New Pentax water proof camera is here!

[nighthawk]

Pentax is about to release the 12th generation of the Optio water proof camera. Here it is:

http://www.pentaximaging.com/digital...G-1_GPS_Black/

Time to start thinking seriously about getting one of these.

[Steve Molcsan]

Exactly what I was looking for

I went ahead a pre ordered one... green way cool...

Thanks Eric

[ohiotuber]

Wow! Makes my old 6 mp Pentax Optio W10 look like a dinosaur, but then an old dinosaur USES it!
It's amazing what has happened with technology practically overnight.
Mike

[flyfishfairwx]

Wait a minute GPS WTH????

positioning on my Photos...

NO WAY I NEED TO KEEP SOME SECRETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

J/K I will get one maybe...

[Normand]

if they keep making them waterproof to deeper depths, we are all going to look like jaques cousteau with an aqualung and a fishing vest.

i think i'll wait a few more generations (with 1080 video) before i give up on the w30 that takes really good fotos.

[Cold]

Natural progression, but I'm glad I got my WS80 when I did. Actually, I wish I'd have jumped in earlier and picked up the W60.

Of course the bells and whistles are cool, but there's a few core things I don't like about this one:

14 MP on a 1/2.3" CCD = overcrowding = loss of IQ, the CCDs in most compacts peak at about 8-10MP and any further boosting will degrade IQ

"Digital SR" is almost as useless as "digital zoom", and like superfluous MP, is simply thrown in to attract someone walking by a display

Still no WB option calibrated specifically for the LEDs used in macro mode. Even if it's not an option on the menu (It should be), it should default to an LED preset when you get into super macro mode.

Those are the big ones. Things I do like:

Supports SDXC...most new models DO, but its definitely a plus

Auto-bracketing. I'm shocked they don't advertise this as a key feature. (Unless of course, it's somehow neutered for this model.)

_________________________________________________

Overall, looks to be a nice, solid, well-specced camera, though, again, nothing that I see as a revolution in the product line. If someone has no waterproof compact and they're looking to get a versatile, rugged, well-specced model to start with, this is a great choice. For anyone that's picked up a mid-range or better WP compact in the past 5 years, though, this isn't a cause for an upgrade (IMVHO).

Things I'm still waiting to see in a WP compact:

-Full P/A/S/M control. This alone will get me to seriously consider upgrading, and as long as they don't ruin the rest of the features of the camera that does this...it'll justify me taking the jaws of life to my wallet and breaking the $300 price point for a compact.

-Faster lenses. All this digital shake reduction nonsense is like wearing earplugs to fix that terrible noise your car is making. There's other compacts with f/2.8, f/2, and even f/1.8 lenses...I don't want something revolutionary, but f/3.5 just isn't cutting it.