Viewfinder (0.0)
There is no optical viewfinder on the Pentax OptioWP, but the lack of a viewfinder on a point-and-shoot camera is no great loss, considering the 2-inch LCD screen, which will offer a far more accurate depiction of the scene. The only downside: we will all miss the opportunity to observe snorkelers try to fit their huge goggles to a small eye cup – all of our losses!

LCD Screen (6.75)
The LCD screen on the OptioWP is well sized at a full 2.0 inches, meaning that it consumes half of the back face of the camera body. That being said, it only contains 85,000 pixels, meaning that the overall definition and clarity of the displayed image will be lacking. The enlarged manual focus aspect of the camera helps with visibility, but the paltry resolution will only display an enlarged pixillated view of the scene.

Flash (4.5)
The flash settings on the Pentax OptioWP are controlled with the right arrow on the four-way controller. The available flash options include: Auto, Flash Off, Flash On, Auto+Red-eye, Flash On+Red-eye, and Soft flash. The flash settings are not available in all modes, such as movie mode or continuous shooting. Unfortunately, the flash only extends 8.2 feet, which is terribly short of most compact cameras, which will generally reach about 12 feet. By contrast, the OptioWP’s illumination range seems quite inept.

Zoom Lens (7.0)
The Pentax OptioWP comes with a 3x zoom lens composed of 11 elements in 9 groups, with three aspherical elements, and has a length of 6.3-18.9mm (equivalent to 38-114mm in a 35mm format). With the amphibious design, the lens is constructed to remain recessed in the camera body, regardless of the zoom level being engaged. The camera also comes with a digital zoom of up to 4x, although digital zoom will greatly reduce the overall quality of the captured image. The Pentax lens remains nicely sealed and tucked within the camera body, eliminating protrusions. This makes the camera easy to slip into a pocket and the creative design doesn’t seem to compromise the quality of the optical zoom – way to go Pentax.