusts sensitivity up to a maximum of ISO 6,400, permitting a faster shutter speed and sharper, clearer images.
An ISO of 6,400 is not without cost. Higher ISO means more noise effects, so you're trading your unusable blurry photo for a usable but digitally noisy one. Most photographers will consider that a fair trade, especially if your finished pictures are traded by email or printed at 4 by 6 inches.
As I read over the specs, I was surprised Pentax spent so little time touting what I find a great idea: a refraction lens that never protrudes from the camera while zooming. Zoomimg in or out without anything jutting out from the camera seems like witchcraft!
When Jen wrote her review, the Optio was $319.95. Two and a half years later, and with nearly every feature improved, the W60 is $329.95, and no need to wait for a rebate check. It goes on sale next month.
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