| Review of: Pentax Optio WG-1 / WG-1 GPS by Chuckie on Sun December 11, 2011 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 24561
Reviews: 4
|
I received my WG-1 about a month ago. So far I have been using it at work for photographing raw materials stockpiles, so I can vouch for the dustproof part of the IP68 rating. The photographs have all ended up the way I wanted with a bit of fiddling with settings, but nothing that I would not have been doing with any other camera.
This weekend it went along on a trip to Sun City. I was wanting to use it at the Valley of the Waves (water world theme park) and at the 2km zip line. I wanted to test the water-proofing and video capabilities. This camera is definitely waterproof for mild use in water! I video'd all of the water slides: the WG-1 got splashed, dunked and bumped all the time with no ill-effects. I am not a good videographer yet so my efforts were a bit jerky. Playback was wonderful and all the others were amazed at what it had gone through. I was doing my best to market Pentax as they watched. My only gripe here is the large video file size and exposure adjustment for changing light that is a little slow.
I think I will take it on holiday at the end of the year. We might be going on an underwater walk at uShaka Marine World which will be about 3-5m underwater.
The WG-1 is still a point-and-shoot (mik-en-druk) camera, but the results are good for what it is. If you want a camera that can take a beating and deliver decent quality images, buy it!
Here's an update. I have been using the camera in the DRC on a mine site for a few weeks and it is enduring mud, dust and torrential rain with no problems. The only issue I have is with poor quality zips on the original Pentax matching camera pouch which I bought with the camera. The main zip has failed and I have tossed the pouch. I transferred the carabiner to my new pouch which works well.
| |
| Review of: Pentax MZ-S by Chuckie on Fri November 25, 2011 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 131690
Reviews: 18
|
I managed to find a second-hand MZ-S earler this year after reading many positive reviews of it. I can agree with all the praise over build quality and handling and intuitive operation. The list of features is hard to match!
I have only had correctly exposed shots so far, the information imprinting on the film border is useful. It is a beautiful camera to use. If I ever find a BG-10 grip, it will be complete.
I do have a two gripes. The first is that mine only focuses spot on first time with "good" lenses (Limited/* etc). I often put the focus on manual when using one of the kit FA zooms. Dont bother with the focus point selection, rather go manual. The second is having to dig out the table of PF settings when making changes there.
Two major complaints often raised when comparing the MZ-S to the PZ-1 are the flash exposure compensation and the 6000th vs 8000th maximum shutter speed. Unless you have bright lighting and a very fast (f1.2) lens, you will never be able to use 8000th exposure time. Flash exposure compensation you can usually do by changing flash settings. Not an issue for me.
Overall, the MZ-S is definitely a keeper.
| |
