Pentax Optio W30 7.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)All the reviews & manufacturer hype the water/dust-proofness of this camera, which is fine, because it does a great job, is easy to use, and is fairly sturdy. However, we used to have a Canon SD400, but we wanted a waterproof camera. This W30 is a good camera, but I think we were spoiled with the picture/lens-quality of the Canon.
Good: Water/Dust proof with not much fuss. It just works! Easy to use. Compatible with new SDHC cards (my current card is 8GB!!!). But 16GB and 32GB are on the way. This allows a HUGE number of photos and video to be recorded on ONE CARD. Just make sure to keep spare batteries. One battery will 'roughly' last about 1 hour of video and a 100-200 photos (some with/without flash).
There are no external moving parts (such as lens extension)to get trapped with dust/water, since the lens 'extension' is internal.
The menu/capture-speed is good, but not 'quite' as fast as Canon's Digic II cameras (like SD400, or later).
USB connection is a standard USB mass-storage device, so it should work on Windows, Mac, or Linux with no problems (thank goodness).
Also, this camera seems to be pretty durable/tough. I dropped it several times on CEMENT/concrete, and it got a few cosmetic scratches on the case, but all operations and the lens were fine. But I might put a plastic screen protector on the 2.5" screen to prevent scratches. Another recommendation is to get a silicon skin for pool/underwater use (to prevent case scratches from the pool/rocks), or a neoprene case to keep the lens intact while traveling (since there is NO LENS COVER).
Bad: Video uses Quicktime-MOV files, which is good (potentially), but it's a bit grainy, and the compression is not great. But I can fit a 'rough estimate' of maybe 2-3+ hours of video on an 8GB card.
Ugly: Lots of grain/noise in low-light or even some normal daylight photos. You can workaround this by manually changing the ISO speed to 64, 100, or 200 to reduce noise, but then you may get some blurry shots (due to camera/object motion).
OVERALL: If you don't need a waterproof camera, get a Canon SD-series (they're EXCELLENT). But if you need/want something more 'safe', get this camera. It's easily the best water/dust-proof camera on the market.

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