Pentax Optio W60 review

Pentax's W60 may be the perfect camera for those who enjoy watersports and bargain hunting in equal measure.

While waterproof housings cost around £100 for various compact cameras, the W60 is inherently waterproof yet costs about the same as other 10-megapixel cameras.

It's quoted as being waterproof to four metres for two hours. This isn't as deep as the WP-FXF100 housing for Fujifilm's F100fd, and it rules out scuba diving, but it's good enough for snorkelling, sailing, general beach use and wet weather. The waterproof design also means it's more resilient to dirt and sand than most cameras.

The lens is a non-protruding design that sits behind a glass window. It's impressive that Pentax has built a 5x zoom into such a small space. Starting at a wide-angle 28mm, this gives extra flexibility to the way subjects are framed. There's no lens cover, though, so it's worth keeping some lint-free cloth handy to keep it clean.

Otherwise, the W60 blends in with countless other 10-megapixel compact cameras. Performance is a little under par, with slow autofocus times contributing to a three-second startup time and 3.3 seconds between shots. Continuous shooting is at 1fps for the first five shots, whereupon it slows to 0.6fps, although a high-speed mode captures up to seven shots at 3.5fps. Battery life is poor at just 200 shots per charge.

The controls are straightforward and friendly, with blink and smile detection bolstering the usual face-detection technology. Smile detection captures a photo automatically when the subject smiles. However, it's more of a teeth-detection feature; gentle smiles aren't recognised, but terrifying snarls are. Blink detection is meant to flag up a warning when the subject has blinked, but it misdiagnosed as often as not.

There are no manual exposure options, but it's possible to set the maximum ISO speed to be used in Auto ISO mode and to customise a short-cut button to access commonly used settings. A histogram display and flashing highlight- and shadow-clipping areas help creative photographers to use the exposure compensation control with confidence.

We're tired of moaning about the poor quality of 10-megapixel, 1/2.3in sensors, but manufacturers show no sign of changing things. The W60 is capable of producing attractive photos in sunlit conditions, but even at ISO 50 some noise is evident. Indoors at faster ISO speeds, the amount of detail captured makes a mockery of the 10-megapixel rating. We had to resize to one megapixel before photos looked smooth and detailed. That's fine for uploading to a website, but no good for prints.

In most respects, the W60 fails to live up to the standards set by Fujifilm's F100fd. However, if the waterproof design appeals, the camera is just about good enough.

Author: Ben Pitt