Forum Member Registered: September, 2012 Location: Tokyo Posts: 72 | | Review Date: October 19, 2012 | Not Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 3 |
| Pros: | It is waterproof, it is tough, the lens resists dirt and scratches | | Cons: | Image quality is poor, it is not cold proof, battery life is poor, rear screen is dim, shutter lag | |
Bought this after my W10, a 6MP predecessor, was stolen. I had been very happy with the W10, so this seemed like a good idea. It wasn't.
The main problem is quite simply, the image quality is among the worst I have seen of any digital camera, ever. I've been using digicams since 640x480 resolution ( not the screen, the image ... ) was considered a breakthrough. This model appeared much later, at a time when the megapixel race was at full speed and unfortunately, it shows. The image quality, even at "web picture" size, is noticeably poor. Worse than the 6MP predecessor. Worse than any 3MP camera ( including camera phones ) I have used. This is not "pixel peeping" or looking for issues on zoomed-in areas of the image. It's just plain bad all over, with noise making it look like a low-quality newspaper ( not magazine ) picture. The only exception is in bright light, where the sensor has half a chance to provide a low-noise picture.
I've used it all over the place for holidays with the kids, because it is waterproof and seems completely shock resistant. It is not, however, cold resistant. On hiking trips, even kept in a pocket next to the chest, it always shuts down as we ascend into the cold, and starts working again as we descend into the relative warmth. The same situation, a cheap DSLR ( Nikon D40 if interested ), not pocketed, was absolutely fine.
Avoid this one.
Later versions may be better, but I wish I still had the W10. 6MP for a small sensor was/is fine !
Paul
| |
