Pentax Optio W10
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"Pentax does not stand behind their ad copy on w10" on by relova
Pros: nice screen, performs ok out of the water
Cons: cheap parts, not sand and water proof, Pentax service is a rip-off
Summary: I really wanted to love this camera. I read good reviews. I have a canon digital camera with an underwater housing that works great but is kind of bulky. This slim solution seemed was very seductive plus the price was right. Well you get what you pay for.
I bought it for my Maui vacation. It worked ok out of the water. The screen is a little hard to see in sunshine but being able to take it to the pool and the beach outweighed that little idiosycrancy. Or so I thought. The under water shots were bad, unless you shot in a well lit pool at something three feet away from you with the flash on. But still, having something that slim you could take to the pool and the beach... Then when it was only a week old the shutter release and zoom control stop functioning. Everything else worked except for those two things.
I sent it into Pentax they claim the warantee is void because sand got into the battery compartment. HELLO! It's supposed to be sand and water proof. Plus the battery and memory was functioning fine it was the cheap shutter release and zoom control buttons that broke.
But they have this nice profitable policy in place "sorry can't fix one thing and not the other" But there's nothing wrong with the battery compartment. It's supposed to be sand and water proof. The options were pay to have it shipped back and use it as a jpeg viewer or pay $130 for repairs on a camera I got to use for a week.
Also the head of customer service at Pentax does not have a public accessible email and phone number according to the shop manager. Apparently Pentax's interpretation of customer service excludes actually hearing from the customer.
So beware of being seduced by the features and good customer reviews. Becuase if the cheap parts break, Pentax will mysteriously find sand in the battery compartment, void your warantee and stick you with the bill.
Bottom line: Pentax uses misleading ad copy, does not stand behind it's product. Has a customer service department that does not want to hear from it's customers. And employs an unscrupulous (if not technically illeagal) warantee/repair policy. Shame on you CNET for giving them a 6. You have obviously not researched their after purchase service. -
"Pentax says point and shoot, it's really point and guess" on by bkurtz4
Pros: waterproof, dustproof and compact
Cons: no viewfinder and the LED is useless in sunlight and underwater
Summary: I wanted something for the beach, skiing and boating. The Optio W10 fits the bill. However, there is no viewfinder and the LED screen is totaly useless in sunlight. You are viewing a black screen, even when trying to shield it away from any direct sunlight. Therefore, you are guessing at what subject matter is actually in the picture. Pentax says the LED has "superb visability outdoors", well maybe on a severly overcast day or in a fog bank. I also found the flash indoors at night to produce extreemly poor quality pictures, extreem redeye, lots of color distortion.
I am very disappointed and cannot recomment this product at all. I wonder if Pentax offers refunds for unsatisfied customers?? -
"Great Waterproof Camera" on by Kevin47
Pros: Waterproof, Indestructible, Thin, Large Screen, Long Battery Life, Cheap, Easy To Use, Internal Optical Zoom, 640x480 30fps Video, Underwater Sound
Cons: Can’t do long exposure or panoramic
Summary: This is a great outdoors camera. You can take it wakeboarding, surfing, skim boarding, kayaking, anything that you couldn’t take the average camera, and it won’t break. I’ve had it for about six months and it has been in the worst conditions, and it still takes picture crystal clear. The 640x480 30fps video is great, as well as the 6mp. The pictures look just as crisp and colorful as our Nikon Coolpix, except they come out better when you can take them pretty much anywhere you want and aren’t limited to dry places.
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"Excellent choice" on by boxer123
Pros: Fits comfortably in pocket, waterproof, nice night shots
Cons: No viewfinder, slow start-up
Summary: I'm surprised the editors didn't give this a higher rating. I just finished a 3 month world tour and used my Optio for everything from nightclub shots to daytime landscape shots and sunsets. I'm not sure what the editor meant by it's "poor performance."
First of all, I spent most of the 3 months with this camera in my pant pocket, and barely noticed it there. It’s small and light, and was not damaged at all except for a few minor scratches on the screen which is to be expected.
It has a slightly slow start up time, but once it’s up, it’s a great little toy. There are a lot of menus and user options, which was a bit confusing at first, but once I got the hand of it, it was easy to switch between the different modes, AF options, toggle between the different flash options, self timer, etc. The video feature captures decent video with good sound.
Decent battery life, never ran out of power when out during the day, even with constant use.
And now that I am back home and having printed all my pictures, I can’t say that I have any complaints about its quality either. They all came out beautiful, including the ones that I edited with the camera – simple things like adding color filters and cropping. The panoramic came out beautiful, the nightclub scenes came out very clear both with and without a flash.
Great camera overall. Even the bundled software (which I don’t use a whole lot) is pretty decent. -
"very good photos from a small, waterproof camera" on by photo23
Pros: very good photos overall; excellent macro mode; high quality movies
Cons: flash is a little strong when used as fill
Summary: I'm pleased with the quality of the photos this camera takes. In terms of image quality, the movies are very close to camcorder quality, although the sound is mono rather than stereo. As another reviewer noted, the display is somewhat washed out when the camera is used in bright daylight conditions, although I found it definitely usable, and at least as good or better than the displays on other digital cameras I have.
The waterproofness of the camera is a big plus, and for me, makes this the camera of choice for "camera risky" environments, such as trips to the beach, hiking, river rafting, etc.
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