| Latest Review Posted | Pentax Optio W90
The Optio W90's been my carry-around camera for a few months now, and I love some of its good points, but find its bad points very disappointing.
Cosmetics:
The W90 won't win any awards for beauty. Though it's at least funky and different, the running-shoe aesthetic is not for everyone. But it's a strictly form-follows-function design and I kind of like it. It's fun.
Weather sealing/toughness
The W90 is a confidence inspring design. The chunky, rather heavy camera is clad in rubber on all the corners, and agressively sealed everywhere. After sending it off for service (mine was broken, bought from a friend) I took it on vacation in a swimming pool. It was dim, but as long as I kept a tight leash on the ISO the underwater performance was very good. The only real problem I had is that it is just too light in some situations. I need to make a sinker to mount to the tripod socket so when I put it in water with self-timer on, it sits on the bottom of the pool instead of rocking around with the wave action.
Zoom, macro, and other features
The W90 has a very useful zoom range from a handy equivalent 28mm wide to a longish 140mm equivalent.
The W90's big party trick is its macro mode. It can do 1cm macro work all day long with outstanding clarity and close focus, and this is aided by the trio of macro LED lights around the lens opening that illumiate the subject, eliminating the camera's own shadow. They are not terribly powerful, and they have a very... |
