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Hi Pentaxian friends.
I am very fortunate to own the top three Pentax DSLSs currently on the market. The K20D, the K200D and the K2000, all excellent DSLRs, but all three are missing some attributes that the Pentax Optio W60 has.
1. Portability:
It's easy to see why the Optio W60 is more portable. I wish I had a dime for each time I missed a photographic opportunity just because I didn't have a camera with me. I love my Pentax DSLRs, and I keep one in the car, but I'm not always in my car. The Optio W60 has found it's new home... in my shirt pocket. Never again will I miss an opportunity.
2. Waterproofing, not just dust and humidity resistance
Did you know that the Optio W60 can be submerged in water down to 13 feet feet for up to two hours at a time? It is protected from rain and spills, and can capture underwater photo and video. The W60 is coldproof to sub-zero temperatures as well.
3. HD movie capture
The W60 can capture movies in wide-screen 720p (1280 x 720) at 15 FPS.
4. Super macro mode
Close focusing, Super Macro mode brings out the details in even the smallest subjects as close as 1 cm. That's great as it is so difficult to take macro shots with the DSLRs. The depth of field is shallow and there is so very little room for the focus to work with.
Compact digital cameras have an incidental advantage in macro photography due to their inherently further working distance. Since depth of field appears to decrease with the actual focal length of the lens, these compact cameras can achieve the magnification with greater depth of field.
5. Price
The W60 is cheaper than any of it's big brothers, the Pentax DSLRs. The water and dust proof lens has a 35mm equivalent of 28 - 140mm. That covers about 90% of all situations.
Of course I cannot achieve the bokeh of a DSLR with a fast lens, but it stays with me all the time, in my shirt pocket. I have been forbidden, by my wife, to keep the W60 in my pyjamas' pocket! It will certainly not compete with the image quality of the DSLRs but at 10MP, with the small sensor, it can produce acceptable results.
The Optio W60 fills a void in my daily photographic endeavors. I will always have a camera to shoot whatever happens, whenever it happens and wherever I am. My Pentax DSLRs are used when I specifically go on a photo shoot and since one is always in my car, I can get it for serious photography.
I will post some pictures taken with the W60 in the next few days. You know, CNN is always looking for good videos or pictures of important events and news. Who knows what will happen in front of my eyes! I might become a star or instant reporter.
Thank you for reading,
Yvon Bourque
7 comments:
I have been forbidden, by my wife, to keep the W60 in my pyjamas' pocket!
LOL! She must be friends with MY wife! :-D
Yvon - I ordered a W60 when they first came out, hoping it would be a great sea kayaking camera, replacing my old Olympus C-750 and dive housing (without the 10X tele of the 750, of course). I found the image quality with the W60 in most situations to be horrible - I sent it back.
Images were very grainy, even in the best conditions. The camera could not handle backlight at all. The old 4 MP C-750 beat the pants off the 10 MP Pentax every time. Have you had better luck? Perhaps my problem was the dummy pushing the buttons.
Alan
Delmar, NY
K10 & K100 user
Alan,
The prime reason I purchased the W60 is so that I had a camera with me all the time and for the macro photography capabilities of small lenses such as point & shoot cameras. I only took a few pictures of my employees today and some close-up of flowers while I was at Home Depot. They seem okay on the monitor. The camera is set at auto ISO from factory and I brought it down to ISO 200. It seems okay at low ISO but I haven't tried at high ISO. It might be fun in the summer under water.
If it's as bad as you mentioned, I will return it too. I suspect that the problem is high ISO. As a rule, I never shoot at high ISO and that comes from my life long photography experiences. Always shoot at low ISO and the pictures will never be grainy.
please someone use this camera in the water! been waiting to see shots from there (apart from popphoto's)... Yvon if you're getting rid of it, then...maybe... you know... i dunno...
lol.
-Somanna
Somana,
There are good chances that I will like it. I tried a few pictures and transfered them to Lightroom. Theu look pretty good to me, not as much as the K20D, but very acceptable. I do believe that Alan was using the camera at an high ISO. P&S are not very good in dim light. However, if I really, really, don't like the camera, then...maybe... you know... i dunno...
Je souhaiterais aussi une Pentax point & shoot, je crois que je vais attendre la P70 . Votre site est vraiment extra !
Most of my disappointing shots were not at high ISO, but at ISO 50 - maybe I am expecting too much from a small lens and sensor.
Alan
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