Pentax Optio W60 Review

Click to take a QuickTime tour of the Optio W60

The PENTAX Optio W60 compact digital camera is lightweight and fully waterproof. The Optio W60 features 10 megapixels and a 5X zoom lens with 28mm wide-angle capability. The enhanced design of the Optio W60 allows the camera to operate up to 13 feet underwater for two hours and at extreme temperatures well below freezing.

The Optio W60 also accompanies users to new aquatic depths. With improved design and construction of the shutter button and controls, as well as reinforced, airtight joints, the Optio W60 allows underwater photography up to 30 percent deeper than previous PENTAX waterproof models. In addition to the JIS Class 8 waterproofing standard, the camera is JIS Class 5 dustproof against dirt, sand and dust and operates in extreme temperatures as cold as 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 degrees Celsius).

The 5X optical zoom refraction lens never protrudes from the Optio W60 covers focal lengths from 5mm to 25mm (approximately 28mm to 140mm in 35mm format). This range allows the camera to capture a wide variety of scenes including expansive landscapes, architecture, and group photos in confined spaces as well as close-up telephoto shots of subjects.

The Green mode simplifies picture taking by letting the camera control detailed settings. Since a simple press of the green button activates the Green mode, even beginning photographers can enjoy taking pictures with ease. The Green mode resets the shooting menu, setup menu, and other settings to their defaults and locks the menu and mode buttons and other controls so you don't have to worry about unintentionally changing the settings. This mode comes in handy when asking someone else to take your picture.

The Optio W60 captures movies at resolutions as high as 1280 x 720 pixels, which is comparable to HDTV resolution at 720p. The camera also features Movie Shake Reduction to automatically correct camera shake and an Underwater Movie mode that optimizes color settings for recording underwater.

Optio W60 Features:

• JIS Class 8 Waterproof (3m, up to 2 hours) and JIS Class 5 Dustproof performance
• Reinforced 2 layer polycarbonate plastic with aluminum plated body
• 10-megapixel imager and a 5x optical zoom lens with SP coating
• 2.5-inch 230,000 pixel color LCD monitor
• Fast 9-point Autofocus with Tracking AF
• New Face Recognition AF & AE technology
• Voice Recorder and Voice Memo features
• Metering and White Balance is adjustable
• 14 Digital Filters, Sharpness, Saturation and Contrast is adjustable
• Movie mode1280x720 15fps and 640x480 30fps w/audio and anti-shake, length limited only by available memory
• Built-in flash with Auto, Fill and Red-eye Reduction modes
• ISO speeds: 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 and 6400
• USB Mass Storage compatible for PC and Mac OS
• Approx. 36.4MB of internal memory or optional SD/SDHC memory card storage
• Powered by rechargeable Lithium-ion D-LI78 battery
• Audio-Video Out for connection and replay on TV
• PictBridge compatible for direct printing

The Optio W60 is available in Ocean Blue or Silver with an MSRP of US$329.95 and ships with: USB Cable I-USB7 (39551), AV Cable I-AVC7 (39552), Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery D-LI78 (39741), Battery Charge Cradle D-BC78(A), AC Plug Cord (39477), Strap O-ST20 (39195), Software CD-ROM S-SW81.

Please help support our site and visit the stores below for real-time pricing and availability.

Pentax Optio W60 Specifications

Type: Compact Digital Waterproof Camera

Colors Available: Silver and Ocean Blue

Sensor: Type - 1/2.3" interline transfer CCD w/primary color filter; Effective pixels - 10.0 MP; Total pixels - 10.34 MP; Recorded resolutions - Still: 10M (3648x2736), 7.5M (3648x2056, 16:9), 7M (3072x2304), 5M (2592x1944), 3M (2048x1536), 1024 (1024x768), VGA (640x480); Movie: HD 720p (1280x720), VGA (640x480), QVGA (320x240); Quality levels - *** (Best), ** (Better), * (Good)

Lens: Type/construction - PENTAX zoom lens, 11 elements, 9 groups (5 aspherical elements); Optical zoom - 5x; Focal length (equiv.) - 5-25mm (28-140mm); Digital zoom - 5.7x; Combined zoom - 28.5x; Intelligent zoom - Non-interpolated, approx 5.9x at 7M to 28.5x at VGA; Aperture - f/3.5-5.5

LCD/Viewfinder: LCD screen - 2.5" TFT color LCD with IPS (In Plane Switching) technology for wide angle viewing, and AR anti-reflective coating; LCD resolution - 230,000 dots; Wide angle viewable - YES, approx 170 degrees horizontal/vertical; Optical viewfinder - n/a

Focus System: Type - 9 point TTL contrast detection autofocus; Focus modes - 9 point AF, Spot AF, Auto Tracking AF, Macro, Super Macro, Infinity Landscape, Pan focus, Manual focus; Manual focus - YES; Macro focus - YES, macro and super macro available; Focus lock - YES, by pressing the shutter release button half way; Focus range - Normal: 1.64' to infinity (over entire zoom range); Macro: 0.33-1.97' (over entire zoom range); Super Macro: 0.03-0.98' (at mid-zoom, set automatically)

Flash: Type - Built-in series-control auto flash; Flash modes - Auto, flash on, flash off, redeye, soft; Effective range - 13' (wide, auto ISO), 8.2' (tele, auto ISO)

Storage Media: Internal memory - 36.4 MB; Removable memory - SD, SDHC

Interfaces: Ports - USB 2.0 hi-speed, AV out; Video out - NTSC, PAL; Printer interfaces - PictBridge

Power Supply: Power source - Rechargeable Li-Ion battery D-LI78; Recordable images - Approx 205; Playback time - Approx 200 min; Movie recording time - Approx 75 min; Audio recording time - Approx 240 min; AC adapter available: YES (optional)

Physical Specifications: Dimensions (W x H x D) - 3.9 x 2.2 x 1.0"; Weight - Without battery or removable memory: 4.4 oz; Loaded and ready: 5.1 oz; Construction material(s) - Reinforced 2 layer polycarbonate plastic with aluminum plating; Operating temperature - 14-104 degrees F

Timing: Startup - Approx 1.9 sec; Release lag - Approx 0.03 sec

Language Support: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Greek, Russian, Thai, Korean, Traditional/Simplified Chinese

Image Stabilization: Still - Digital SR (auto up to ISO 6400, 5M); Movie - Movie SR

Metering System: Type - TTL; Multi-segment - YES; Center weighted - YES; Spot - YES; Exposure compensation - +/- 2 EV (1/3 steps)

ISO Sensitivity: Auto - 50-1600, auto range adjustable, 50-6400 in Digital SR mode (5M); Manual - 50-6400, ISO 3200-6400 fixed at 5M

White Balance: Auto preset modes - Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent; Manual mode(s) - YES

Shutter: Type - Programmed AE electronic lens shutter with CCD electronic shutter; Shutter speed - 1/1500 to 1/4 sec (up to 4 sec in Night Scene mode)

Capture Modes: Mode selection - Auto Picture (Standard, Landscape, Portrait, Night Scene Portrait, Night Scene, Sport, Flower), Program, Night Scene, Movie, Underwater, Underwater Movie, Landscape, Flower, Portrait, Digital Wide Angle (5M), Surf & Snow, Digital SR (5M), Kids, Pet, Half Length Portrait (3M), Sport, Fireworks, Voice Recording, Night Scene Portrait, Text, Food, Digital Panorama (2M per frame), Frame Composite (3M), Report (1280x960), Green Green simplified mode available: YES Face recognition available: YES, up to 32 faces in 0.03 sec, Smile Capture, Blink Detection P/A/S/M/B: P; Date stamp - YES, date, date-time, time (not available in Green mode); Digital filters (capture) - Movie Color Filters (color, B&W,sepia); Dynamic Range Adjustment - n/a

Drive Modes: Mode selection - One shot, self timer (10s, 2s), continuous, high speed continuous (5M), interval, auto bracket; Continuous FPS - Approx 1 FPS, high speed continuous 3.6 FPS for 7 frames (5M); Self-timer - YES (10s, 2s); Remote control - n/a

Playback Modes: Mode selection - One shot, index (9 thumbnails), magnification, movie playback, sound playback, histogram, bright/dark indication, folder display, select & delete, calendar; Mode pallet - Slideshow, resize, cropping, image & sound copy, image rotation, digital filter, movie edit, redeye edit, voice memo, protect, DPOF, startup image, frame composite (3M), face zooming; Magnification - Up to 10x, scrollable; Digital filters (playback) - B&W, sepia, color filters (6), soft, fisheye, brightness, color extract (3); Movie edit - Save as still image, movie divide

File Formats: Still - JPG (EXIF 2.2), DCF 2.0 (design rule for camera file system), DPOF, Print Image Matching III; Movie - AVI (Motion JPG) with sound Sound: WAV (PCM), monaural

Computer System Requirements: For device connectivity. Bundled software requirements may vary; Windows - Windows 2000/XP/Vista, USB port; Mac- MacOS-X 10.1.2 to 10.5, USB port

SPECIFICATIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE: