Pentax Optio W60

Size / Portability (9.00)
You don’t pay a portability price opting for the reinforced Optio 60W over a more run-of-the-mill point-and-shoot. It measures 3.9" x 2.2" x 1.0" (98.0 mm x 55.5 mm x 24.5 mm) and weighs 5.1 oz. (145 g) including battery and memory card. The Optio doesn’t have quite the depth-defying prowess of the Olympus 1030 SW, but it also comes in a significant 26% lighter

Handling Ability (8.00)
The W60 feels secure and steady, whether you’re holding it in one hand to grab a quick shot or, more often, have it resting on your two thumbs with your finger hovering over the shutter button. The black textured covering on top of the camera has a reassuring non-slip feel, even underwater, and the raised lettering on the bottom battery compartment cover provides an equally secure purchase there. Theoretically you could block the tiny microphone on top of the camera with your left index finger, but you’d have to be holding the camera at an odd angle to make that happen. As for the shutter, it’s well positioned and offers unmistakable two-step tactile feedback when half-pressing and fully depressing the button.

The W60 is small and well-balanced enough to grab a shot one-handed.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (8.00)
Pentax opted for simplicity in the control design. There are no knobs to turn and only a few clearly labeled buttons. This approach is both a plus and a minus in day-to-day shooting. If you’re basically a point and shoot kind of person, offering only a handful of controls lowers the intimidation factor and makes manipulating the buttons that are available more straightforward. On the other hand, there are few easy shortcuts to settings you might want to alter frequently. Changing an ISO setting, for example, or choosing an exposure preset requires clicking your way through the on-screen menu system using the four-way controller.

The controls are clearly marked but tough to operate..

The buttons at top right that zoom in and out while taking photos are also used in playback mode to magnify an image (up to 10x) or, going in the other direction, to lower  the magnification level, then switch to a nine-image thumbnail display, then finally switch to a calendar view that organizes your shots by the date they were taken (pressing the green button while in calendar view switches to folder view, and vice versa). This zoom control feels stiff and requires fingernails, rather than just the ball of your thumb, to press effectively.

Next down is the dedicated button, with a green VCR-style Play icon, that switches between record and image playback modes. The Menu button, right below Play, brings up the on-screen menu display for Record or Play mode, plus the Setup menu. Directly to the right is a dedicated happy face button that toggles between Face Priority On, Smile Capture and Face Priority Off. It seems odd to devote a button to this function, when there are other adjustments we’d use far more frequently, but apparently Pentax believes that W60 buyers will find switching flavors of face detection a high-priority task.

The four-way controller is a standard feature today, but the Pentax version is tougher than most to use, thanks to the same hard-to-press design used in the zoom lens control. The rectangular four-way controller has short, stubby buttons on each side, giving them very little leverage, backed by a stiff spring that requires a substantial press. Fingernails are required and, even then, we found the controller problematic, especially when pressing the left side (flash mode) button, which butts up against the raised lip of the LCD screen to limit access. At least the OK button in the center is raised, making that easy to press.

The four-way control buttons handle, from the top and moving clockwise:

Drive Mode (indicated by timer icon): Standard, Self-timer (10- or 2-second delay), Continuous Shooting (standard and high-speed, Interval Shooting, Auto Bracket (exposure)

Focus Mode (indicated by flower icon): Standard Auto Focus, Macro, 1 cm Macro, Pan Focus, Infinity, Manual Focus

Mode (indicated by the word MODE): select from 24 shooting modes

Flash (indicated by lightning bolt): Auto, Off, On, Auto + Red-eye, On + Red-eye, Soft

Below the four-way controller is a single button with a rounded green rectangle printed on it. During record mode, by default, this triggers Green Mode, which sets the camera to full automatic and locks out most user settings. During playback, as indicated by the blue trash can icon printed to the right, the button controls the image erase function.

Surprisingly, though, the Green button leads a dual life, providing welcome flexibility for those with a hankering for manual control access. The Record menu provides the option to switch the Green Button from a shortcut to total simplicity to instant access to four programmable functions. In this "Fn" setting, a press of the green button brings up a shortcut overlay for the four-way controller. You get to decide which of eleven functions is mapped to each four-way controller button. The possibilities are:

- Recorded Pixels
- Quality Level
- White Balance
- Auto Focusing Area
- Focus Limiter
- AE Metering
- ISO Sensitivity
- EV Compensation
- Sharpness
- Saturation
- Contrast

Whichever options you choose, icons representing the selected functions are clearly displayed on the LCD screen when you press the Green button, so there’s no memorization required. You even get a convenient histogram, so if you’re changing exposure compensation, for example, you get an instant graphic feedback on the result. Exposure compensation and ISO were the first two function we mapped to the Green mode control screen. Without Green mode, it takes  eight button presses just to get to the point where you can start making exposure compensation adjustments. With Green mode, it takes two.

Menu (5.50)
On-screen menus aren’t particularly attractive, but the text is readable enough and the organization is consistent. The Record and Settings menu appear after pressing the Menu button. Unfortunately, the only way to move between the Record and Setting menus is to bring the cursor all the way to top of the menu you’re in. That’s because the right button of the four-way controller is used to open up menu options, which are then confirmed using the OK button.

As for the Play mode menu, which includes editing choices and a slideshow utility, that’s available by pressing the MODE button on the four-way controller while reviewing an image. Instinct says you should get to the Play menu by pressing MENU, but you can’t always trust your instincts.

 

 

Setting Menu
Format	Format, Cancel
Sound	Operation Volume, Playback Volume, Start-up Sound, Shutter Sound, Operation Sound, Self-Timer Sound
Date Adjust	Date Style, Date, Time
Alarm	Alarm Off/On, Time
World Time	Select Time, Destination, Hometown
Language	21 choices
Folder Name	Standard, Date
USB Connection	PC, PictBridge
Video Out	NTSC, PAL
Brightness Level	seven levels
Power Saving	Off, 5 sec, 15 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, 2 min,
Auto Power Off	Off, 3 min, 5 min
Quick Zoom	On, Off
Guide Display	On, Off
Reset	Reset, Cancel