Pentax Optio WPi Review

This is the "green" point-n-shoot mode. The camera sets everything for you so that anybody can just pick up the camera and take good pictures.

Press the 4-way controller "Down" to bring up this graphical menu of recording modes to choose from: Program, Night Scene, Movie, Voice Recording, Synchronous Sound Record (still image+sound), Landscape, Flower (closeup), Portrait, Underwater, Surf&Snow, Sport, Kids, Pet, Candle and Soft (focus).

Press the Green "guide" button to get a description of the different modes.

Program AE mode with the real time histogram display enabled. You will also get icons for image size, quality, white balance, and ISO speed. See the menu below for all available settings.

The shutter release is half-pressed, the green AF target marks in the center indicate a good autofocus lock, they turn red when the auto focus fails. The shutter speed and aperture are also displayed.

Record menu options:

Recorded Pixels - 6M, 5M, 4M, 3M, 2M, 1024x768 or 640x480
Quality Level - Three (Best), Two (Better) or One (Good) "stars"
White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Shade, Incandescent, Fluorescent or Manual
AF Setting - Auto focus area Wide (default) or Spot
Sensitivity - Auto or fixed at 80, 160, 320, 400, 800 (Candle mode only)
EV Compensation - Override metering ±2.0EV in 1/3 steps
Movie - Movie mode: 320x240 or 160x120, color/B&W/sepia, 30 or 15 fps
Digital Zoom - On or Off
Instant Review - Off, 0.5, 1, 2, 3 or 5 seconds
Memory - Memorize settings between power on and off
Sharpness - Settings for minus, normal, plus
Saturation - Settings for minus, normal, plus
Contrast - Settings for minus, normal, plus

The Macro focus mode covers from 0.4 in. (0.01m) - 2.0 ft (0.6m) in Wide angle and from 19.7 in. (0.5m) to 2.0 ft. (0.6m) in Telephoto.

In Manual Focus mode a sliding scale is shown on the LCD with distance marks. While you are adjusting the distance the display is enlarged so you can visually "see" the focus change.

You can record 320x240 or 160 x 120 motion video at 15 or 30 fps with audio. Movie clips are stored as QuickTime MOV format video files. The length of these movies is limited only by available memory.

Approx. Storage Capacity

Setup menu options:

Format - Formats the SD card
Sound - Set volume and type of camera operation sounds
Date Adjust - Set Date & Time
Alarm - Set an alarm time
World Time - Set World Time
Language - Select the camera's language
Folder Name - Create an image folder
USB Connection - Set transfer mode (PC, PictBridge)
Video Out - Set video format (NTSC, PAL)
Brightness level - LCD brightness
Power Saving - Time delay before LCD auto dims
Quick Zoom - On, Off
Auto Power Off - On, Off
Green Button - Function of green button (green mode, image size, quality, white balance, focus area, ISO, EV comp, sharpness, saturation or contrast)
Reset - Return settings to default