Pentax Optio W60

Direct Print Options (6.00)
The W60 supports both PictBridge for printing directly via USB to a compatible printer, without using a computer. All the basics options are covered through easy-to-navigate menu choices, including photo choice (all or selected images), print quantity, paper size and type, print quality and border settings.

DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) is also supported, allowing users to create a file indicating printing preferences, save it to the memory card and hand the card to a commercial printing service. A DPOF file can also be used when printing via PictBridge.

Battery (5.00)
The camera is powered by a slim D-L178 lithium-ion rechargeable battery. Pentax estimates the camera can shoot 205 photos on a single charge, with flash used 50% of the time. Unfortunately, the battery is symmetrical, with the same rounded edges on both sides. As a result, it’s perfectly easy to insert it the wrong way around – it won’t blow anything up, but it also won’t power the camera until you re-open the door and re-insert the battery.

 

Memory (4.00)
The W60 has 36.4 megabytes of internal memory, primarily used to hold image files for the picture frame edit feature. For photo storage, the camera accepts SD and higher-capacity SDHC memory cards.

Other features (11.50)
Torture and Abuse Resistance: As with the Olympus 1030 SW we reviewed recently, this is a special-purpose camera appealing specifically to an audience looking for resistance to the elements, and willing to pay a premium price for that feature.

The daredevil-specific claims for the Pentax Optio W60 include:

Waterproof to 14 feet (4m) for two hours
Freezeproof down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius)
Dustproof against dirt, sand and dust

The new 14-foot depth spec is a 30% improvement over company’s previous rugged model. On the other hand, it pales in comparison to the 33-foot (10-meter) underwater depths braved by the Olympus 1030 SW. The Olympus makes additional Schwarzeneggerian claims as well: shockproof to withstand a 6.6-foot (2-meter) drop and crushproof to withstand 220 pounds (100 kilos) of pressure. For light-duty aggressive behavior, including fun by the pool or at the beach, sailing, chronicling snowball fights or jogging dramatically through a downpour, either camera should do the job without incident. For plummeting down mountain slopes on skis or snowboard, diving below snorkeling depth or TK, we’d feel more secure with the Olympus. Of course, there’s a price to be paid for this increased ruggedness, both economically (the Olympus runs $70 more than the Pentax) and in portability, with the Pentax a significantly smaller, lighter-weight and more pocket-friendly.

Face Recognition: The W60 provides three features based on face detection technology. First is your basic Face Priority mode, which identifies up to 32 faces in the frame and sets focus and exposure to match their mugs. Second is Smile Detection, an increasingly popular feature that waits after you’ve snapped the shutter until the camera recognizes a smiling face before actually taking the picture. If your subjects are particularly morose on a given day, you can override the waiting game by pressing the shutter a second time.

Finally there is Blink Detection, which notifies you after the face if the subject of your photo blinks  Shooting in real-world conditions, we found the smile capture feature worked reasonably well, and might help you take better photos. Blink detection, on the other hand, missed the fact that eyes were closed as often as it noticed and, even then, didn’t add anything to the picture-taking experience. You have to glance at the screen to see the blink detection warning – as long as you’re looking, you should be able to see the subject’s closed eyes in the image review. Sony recently implemented a more interesting version of blink detection in some of its cameras. Instead of simply letting you know the shot’s no good, it automatically snaps a second photo a split-second later, upping the odds that the blinker will have reopened his or her eyes and producing a useable photo. In the more limited version provided by Pentax, using blink detection is not an eye-opening experience.

Interval Shooting: Both still and movie modes offer an interval recording option, where you set the camera in position, tell it when to shoot and leave it to create either a sequence of stills or a movie stringing together the individual shots. The interval can be set anywhere from 10 seconds to 99 minutes, the number of shots from 2 to 1000, and the delay before starting the sequence up to 24 hours, so you don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn to capture a beautiful sunrise sequence.