Pentax Optio W30 7.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

I bought this camera a while ago. This week I gave it to my 16 yr old daughter because she fell in love with it. It's a great idea but for me, I was a little disappointed for two reasons:

1) I have familial hereditary tremors...a cute little phrase doctors use when they have no idea what it is. It's not Parkinson's Disease but I do shake, which makes it harder to get sharp photos with small Point-and-Shoots like this one. At least half of my shots came out blurred. Not the end of the world, since my 2-MB card holds LOTS of photos and I can pick and choose. But many times an important shot that looked good on the LCD turned out blurry and unusable on my Mac's screen at 4x6". This however is more the fault of being 61 and with the lightness of most P&Ss. However, I would LOVE to see Pentax make an underwater camera with real optical VR, rather than just upping the ISO.

2} I live on Maui. Several times a year we go out on whale-sighting boats. This time the sea was rough. I placed the W30 in a side pocket of my pants and the next time I took it out the screen was cracked. I could still take photographs, I just couldn't compose them on the LCD screen. This cost $120 to fix by Pentax Corp. I don't remember hitting said pocket against anything, so I was confused by how easily the camera was put out of commission.

So I just ordered the W60, the W30's underwater successor. Hope springs eternal, not to mention that being able to take the camera underwater and into dusty or sandy areas is so cool. I'm going to buy a small bean bag to use as a rest for the camera, which should eliminate the effects of my shakes. I also have a padded case for it to protect it from rough seas or whatever.

I hope this review proves useful to those who shake, and who still go down to the sea in ships.

This camera works quite well and has all the normal features I would expect from a reasonable digital camera. The waterproof capability is the main feature I was looking for. I have a Canon SD750 (if I remember the model correctly...) that I use when I don't need a waterproof camera as the picture quality and overall camera are superior in my mind. However, the loss of picture quality and minor things I don't like about the Pentax are not enough to make me regret the purchase. I have used it several times in and/or under water with no issues and reasonable picture and film results.

I read a review from someone who added a closed cell foam type floating keychain to make the camera float. I did the same and it works very well. The keychain was around $1 at Wal-Mart. It seems like this could be a good feature to build into the camera. A thin closed cell foam covering in a few areas would serve the float the camea and provide some protection from bumps and drops. It doesn't take a whole lot to float the camera. The keychain can be a bit of a nuisance when taking pictures (it always flops in front of the lens), but this seemed like some good insurance.

I bought the W30 as an upgrade for the Pentax WPi which I have had for about three years. That camera gave good service and met its waterproof claims. It was used extensively for kayaking, skiing and snorkelling and eventually failed after being taken too deep.
The W30 is now about 15 months old and has been used for skiing trips and travel in Oman but had not been used in water. I have been very happy with image quality and ease of use. I take mostly landscape photos so tend not to use a lot of the alternative settings. Reading other reviews I see a lot of comments about problems with use in water and I want to concentrate mainly on this area, especially as it is the distinguishing feature of the camera.
Last week I took it snorkelling and clipped it onto the diver flag bouy I was towing. This put it about about six inches below the surface. after swimming out to the reef I unclipped the camera and found the LCD screen was half full of water. Returning to the shore I found the battery compartment was wet as was the USB compartment. I had carefully checked both were closed correctly before starting into the water.
After drying out the camera was still not functional so I took it apart and did not find any obvious damage to the seals although water was still present in the main body of the camera. A check with a magnifying glass found no faults with the seals. It was not apparant where the water had initially got into the camera. I reassembled it making sure that the seals were installed correctly and took it back into the sea. This time the camera flooded before I even had my mask in place, again the camera was clipped on to the float. Water had penetrated battery compartment, screen and the main body of the camera. Again on strip the seals were in place properly.
At this point I conclude that assembly is correct, the design limitations were not exceeded. It would appear that there is either a manufacturing issue that results in some cameras with good seals and some with bad ones or the seals have degraded since new. As the camera is now useless I plan to carry out some more tests using additional sealing to see if I can determine the origin of the failure and to explore whether temperature is possibly an issue (hot camera going into colder water for example). I am buying a W60 to replace this one but I think it will be treated as a 'splashproof' camera rather than a waterproof one. It is a shame because this is a very nice camera in general use and reliable waterproofing would make it a great camera for so many people.

I used the Pentax W30 for 3 weeks and it already died. It won't turn on. Seems to be moister in the screen. Even when I did use it the picture quality in movie mode was poor. Underwater movies and normal movies were grainy and jerky, even though I set for max resolution. Thank goodness Amazon will allow me to return it - then I'll order an Olympus, which get better reviews online. And this from a lifelong Pentax camera user.

This was the first waterproof camera I ever used, and I loved it! The flexibility of being able to take my camera into the water was great. The pentax is easy to use, takes decent pictures and I have never had any problems when using it for snorkeling, even for longer time periods than recommended. Since then, though, I purchased a waterproof Olympus and like the quality of the pictures better and the larger screen size is nice.