Pentax Optio W60 Waterproof Digital Camera

I was quite impressed with the quality of the Pentax Optio W60. On the water, in the water or anywhere, it takes great pictures. Just went on vacation recently and everyone commented on the clarity and image quality.

I had this camera about 6 months and I still hate it. I mean it takes pictures and is better than a polaroid, but they should have tested this before they released it. I have to press the shoot button so hard I feel as though im gunna break it, and by then I already missed the shot. I end up with blurry pics. Once in awhile I will get a good shot. LIke 2 percent. The video, r u serious. The audio has this stupid clicking noise and all the audio is then a complete waste. I bought it to use for my website and I cant use any of the video. If you buy this camera you will be very dissapointed. The lens fogs up if I use it in the sun for longer than 10 minutes to top it off. Good luck!

I bought this camera for work. I've had it three weeks and have taken approximately 1000 photos / movies with it. I bought this particular camera because it was waterproof, shock resistant, and had the largest mechanical zoom (5x) I could find. I have used the camera underwater in both fresh and sea water. Overall the camera takes good photos, though sometimes the color balance is off (particularly under backlit conditions). Also, the colors are sometimes flat underwater (green-blue in sea water, brown in fresh. Maybe it's just the water I was shooting in). There's no shake reduction, so photos can be blurry (there's some sort of post-shot blur reduction, but I haven't used it). Photo quality is okay, but not spectacular. In my opinion, the camera has more megapixels than the lens warrants. I have no complaints, but if you want REALLY sharp photos, you probably want to look at something with a bigger/better lens. The close-up function, especially the 1cm macro setting, can take s... Read more

Camera erratically fails to turn on. The only cure I have found is to remove the battery and put it back in. Then it will usually turn on but when it goes off again or is turned off it may or may not turn on thereafter. This is a little awkward to deal with while snorkeling. By carefully treading water and holding the camera up I can do it without getting the inside of the camera wet.

I bought this camera last year (in blue). I was looking for something small I could take with me on my kayaking and skiing trips. After doing a great flip and overturning in a kayak last year, I realized I will never relax unless my camera is waterproof. At the same time, I am used to the quality of my Nikon SLR and Nikkor lenses -- I wasn't willing to go for a waterproof camera that makes poor images. I chose W60 based on its reviews after reading about all the other small waterproof cameras on the market. I don't have a lot of experience with non-SLR cameras, so my expectations were pretty low. Was I pleasantly surprised! This thing makes spectacular images in non-tricky light conditions. The pictures come out saturated and sharp. What really amazes me is that exposure errors are pretty rare. Most pictures look great and require very little processing. Even in low/tricky light W60 often steps up and surprises me. A non-trivial amount of images my W60 has produced go way... Read more

At work we use the Pentax Optio W30 and they perform superbly under the abuse we put them through. The pictures are very good so I figured I would upgrade to the W60 for my personal use. I am very disappointed in the photo quality. Not only the lighting issues mentioned in the other reviews but the photos seem very pixelated when you zoom in. My Canon set at 4 Mp had better photos than this camera set at 10 Mp. I am hoping I can adjust something; I am planning on sending it to Pentax for service...maybe they can find something. Otherwise I like the camera..but if you don't like the photos what's the point?

Nice little camera for skiing or kayaking. Takes great pictures and video. One draw back to waterproof cameras are they don't have a view finder. Glare can be an issue without one.

My last waterproof Pentax was the W30, i recently traded up to the W60 based on my positive experience with the W30. The battery life on the W60 is horrible compared to the older model. Be sure to have plenty of spare batteries! This may be my last waterproof Pentax.

Ok, I spend a lot of time fly-fishing, which generally entails a wet and often sandy camera. Having owned and loved an Optio Wpi (2-3 generations back), I immediately went for the new Pentax waterproof over the comparable Olympus. The main reason that I was told that Olympus' retracting lens cover is easily jammed by sand. So I was an easy sell on the w60, after finding out I couldn't buy another wpi - which could have used the 4 batteries I now own for a broken camera. I should mention that broke the wpi, it was so sturdy it could have lasted for ages had I not put about 300 lbs of pressure between it and a solid metal object. I just bought the w60 and took it out for a week on the river. Here are my three frustrations: 1. light areas are totally washed out. I know, I have to figure out the settings to correct this issue... and I will correct the issue. But the settings are going to need serious tweaking before the w60 will take sensible photos. I mean, there was rarely 'tru... Read more

Great pictures, and waterproof helps in the rain. The only thing I don't like is the battery charger is a little big. One that plugs into the wall without the power cord like the Cannons would be better.

I've owned a Wpi and a W30. Great cameras. After a full weekend camping and hiking in the rain the shutter button on the W60 started to not activate the shutter, the camera would focus but not take the photo, or only take it after depressing the button very hard or very long. I've returned to Amazon. Photos are good, especially in good light at lower zoom levels. Battery seems to give about 230 photos with all the bells and whistles turned off.