Pentax Optio W30 7.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Other products by Pentax

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4 x 2.5 x 1 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000LXZYKW
• Item model number: 19271
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (96 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,572 in Camera & Photo (See Bestsellers in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 10, 2008

Product Description

Manufacturer Description

With an enhanced waterproof design, the Optio W30 performance capacity has more than doubled and now allows photographers to capture images underwater up to 10 feet for 2 hours. The generous 2.5-inch LCD monitor offers an LCD Bright mode that can adjust the brightness of the screen as necessary for improved viewing in the sunlight. Ever the perfect camera for capturing adventure in the outdoors, the Optio W30 also features both Digital and Movie SR modes to reduce blur in both image and video capture. The Optio W30 also features the Face Recognition function and Macro Photography mode to allow image capture at under half an inch for stunning close-ups of photography subjects such as flowers, insects, jewelry and much more.

Optio W30 Highlights

Enhanced waterproof function With an enhanced design, the Optio W30 waterproof performance capacity has more than doubled and now allows photographers to capture images underwater up to 10 feet for 2 hours. Improved construction of the camera incorporates metal front and back covers for added durability. Protective glass on the lens is treated with a Super Protect (SP) coating, developed exclusively by Pentax for superior water repellency. In addition to a JIS Class 8 waterproof standard, the Optio W30 features JIS Class 5 dustproof standard that protects the camera even more in outdoor settings.

3x optical zoom lens and 7.1 megapixels deliver outstanding pictures The Optio W30 includes a 3x optical zoom lens that covers focal lengths from 6.3 to 18.9 mm (equivalent to 38 to 114 mm for 35mm film) and features a refraction lens system so the lens never protrudes from the camera while zooming. By harnessing the full power of the 7.1 effective megapixels, the Optio W30 produces extremely high-quality prints with crisp detail even when the photo is greatly enlarged.

Bright, new LCD monitor is easy-to-view The Optio W30 is equipped with a high-intensity 2.5-inch LCD monitor with an LCD Bright mode that adjusts the brightness of the screen, making it easy-to-view even outdoors in strong sunlight. An Anti-Reflection (AR) coating on the monitor helps make the screen even more visible outdoors.

Face Recognition AF and AE mode The Optio W30 is equipped with a "Face Recognition AF and AE" function* that automatically detects and focuses on faces, regardless of where the people appear in the photo frame. In addition, optimal exposure settings are automatically conducted so that the areas with faces are not darkened even if there is backlighting.
_{*Available when the shooting mode is "Portrait" and the camera is directed at people from the front.}

Digital Shake Reduction (SR) The Digital SR mode helps reduce camera shake and subject blur in still photography by adjusting sensitivity automatically to as high as the sensitivity of ISO 3200, to match the brightness of the subject. This enables photography with fast shutter speeds.

High-quality movies with Shake Reduction function The Optio W30 captures smooth, high-quality movies at 30 fps (frames per second) at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, which is comparable to movies taken with a camcorder. The Optio W30 also features Movie SR mode*, which automatically corrects camera shake, and an Interval Shooting mode that records images during each specified time interval as a movie for more creative options.
_{*Using the "Movie SR" function results in a narrower field of view than that during normal video recording.}

Macro photography The Optio W30 can focus on objects at just under half an inch away for stunning close-up photography of subjects such as flowers, insects, or jewelry.

Auto Picture mode automatically determines best settings for shooting conditions The Auto Picture mode helps the Optio W30 automatically determine the best shooting conditions for Landscape, Portrait, Night Scene, and Program modes and choose the optimum settings for each subject. This Pentax original function makes photography a breeze for beginners since it eliminates the necessity of making a number of individual settings.

Other Features

• New auto-lock mechanism automatically locks the battery cover when closed.
• Auto-tracking AF continuously focuses on a moving subject
• Compatible with new SDHC memory cards, in addition to conventional SD memory cards
• mode Palette provides quick access to 25 shooting modes and 15 playback modes
• Image Recovery function lets you retrieve accidentally erased pictures
• Soft flash function avoids overexposure during close-up flash photography
• Digital zooming provides up to 4x magnification
• Digital Filter function that lets you enjoy editing photographed images
• FotoNation’s red-eye correction function for correcting red eye after shooting, which occurs easily when photographing with flash
• Approximately 21.9 MB of built-in memory
• Includes the ACDSee for Pentax image viewer/image management software
• Supports PictBridge, DPOF functions, Exif Print, and PRINT Image Matching III

Product Description

Take your underwater images to a new depth. With an enhanced waterproof design, the compact Optio W30 performance capacity has more than doubled and now allows photographers to capture images underwater up to 10 feet for 2 hours. The generous 2.5-inch LCD monitor offers an LCD Bright Mode that can adjust the brightness of the screen as necessary for improved viewing in the sunlight. Ever the perfect camera for capturing adventure in the outdoors, the Optio W30 also features both Digital and Movie SR modes to reduce blur in both image and video capture. The Optio W30 also features the Face Recognition function and Macro Photography mode to allow image capture at under half an inch for stunning close-ups of photography subjects such as flowers, insects, jewelry and much more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great waterproof camera! Above-average 'digital' camera, May 31, 2007

By	Nemeo (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

All the reviews & manufacturer hype the water/dust-proofness of this camera, which is fine, because it does a great job, is easy to use, and is fairly sturdy. However, we used to have a Canon SD400, but we wanted a waterproof camera. This W30 is a good camera, but I think we were spoiled with the picture/lens-quality of the Canon.

Good: Water/Dust proof with not much fuss. It just works! Easy to use. Compatible with new SDHC cards (my current card is 8GB!!!). But 16GB and 32GB are on the way. This allows a HUGE number of photos and video to be recorded on ONE CARD. Just make sure to keep spare batteries. One battery will 'roughly' last about 1 hour of video and a 100-200 photos (some with/without flash).

There are no external moving parts (such as lens extension)to get trapped with dust/water, since the lens 'extension' is internal.

The menu/capture-speed is good, but not 'quite' as fast as Canon's Digic II cameras (like SD400, or later).

USB connection is a standard USB mass-storage device, so it should work on Windows, Mac, or Linux with no problems (thank goodness).

Also, this camera seems to be pretty durable/tough. I dropped it several times on CEMENT/concrete, and it got a few cosmetic scratches on the case, but all operations and the lens were fine. But I might put a plastic screen protector on the 2.5" screen to prevent scratches. Another recommendation is to get a silicon skin for pool/underwater use (to prevent case scratches from the pool/rocks), or a neoprene case to keep the lens intact while traveling (since there is NO LENS COVER).

Bad: Video uses Quicktime-MOV files, which is good (potentially), but it's a bit grainy, and the compression is not great. But I can fit a 'rough estimate' of maybe 2-3+ hours of video on an 8GB card.

Ugly: Lots of grain/noise in low-light or even some normal daylight photos. You can workaround this by manually changing the ISO speed to 64, 100, or 200 to reduce noise, but then you may get some blurry shots (due to camera/object motion).

OVERALL: If you don't need a waterproof camera, get a Canon SD-series (they're EXCELLENT). But if you need/want something more 'safe', get this camera. It's easily the best water/dust-proof camera on the market.

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not very waterproof at all!, July 29, 2007

By	Oliver "Weagle" (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

While initially impressed with the camera, my enthusiasm waned when I took it snorkeling. 20 minutes later the camera was rendered inoperable as water had entered the battery compartment. I contacted Amazon who - to their credit - sent me a replacement camera immediately at no charge. Sadly the camera suffered the same fate as the first - except this time water found its way into the screen within the first minute of submersion. I again contacted Amazon who informed that
"As it seems that the problem with this item is more widespread than
we originally thought, we are not able to send another replacement.
We will gladly refund you in full for the return of this item.
please return the set." Fair enough. I then placed an order for the SeaLife ECOshot SL321

So, excellent customer service from Amazon, dissapointing product from Pentax.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Improvement, March 24, 2007

By	Steve Baker "subhuman" (slc) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought the W20 early this year for a month we spent in Hawaii. It was a great camera. Long story short, I lost it in the ocean. I just picked up a W30 while on business in Hong Kong. It is much faster than the w20. I haven't taken it underwater yet but the image stabilization works well and did I mention it powers up amazingly fast. Great product.