Pentax's waterproof Optio W80 reviewed: tough as nails, 'so-so' image quality

We've always heard that life was full of compromises, and evidently Pentax made a few when it decided to build its toughest, most rugged point-and-shoot camera of all time. On paper, the Optio W80 looked mighty promising, but in practice, the all-important image quality was found to fall short. Over at PhotographyBLOG, critics found that the camera could withstand "virtually anything" within reason, and while the 5x optical zoom and HD movie mode were both appreciated, most everything else was at least somewhat disappointing. The anti-shake system was found to simply slow the camera down, and the image quality was hamstrung by excessive noise at all ISO levels -- even 100. Feel free to peek the full review down in the read link, but make sure to keep your expectations in check.

[MegaJapan Posted Sep 21st 2009 10:52AM]

Forget water-proof cameras, bring me more water-proof phones that are not overpriced.
A stupid certain relative keeps dropping her NOKIA phones in the toiler =/.

[calgaryaltahotmailcom Posted Sep 22nd 2009 2:16AM]

That's pretty gross, I worked with a guy who dropped his cell in a porta-potty at our job site and he actually fished it out, we laughed about that one for a while. I think he fished it out for his contact list since he got a new phone the same day but still...yuck.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 21st 2009 11:04AM]

How can they properly test a shock/waterproof camera without testing those two features??? wtf...

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 21st 2009 11:06AM]

Hey camera makers, here's the secret sauce for a good waterproof body:

-micro 4/3rds
-no more than 10MP, possibly 8 or 6. Need a functional 400 and 800 for underwater
-2.8-4.0 aperture range from wide to tele, again need lots of light. if f/2 is possible, so much the better
-need at least 28mm (135 equiv) wide, 24 would be nice
-don't need tons of zoom, 28-80 is fine. Don't add zoom range at the cost of aberration, fringing and distortion

Make it so

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 21st 2009 11:12AM]

waaaaaaiiiiiittttt just a minute....let me get this straight, you want a manufacturer to listen to what the consumer wants??? THAT will be the day...

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 21st 2009 5:48PM]

The world would be a better place if everybody could just Make It So.

[Wwhat Posted Sep 21st 2009 9:29PM]

You want a proper lens that's interchangeable but waterproof to several atmosphere? I don't think you'd be able to afford it.

[Yemble Posted Sep 21st 2009 11:11AM]

Sounds typical of nearly all small-sensor pocket cameras. I bought a Canon IXUS 110 IS last week for a holiday and while the pics look fine on the camera (and the video is great) when you blow them up on a PC the noise and smearing effect of noise reduction is absolutely everywhere, even from ISO 100.

That's just the compromise of a small camera. If you can keep the small size and also get water/dust/shock-proof thrown in that's a pretty good deal.

[Timdan Posted Sep 21st 2009 11:34AM]

I really wanted to love this camera.....I bought it for my trip to Norway/England and what a disappointment it was. Unless you are shooting in bright sunlight the images will turnout very grainy. I took the camera back and bought the Lumix DMC-TS1, its not a sexy as the w80 or as pocketable, but the images are 10x better.

[vicdezen Posted Sep 21st 2009 11:51AM]

This sounds like a product that should have gone through a whole lot more tests before putting it out in market.

[Timdan Posted Sep 21st 2009 1:00PM]

yeah no kidding. I thought at first I thought it was just my w80, but a quick search of the web showed everyone has the iso noise issue. Its so bad that I have a feeling its not a hardware issue, it must be in the firmware. Trust me its a lot worse then review made it sound, I shot with it for 15 days of overcast in Norway and England. Run away from this camera. The TS1 is great so far!

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 21st 2009 12:25PM]

Noise at ISO 100? Yuck.

[buchhla Posted Sep 21st 2009 2:07PM]

Yea, if you want a pocket-able waterproof camera, the Panasonic DMC-TS1 is really the way to go. Image quality is close to that of my SD850IS, but the camera is much more rugged. If I need something better, right now anyway, you loose either ruggedness or portability...