Digital Camera Review

First Impressions Review

Mar 10, 2007 - By Tom Warhol
Pentax is showcasing the release of their latest waterproof camera, the Optio W30, at PMA in Las Vegas this year. Like its predecessor, the W20, the W30 received the highest ratings for water protection (JIS Class 8) and the second highest level for dust protection (JIS Class 5). Many features—7.1 megapixels; 2.5” LCD with 115,000 pixels; 3x, 6.3-18.9mm zoom lens; 4x digital zoom—are the same as the W20, but the increased durability is this camera’s selling point. The W20 could be submerged in five feet of water for up to thirty minutes, while the W30 is able to withstand submersion in ten feet of water for two hours. The W30 will retail for $299, the same price as the W20 at the time of its introduction.
Advertisement
 
 
Model Design/Appearance
The squat, narrow, slim Pentax Optio W30 presents itself unobtrusively, yet it remains a simply attractive camera. The same aluminum alloy material that makes up the camera body is carried into the inside to make for a very durable package. The camera’s slim design is meant for the pocket. However, the lens has no cover, so without a case, it’s destined to get mucked up or scratched. A special SP coating supposedly keeps water from beading up on the lens. Let’s hope it works to keep it clear of dirt as well.
 
Size/Portability
At a tiny 4.2” x 2.1” x 0.93” size and weighing only 5.6 ounces with the battery and memory card loaded, the W30 is an easy shirt-pocket camera. Since this camera is meant for getting wet and dirty, its seals against moisture and grime are top-notch, achieving some of the highest ratings for these sorts of things by the people who go to pains to measure them.
 
Handling Ability
We found the Optio W30 difficult to handle because of its small size. It’s all too easy for the fingers of the left hand to get in the way of the flash. Handling with one hand is possible, so hopefully the Digital Shake Reduction will help with those low-light underwater situations. We’ll be testing this more fully in our labs when we receive a review model. The strap lug is nicely placed at the center of the left side, the slightly heavier side of the camera. We imagine it to balance easily from the wrist strap and be barely noticeable.
 
Control Button/Dial Positioning/Size
A tiny camera begets tiny controls, and the Pentax Optio W30 is no exception. While no smaller than other compact camera controls, these would still be hard for large and less nimble fingers to use. That said, the placement of controls was logical and uncomplicated. Unlike many point-and-shoots, the W30 doesn't have a mode dial to switch between record, playback, and other commonly accessed modes, but this omission is understandable since it would probably compromise the unit’s waterproof ability.
 
The W30 also lacks a display button to change views on the display. This is handled by the OK button in the shooting mode, an efficient if not intuitive alteration of the style. The Playback button, with its dual function of switching between Record and Playback functions, is another example of this change in style, but one that the user can more easily adjust to.
 
The choice of functions for the quad buttons is logical. Having the self-timer and burst settings, flash modes, focus modes, and modes handily selectable here was a good choice. It's also beneficial that the camera allows the user to add any additional functions which they would prefer to have at hand programmable into one of the three selectable Green Button options.
 
Menu
The Pentax W30’s menu is chock full of options, most easily navigated. One of the highlights of the menu structure is the option to reset the order of the menu items, so users can move more commonly used functions toward the top of the menu for easier access. The menu design is simple, with a half-tone-like screen containing the menu over the live preview or playback image. White tabs and text with dark gray tabs, while not bright and bold, were not especially difficult to navigate.

Shooting
 
Recorded Pixels
7m, 5m, 4m, 3m, 2m, 1024, 640
AF Setting
Three settings for Focusing area: full-screen, spot, and panning
 
Focusing Limiter on or off; Off mode allows the user to switch quickly from one focusing mode (ex., Macro) to another (ex., wide)
Quality Level
1 (good), 2 (better), or 3 (best) stars
White Balance
Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Shutter (manual)
AE Metering
3 modes
Sensitivity
Auto (400), 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
EV Compensation
-2 to +2 with 1/3-stop increments
Interval Shoot
Interval (minutes and seconds), number of shots (2-12), Start Delay (hours and minutes)
Digital Zoom
On or Off
Instant Review
Off, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Memory
Flash Mode, Drive Mode, Focus Mode, Zoom Position, Manual Focus Position, White Balance, Sensitivity, EV Compensation, AE Metering, Digital Zoom, Display, File Number
Sharpness
Set with three levels.
Saturation
Set with three levels.
Contrast
Set with three levels.

Set-up
 
Format
Formats the memory disk
Sound
Volume, Startup Sound, Shutter Sound, Operations Sound, Self-timer Sound
Date Adjust
 
Alarm
 
World Time
 
Language
14 languages
Folder Name
Date, Standard
USB Connector
PC, PictBridge
Video Out
NTSC, PAL
Brightness Level
3 levels
Power Saving
Adjustable from Off to 2 minutes.
Auto Power Off
Turns the power off after a specified time; settings are off, 3 minutes, or 5 minutes.
Quick Zoom
On or Off
Green Button
This allows the user to set three functons to the green button on the back of the camera. The first is defaulted to full auto with no user options. The others can be set to menu options like white balance, sensitivity, exposure value compensation, etc. The user can then scroll through these options via the green button by just continuing to press the button.
Guide Display
On or Off
Reset
Reset memory settings, Reset menu item order, Cancel

In the Playback menu, moving the cursor over each item brings up a screen briefly describing that function.

Playback
 
Slideshow
 
Resize
 
Cropping
 
Image/Sound Copy
 
Image Rotation
 
Digital Filter
Adds color or soft filters to an image.
Brightness
 
Movie Edit
Cutting stills, dividing film clips, joining film clips.
Frame Composite
Adds frames to an image.
Red-eye Compensation
Editing out red-eye in camera.
Voice Memo
Add a voice tag to an image.
Protect
Protects an image file from deletion.
DPOF
Printing directly from the camera to a DPOF-enabled printer.
Image Recovery
Recover previously deleted images.
Start-up Screen
Allows the use to select an image to display on the background of menus and start-up screens.

Ease of Use
Although the W30 has a deep menu structure, there are many options for simplifying, including reordering the menus, programming the Green button, setting the Focus Limiter off, and turning the camera into Full Auto mode. The live histogram viewable in full display mode is small but easily readable. The problem highlights and shadow areas are highlighted on screen as well. Manual focus controls were easy to operate, though not that easy to actually focus with because of the poor screen resolution. The new Face Recognition function did not actually function on the show floor, either for the reviewer or for the floor personnel, who guessed that infrared signals in the Convention Center may be interfering with the camera’s settings. This function will be fully tested at DigitalCameraInfo’s labs when we get our flippers on a full production model. The camera’s auto locking doors are easy to open and close and ensure the guts are protected.
 
Components Page 5 of 12 Modes
Pentax Optio W30 First Impressions Review Navigation
Advertisement