Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver)

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

My main camera is the Olympus E-500. I wanted a camera that was for outdoor use (e.g., hiking, kayaking, beach..) This Pentax was the only camera that had a 5x zoom and waterproof. The zoom is just ok. The display is very hard to see in the sun. The modes work well enough. The panoramic is great. The battery definitely does not last long enough.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

I've only owned the camera for a weekend and taken a few pictures, but I did read the entire manual before using it, and I am impressed with its features and capabilities. I bought it mainly because it is waterproof and dustproof, meaning I can take it hiking or skiing and not worry about it being fragile. It also has a much larger zoom range, including a nice wide-angle capability, than many small digital cameras of comparable size. I like all the different shooting modes, and I've tried a couple with good success (Flower, Landscape, Auto Picture, etc.) The exposure-bracketing feature is really useful for outdoor shots where you're just not sure which exposure will yield the best colors, and although I haven't used it yet, the white-balance feature (to compensate for different types of indoor lighting) sounds useful as well. I find the controls much easier to use than my old camera, and the combination of the large, easy-to-read screen and descriptive menu features make it very easy to change settings quickly.

So far, I've not had great luck getting the face-recognition or smile-capture features to work, but they don't really seem too important.

All in all, this is a compact, durable, easy-to-use and well-designed camera. I expect that it will be exactly what I wanted it to be for many years.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

I ordered this camera to take with me to the Dominican Republic for a little getaway. After reading many reviews, I was expecting the picture quality to be on the bad side. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make for the durability, as I am often traveling and have lost many cameras in the process. With that said, I think this camera serves it's purpose. I was very pleased with the picture quaility underwater and on land. I think this camera is perfect for those who love the outdoors and are looking to just capture the memories, and leave the worrying of harming a camera to the pro's.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

I bought this camera for a recent cruse I went on where we had water activities planned. I wanted to be able to capture the moment with a camera that was waterproof. It performed to my expectations. Above water it was great, just like any other point and shoot. Underwater in pools and sunny shallow sand bars it performed great. Kids in the pool, stingrays on an excursion, I came back with some shots I could not have gotten without this camera. I did strugle a little when snorkeling with this camera as the subjects were farther away, it was hard to see the LCD under water, and shutter lag seemed slow maybe due to the time it needed to auto-focus. All in all I am satisified with what it can do for the money. I bought the neopreen case, extra pentax battery and float strap as well. Have fun with a whole new world of photo opportunities.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

The underwater video and camera modes are excellent. Using for surfing photos is a bit difficult due to the steadiness needed to get a good focus. This is probably due to unsteadiness in water and bright sunlight.

The photos taken under most conditions were great in Hawaii. Even my fireworks photos came out great.

The SD Card is super compatible with my MAC.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

I bought this for a recent rafting trip. Performed great. Compact, pretty fast for a P&S, good color and resolution. Wish it had a viewfinder. I have not had battery life issues so far. Has a pretty wide angle end as well as telephoto range.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

Tested under the water works very well recommend!

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

I bought this camera for my 5 year old granddaughter because she prefers to use my SLR and point & shoot cameras rather than her own "kiddie" camera. She takes great pictures.

I bought her this camera because it is lightweight and sturdy -- she can drop it in the sand and not get any in the lens. The lens is stationary so that there are no retraction problems. She doesn't have to remember to put a waterproof case on it when she goes to the pool or beach because the camera is waterproof. All that, and it takes great pictures that she can put on the computer and print on 8 1/2 x 11 paper.

This is a "fun" adventure camera. You can use it hiking, kayaking, and even snow skiing. I wouldn't recommend it for a serious photographer that demands great optical quality. The quality is good, but I notice a bit of distortion in some of her wide angle pictures. I also wouldn't recommend it for scuba diving. It's great for being splashed, taking photos while standing in the surf, or taking a quick photo underwater in the pool, but for diving, I'd prefer a better camera encased in a factory built case.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

After having 2 other point and shoot cameras destroyed by mother nature, it was no wonder I got excited about this little gem. If you live an active lifestyle, or if you are simply accident-prone around technology, look no further.
I took pictures and video in the icy water of Lake Superior for about 10 min and everything looks great. Above-water pictures are fantastic, too. It is nice to be able to have a camera in a kayak or canoe, without hesitation. What is the point of having an expensive camera, if you have to worry about destroying it in less-then-desirable weather conditions?
As a TV news photojournalist, I use the video feature on this camera to capture sweet shots underwater for a story about swimmers. The standard quality is definitely good enough for broadcast. The .AVI format is very universal. The HD video, however is only 15 fps - basically useless.
Battery time seems a little short, so plan on buying an extra battery or two for any adventures you head out on.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

I've bought four of these cameras for use at a coal fired power plant. We crawl into boilers, tanks, turbines and pits with these cameras and you never have to worry about them not working unless the battery is dead. They've been dropped, run over, dunked in gunk and still work, just rinse them off under the water faucet, fire hose or find a clean water puddle (seriously). We keep spare batteries on hand. Great close ups for documentation. Contractors who visit the plant are amazed by the cameras, the quality of the photos and say they are going to buy one.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

I bought this camera for snorkeling in the Galapagos. It was easy to switch between underwater pics and video. I took lots of video and did not run down the battery. Images are of good quality. Shutter delay for still photos is a problem but that is a common complaint with all these small cameras. For underwater snapshots and video this was a delight.

THIS IS NOT AN SLR CAMERA. IT WILL NOT PREVENT YOU FROM NEEDING YOUR SLR ON LAND FOR REAL PHOTOGRAPHY.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

I use this camera for light weight travel and for other times I don't want to carry my big digital SLR. The waterproof features were great for snorkeling and spending time on the beach in Maui. I didn't have to worry about damaging my big camera. I recently traveled to China, and the camera's small size was perfect.

The camera funtions are easy to set and use. The icons that represent the different camera settings are easy to understand.

I would have liked to have a viewfinder on this camera. I took a few pictures that were hard to frame due to the sun reflecting off the LCD screen.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

After destroying previous point and shoot digital camera by using it trying to take pictures while kayak fishing, I decided to obtain a waterproof camera.

Just obtained the Optio a few weeks ago. We are snow skiing in Colorado and I have been using it on a daily basis here on the slopes. The battery is holding up well in the cold temps. Good pictures. Fairly easy to operate with gloves on as far as the shutter button. It is peace of mind knowing that if the camera is dropped in the snow that the moisture will not effect the camera. Have not had the camera underwater yet.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

Bought this camera for a coworker, as we work in a marine environment. It takes pretty good pictures, gets a bit grainy in low light compared to my K10D, video is pretty good, waterproof capapbility duly tested, we have dunked it many times and it passed with flying colours, all in all a nifty lil fella, battery life could be improved though.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

Brought the W60 on a New Years cruise to the Bahamas. Great photos, great video. Took the camera on a 45 mph jet ski outing: no problems!! I miss my Canon for clarity and focus, but the W60 was so much fun to use that it made our vacation. Highly recommended.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

I previously had a Canon Sd800is which got ruined on a river rafting trip, so I got this waterproof Pentax. It is a much inferior camera to the Canon in every way.

The camera operation is slow. Shutter lag is much worse than the Canon. Low light performance is poor (very grainy images). The flash is too weak. The white balance doesn't work very well (especially in the snow and shade). Focus is spotty - sometimes in bright sunlight the subject is still out of focus.

When using the zoom in video mode, the sound of the motor ruins the audio (perhaps this is why Canon disables their optical zoom in video mode).

Ergonomically, the camera is harder to use than the Canon. The Canon was easy to use one-handed because of the placement of the zoom control just in front of the shutter. The Pentax is nearly impossible to use the zoom in one-handed operation.

All-in-all, the Pentax is a huge disappointment and I wish I had gotten another Canon, even if it's not waterproof.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

The W60 is ALL THAT and a bag of chips. Extremely easy to use the icon settings without referring to the manual. Never thought I could get professional looking results so quickly (and I use all the features because it's so easy). The W60 does it all for you. I'll tell you a secret-I was a professional photographer for 30 years. As I got older I got tired of fooling with settings and fiddling with f-stops. The W60 gives me the results I want with no fooling around. Thank you Pentax!!

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

I use this this Camera every day on the job in sub freezing temps, rain, snow whatever the condtions might be. The only thing I wish it had is more Battery life but dont we all wish that.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

The battery could last longer, but it has been thirty below here so possibly part of the problem :) Something about noise that I haven't quite figured out yet. Not always getting it. The photos in focus are very high quality.

Comments about Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera (Silver):

5 stars because it does what it advertises. I just took this camera to Hawaii and it made snorkeling so much fun. It is not pretending to be a professional underwater rig. I got some great photos of my son underwater with sea turtles which are fantastic. It also was good for quick shots around the island and took really nice macro shots of crabs and flowers. I plan on using it when we go skiing in a couple of weeks and I can't wait.