Pentax Optio WG-2 Kit

by Pentax

• USB Cable I-USB7
• Battery Charger Kit K-BC92U
• Macro Stand O-MS1
• Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery D-LI92
• Carabiner Strap O-ST124 (for non-GPS)

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2 x 3 x 5 inches ; 8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• ASIN: B007P1X7XY
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,788 in Sports & Outdoors (See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors)
  • #62 in Sports & Outdoors > Action Sports > Skiing > Helmets
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 27, 2012

Product Description

Pentax Optio WG-2 16 Megapixel Compact Camera - Red 15486 Digital Cameras

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 63 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars So Far it is a great camera May 7, 2012

By Michael W. Gaskins

I have now had the camera for more than a month but have not taken it into the water yet. I also own a second generation Pentax underwater camera that has served me well - and that I passed on to my son. This is supposed to be the thirteenth generation. I love that it goes to 40 feet, I can now carry it while I am spearfishing in Baja. I am looking forward to it.

I have printed a few pictures at 8x10 and they look fine. They all look really good on the computer monitor. I will leave it to the techies to evaluate white balance, lens quality etc.

Things I like better than on the other camera.
1. Really fast start up. Hit the power button and it is ready to go.
2. Rugged feel. I kept the other one in a silicone case... don't need it on this one.
3. I can see the screen in bright sunlight which I could not do with the WP1. Great improvement.
4. The macro function and light is a hoot. Really nice feature that will get continued use.
5. Much improved video capability and quality including hi speed recording that gives slo-mo
6. time lapse feature is pretty cool. I would like to be able to select intervals shorter than a minute. A two hour event such as a solar eclipse only records two minutes of video with the maximum coverage only 4 seconds. It does make interesting videos of light and weather changes from a fixed point.
7. Many different shooting modes that I have not even explored yet.
8. In camera editing tools to play with.
9 Smile detection.
10. You can even program a pet mode and enter up to two pets in the camera data base. Then when you shoot pictures of your pet, it delays the shot until the animal is looking at the camera... What if you have three pets?...

I bought the camera with the GPS but now I do not know why. Leaving it on decreases battery life so I mostly leave it off.

Pentax says they are coming out with a chest mount "soon" that will allow me to take Go Pro type videos while I am mountain biking.

Really versatile cameras such as this one rarely do things as well as a dedicated single purpose camera but if you snorkel, ski, bike, hike, this might be the camera for you. Or, you can do like my brother is doing for his trip to the Galapagos and Manchu Picu and just borrow mine. Read more ›

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars good upgrade from the wg-1, one problem with video though May 22, 2012

By M. Nelson

First off I'll agree with everyone else as far as this camera being rugged, good pictures, lots modes and menu options etc. What I use my camera for the most though is shooting video. While the video quality compared to the WG-1 is amazing, the WG-2 shoots a much more narrow field of view than the WG-1 does. It seems this is due to the movie shake reduction. The old WG-1 would crop the edges in order for the movie sr to work, but once sr was turned off you would regain that 25% or so around the edges. This isn't the case with the WG-2, you'r stuck with that narrow angle even with movie sr turned off. In my opinion this would have been a five star camera if it wasn't for this one problem.

I'm hoping Pentax might eventually have a software update to fix this issue. For now though I use a .75x wide angle lens to get a field of view similar to the WG-1. The lens I use is a Panasonic DMW-LW46, attached to the macro stand. It works great, no fisheye look or vignetting, although it makes the camera quite a bit more bulky with it on. There are a couple things I should note about this particular lens. One is it is somewhat large, in fact the bottom sits about 1/8" lower than the bottom of the camera. It's also a bit heavy. Heavy enough that I decided I better get out the glue and permanently attach the macro stand, which should also help to prevent water from getting between the camera and lens.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fussy Menu, Decent Option For Snorkelers October 6, 2012

By E. A. Montgomery TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Length: 0:25 Mins

Pros:
Good video clarity underwater
Good detail on underwater shots in low light

Cons:
Multi step menu for most options
Sharp case edges on grip

Replacing the Fujifilm FinePix Z33WP 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Green) I bought several years ago was unexpectedly complicated. Every water camera under $250 has horrible reviews. I picked up the Optio WG-2 and am hoping for the best. My dive shop tells me they replace snorkeling cameras every few months. First impressions for the Pentax are strong, but I'll have to update this with it's life span when it fails. I added a few photos to the customer image section, it took much better video than the Fuji I had been using. The photos out of the water look a bit washed out and are going to require some color correction, but the photos under the water are much sharper and pretty true to life. I can't see using this as a daily digital, but for snorkeling and pools, I'm satisfied. I took a star off for the sharp edges on the grip (useful if you're wearing gloves, I imagine but not so great for waterlogged hands) and the menu system. There's not a great one touch option for the most commonly used features. Switching from video to photo is a multi tap process that can be time consuming when attempted on the ocean floor. Practice will make that easier, but I wish these digitals intended for underwater use took the conditions into account for operation as well as durability. Overall I'm satisfied with the Pentax in it's first month of use. Now if I could just find a decent dive camera...

***Unedited video clip attached to review***

EDIT 2/21/13 - This camera is still working well.... Normally I'd just update a review when the camera died, but before I bought it I was concerned it would only hold up for a few months. At four months of weekly use (sometimes by kids) it's hanging in there. We've used it in the pool, ocean and waterpark without incident. Read more ›

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Love this camera, but... July 10, 2012

By Cathy Brinn

Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this camera for a beach vacation and absolutley loved it, until... it stopped working half way through my trip. The screen all the sudden stopped working. It would flash on for a brief second and then go black, making it impossible to take pics.

I will say that until this happened, this camera took great underwater and outdoor pics/ videos. Indoor, not so great, but I purchased this for outdoor use. So many fun features and easy to use. LOVE the macro feature.

Anyway, I am returning this camera and will probably purchase another one...I think its worth giving it a second chance. (Although i am bummed i didnt have it for the remainder of my vacation!)