Pentax raises the bar in waterproof camera..

[rjs123]

Got my Pentax Optio W80 today and I really like it.  Like was mentioned earlier its not good at higher films speeds. I probably wont use anymore than 200 ISO.  If web is all you are after though its not that bad at higher speeds, just gets noisey which looks like film grain.  HD video is really bad and noisy in low light.  I have other cams for that stuff though and this one will be great for taking with my on the stream. Now I just need time to fish.  Ill be flying to California on Monday for a week at Yosemite.  Ill take the camera with me.  No time for fishing on this trip though. Ill be doing photography there.

[Woolly Bugger]

have a good trip! need any help?

[diaz dassie]

VA will be pounded this weekend and hopefully the Pentax W90 will bring the goods. Knock on wood there aint no river dance contests and I actually provide some sick ass photos...

[rjs123]

Ive been playing with this camera. Hopefully I can take it fishing tomorrow.

If I didnt get this camera to just take fishing Id be really disappointed.  I still think it will be good for that and is fine for web stuff. Its really small and light weight so will be a pleasure to carry while wading.

My main concern is how noisy it is, even at 200 ISO.  My older Canon 20D, although in a very different class,  shows no noise at 200 and probably looks as good if not better at 1600 than this Pentax Waterproof W80 at 200.

Here are some examples. All taken at full resolution and quality.


This is cropped from a 12 mega pixel image at 200 ISO.  The entire image would print 10x13 inches at 300 DPI. Really noisy even at 200 ISO



This is cropped from a 12 mega pixel image at ONLY 64 ISO.  Again, the entire image would print 10x13 inches at 300 DPI. Still noisy but ok.




This is what the above cropped image looks like full frame reduced to web resolution 800x600 72DPI



This is a macro pic at 64 ISO. 800x600 72 DPI

So... like I said, it should be a great cam to take fishing,  but if you want it for more than that or want to use if for larger prints you may want to choose another camera. Maybe Im nit picking but I always am when it comes to my camera gear.  Keith posted a review and they said the same thing about the noise.

[Woolly Bugger]

I shoot the Olympus SW1030 @ ISO 80 or 100 to get 'quality' shots, 200 and 400 if i must... but the noise gets bad quickly at the film speed goes up..

But after losing two cameras to the water it's nice having a waterproof one

here is 100% detail of a shot with iso 80:

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