With the Pentax Optio W30, they update their line of waterproof cameras with an even higher performance model (now up to 3 meters), still equipped with a 7 megapixel sensor and 3x optical zoom.

Handling

The Pentax W30 is not the most attractive camera in its class and you probably won’t fall for this compact’s "brick-like" design.  Oh well.  The interest of the W30 more lies in its water and dust proof construction.  In fact, the Optio W30 is perfectly capable of being maintained at a depth of 3 meters for 2 hours.  This means that it can resist your outdoor adventures in the rain, snow or at the beach. 

Its ergonomics are simple but effective.  The user won’t become lost in a maze of options and the W30 offers (too) many scene modes (one of which chooses the mode for you depending on the situation).  Despite the water/dust proof aspect, buttons are supple, easy to use (not too small) and only the shoot button seems a little soft.  Autofocus is quite reactive with good lighting, but performances drop rapidly indoors.  This is too bad because underwater poor lighting also becomes a crucial problem.  The absence of an assist lamp significantly limits this camera.

Image quality

Images produced by the W30 are entirely worthy of a 7 megapixel even if they lack a little precision.   White balance is often well done as is exposure.  On the other hand, the face detection system is mediocre, even unusable with children, and the anti-shake mode quickly raises sensitivity, an area where the W30 isn’t the most talented.  Indeed, up until 200 ISO quality is satisfactory but beyond 400 ISO images are too strongly degraded.  Underwater, you will most likely have to use the flash or go up in sensitivity as there is typically not enough light.  On the other hand, the 1 cm macro mode offers great results just like the flash, which is very good on close subjects.  The video mode is up to par with this camera’s other fine characteristics because the W30 can film in 640 x 480 and 30 images / s with sound even underwater.  It’s just too bad that use of the zoom (totally inaudible by the user) strongly disrupts the sound in sequences.