Product Description

The Pentax Optio W80's waterproof design withstands depths of up to 16 feet (5 meters) to protect from rain and spills, as well as allowing full underwater photos and video for up to two hours. On dry land, the rugged, shockproof design protects against drops of up to 3.3 feet to protect the camera from hard use and occasional spills. Also featuring 12.1 megapixels, a 5x internal optical zoom (equivalent to 28-140mm), a slim one-inch body, and a wide angle 28mm lens, the Optio W80 offers an expanded perspective that is ideal for landscape, group and more confined shots. With a Pentax-developed imaging engine and a high-performance Pentax zoom lens, the Optio W80 delivers brilliant, high-quality images with well-defined details. A Super Protect (SP) coating applied to the mineral crystal cover of the internal zoom lens helps repel water, grime and finger marks.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1566 in Camera & Photo
• Color: Cardinal Red
• Brand: Pentax
• Model: W80 Cardinal Red
• Dimensions: 1.00" h x 2.20" w x 3.90" l, .31 pounds

Features

• 12.1-megapixel resolution image sensor captures enough detail for photo-quality 13 x 19-inch prints
• Coldproof design endures sub-freezing temperatures of 14 degrees Fahrenheit
• Widescreen, HD movie capture that records resolutions up to 1280 x 720 pixels at full-speed 30fps
• 2.5-inch LCD monitor; Pixel Track Shake Reduction (SR) ensures sharp images in any lighting condition
• Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)

From the Manufacturer

More adventure-proof than ever, the Pentax W80 digital camera is waterproof, dustproof, coldproof, and now shockproof enough to withstand impact from a fall of more than three feet (one meter). Pentax first introduced dunkable digital cameras in 2003 to the delight of outdoor enthusiasts, travelers and families everywhere.

Today, the Pentax Optio W80’s waterproof design withstands depths of up to 16 feet (5 meters) to protect from rain and spills, as well as allowing full underwater photos and video for up to two hours. On dry land, the rugged, shockproof design protects against drops of up to 3.3 feet to protect the camera from hard use and occasional spills. Also featuring 12.1 megapixels, a 5x internal optical zoom (equivalent to 28-140mm), a slim one-inch body, and a wide-angle 28mm lens, the Optio W80 offers an expanded perspective that is ideal for landscape, group and more confined shots.

With a Pentax-developed imaging engine and a high-performance Pentax zoom lens, the Optio W80 delivers brilliant, high-quality images with well-defined details. A Super Protect (SP) coating applied to the mineral crystal cover of the internal zoom lens helps repel water, grime and finger marks.

Pentax Optio W80 Highlights

Enhanced rugged performance
With the most watertight and airtight external joints ever, Pentax has improved the Optio W80’s underwater performance to more than 16 feet for up to two hours of continuous operation. Along with this outstanding JIS Class 8 waterproof rating, the Optio W80 provides JIS Class 6 dustproof and coldproof performance for reliable operation at temperatures as low as 14 degrees F (-10 degrees C).

New shockproof performance
With shock-absorbent material positioned throughout the Optio W80’s rigid and durable interior design, the Optio W80 will withstand impact from a fall from a height of more than three feet* without damage to the body for reliability even in harsh shooting conditions.

_{*Measured under Pentax-original testing standards (from a height of one meter, on to a surface of 5cm-thick plywood), conforming to MILSTD 810F Method 516.5-Shock.}

Optical 5x zoom lens for excellent zoom coverage from wide angle to telephoto
The Optio W80 features an optical 5x zoom lens covering focal lengths from 28mm wide angle to 140mm telephoto. With this wide zoom range, the Optio W80 may be used for a variety of challenging subjects and scenes including landscapes, architecture, large group shots and tight snapshots from a distance. For a tighter zoom on subjects, an Intelligent Zoom function extends the zoom range to approximately 31.3x.

High-quality HD-Widescreen movie recording
The Optio W80 captures beautiful, flawless, high-definition movie clips at 16:9 TV proportions (1280 x 720 pixels)* at a frame rate of 30 frames per second. The camera also is equipped with advanced features designed to facilitate high quality movie recording:
· Movie SR (Shake Reduction) mode automatically compensates camera shake during movie shooting
· Underwater Movie mode automatically optimizes color for underwater movie shooting.
_{*When the Optio W80’s AV output terminal is used, movie clips are output as NTSC/PAL data. If the user wishes to play back movie clips at high-definition-TV proportions (1280 x 720 pixels), the data must be transferred to a personal computer for playback.}

Pixel Track SR mode
When recording still images, the Optio W80’s Pixel Track SR (Shake Reduction) mode effectively compensates for camera shake by processing the amount of image blur with a dedicated ASIC. Pixel Track SR tracks motion blur at the pixel level and calculates blur volume in real time. After exposure, the recovery filter centers the motion effect around each pixel to compartmentalize the blur. Then, an adjustment filter sharpens the pixels to help remove the blur effect. Pixel Track SR results in sharp images without adding high ISO noise.

High-Sensitivity SR mode*
The Optio W80 automatically raises the sensitivity setting to as high as ISO 6400 when it detects low-lighting conditions in still-image shooting so that a higher shutter speed may be used. This effectively minimizes adverse effects of camera shake and subject blur under poor lighting conditions.
_{* When the High-Sensitivity SR mode is selected, the recorded size is fixed to 5M (2592 x 1944 pixels).}

Movie SR mode*
During movie recording, the Optio W80 prevents blurry images by effectively minimizing annoying camera shake.
_{* When the Movie SR mode is selected, the angle of view becomes narrower than normal shooting.}

Auto Picture mode for automatic selection of eight different shooting modes
The Optio W80 features the Pentax-original Auto Picture mode, which automatically selects the most appropriate shooting mode for a given subject or scene by detecting the subject’s lighting and other conditions. This user-friendly feature chooses the best mode choice for the photographer (from Landscape, Portrait, Night Scene, Night Scene Portrait, Flower, Sport, Standard and Candlelight modes).

Automatic Face Detection of up to 32 faces in a mere 0.03 seconds
The Optio W80 features the advanced Face Detection AF & AE function for more accurate people shots. This function automatically detects up to 32 faces in the image field, and then optimizes focus and exposure settings in about 0.03 seconds. The Optio W80 is also equipped with the Smile Capture mode, which automatically releases the shutter the moment the camera detects the subject’s smile and a Blink Detection function, which warns the photographer if a subject’s eyes close at the time of shutter release.

Large LCD monitor for effortless outdoor viewing
The Optio W80 features a large 2.5-inch high-brightness color LCD monitor with approximately 230,000 dots. This monitor is treated with a special AR (Anti-Reflection) coating to cut the glare of external light and minimize annoying reflections, making it easy to view recorded images even in bright sunlight.

Additional features

• An Auto Macro mode records dramatic close-up images of a subject from close as one centimeter.
• A Digital Wide function to compose extra-wide-angle images (equivalent to an image taken with an approx. 21mm lens in 35mm format) from two images.
• An AF-assisting spot beam projector (ON/OFF switchable) assists auto focusing operation in the dark.
• A new D-Range setting to prevent overexposed (washed-out) and underexposed (blacked-out) areas in an image.
• A decorative frame composite function to shoot or compose images with 90 photo frame selections stored in the camera.
• 20 digital filters, including Toy Camera and Retro, add distinctive visual effects to recorded images.
• ACDSee for Pentax 3.0 image viewing, editing and filing software included (compatible with Windows Vista).

Customer Reviews

Don't hate it - but don't like it
The best digital camera my husband and I ever owned was a Pentax W10 - it lasted for years and took great photos.. very resilient. We figured that if a W10 is this great that a W80 would be even better but we were sadly mistaken after receiving our W80 and taking a few photos. At first, when all the photos we took turned out grainy I figured it was the settings that needed to be changed.

As a military photojournalist, I shoot daily with a Nikon D3, I know how to change settings and reduce the ISO to make the photo less grainy - and even after I exhausted all changes to the settings, the photos were still unimpressive. We went outside thinking that more lighting would mean better focus and better photos - but even they were a little soft and not that great.

I might recommend this for the outdoorsy type but for someone like my husband and I who are looking for a point-and-shoot camera that takes impressive photos (without fumbling through settings all the time) it was not for us. We are in the process of returning it.

Good Camera for Activities
I pre-ordered this camera to replacing an aging Canon. My main criteria was to have a camera that can be brought on ski trips; on the boat; canoe trips; and hiking. Used at the Grand Canyon and was very pleased with the quality of the pictures. (I am a casual user not a photographer). If you purchase this camera be sure to buy an additional battery! Would recommend spending about 15-20 minutes getting used to the camera before using in activities. Based on the reviews, the Canon is a better unit, but this one is slim and fits into ski jackets and life preservers.

don't buy this camera if you take regular pictures with it
Just bought this camera given anticipated buzz.

Admittedly, I have not tried it underwater, or tested its ruggedness. But I am sending it back because it won't even take normal pictures accurately without graininess, blurriness and movement. Also, the delay is far too long, and image stabilization does not work accurately. Additionally, if subjects are moving, it's quite difficult to get a reasonable picture in low-ish light. To be fair, I tried a variety of mode settings including auto and a variety of manual settings, and frankly my iPhone took better pictures (without a flash!). In fact, the best pictures I took were in "green mode", and these were not really comparable to a generic 3-5 year old digital camera.

Maybe this camera has a niche use for underwater/etc only, but I had planned on taking "normal" pictures of reasonable quality with it as well, and I just couldn't find a way for this to work, so this is a non-starter for me.

I should have waited for the reviews to come out before taking the plunge:

see http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q209waterproofgroup/ for comparisons to D10 and TS1. Of note, even the W60 performed better in this review!!!