Pentax Optio W80

Resolution (6.81)

Much like color and nose, we found that the W80 had acceptable but not spectacular results in our tests on the resolution of the images it captures. We found that the images got somewhat distorted at both ends of the zoom range, and that the images got rather soft at the edges as well. More on how we test resolution.

Distortion (3.49)

One of the things we test for here is distortion; do straight lines become curved in the images the camera captures? The answer for the W80 is yes: we found that the images had significant pincushion distortion at the wide end of the zoom range, and barrel distortion at the mid and telelphoto points. This means that straight lines will be curved inwards on wide angle shots, and outwards on others: see the examples below.

Distortion Examples
Wide (5.0mm): 3.68% Barrel Distortion
Mid (13.7mm): 1.7% Pincushion Distortion
Tele (25.0mm): 1.8% Pincushion Distortion

Sharpness (8.8)

The W80 is capable of capturing a good level of detail in images, but it is not consistent: at both the mid and telephoto ends of the zoom range, we found that the images became rather soft at the edges, with fine details becoming lost in a blurry haze. To be fair, we did find that this was much less of an issue with the camera at the widest zoom setting: here, the images were pretty sharp across the frame.

Chromatic Aberration (6.81)

We also found a problem with chromatic aberration (CA) at the mid and telephoto ends of the zoom range: here, there was significant CA at the edges of the frame, as shown by a distinct color fringe on sharp edges. You can see examples of this and the lack of sharpness in the examples below.

Quality & Size Options (8.78)

The W80 offers a lot of control over the size and quality of the captured images, with 9 different size options and three quality settings. The 3 quality options are described as three stars, two stars and one star. The size options are detailed below.

Image Stabilization (5.40)

The W80 uses an image stabilization system called Pixel Track SR, which works differently to most others. Most image stabilization (IS) systems work by either shifting an element of the lens to compensate for shake (called optical IS) or by decreasing the shutter speed to make the shake less obvious (called electronic IS), but the W80 takes a different approach. After the image is captured, the camera analyzes it and processes it to reduce shake (Pentax does not explain how this processing works). We found the results to be significantly sharper than most; the images were much sharper with this turned on than with it turned off.

However, this extra sharpness comes at a price: the processing takes time. After you shoot an image with it enabled, you have to wait about 2 to 3 seconds for the camera to process the image before you can take another. This means that you can’t use the Pixel Track SR feature with the camera in continuous shooting mode, while shooting video or with a number of scene modes. This is a serious limitation that makes the Pixel Track SR feature a lot less attractive than it first appears. For modes where the Pixel Track SR feature can’t be used, a conventional electronic IS mode is available. More on how we test image stabilization.

Stabilization Comparisons
Pentax Optio W80	Fujifilm Z33WP	Canon D10	Olympus Stylus TOUGH-8000
Stabilization Off
Stabilization On