[jeremy_c]

My mother-in-law was asking questions about getting a P&S camera, specifically which one of the 50,000 available. I, of course, was thinking Pentax, especially the W60.

Here is my thinking... Her and my father-in-law are farmers. They use horse to do almost everything. They are out in the rain, snow, wind. In the fields bailing hay, or using the brush hog to mow down some new field. They are out in the summer and winter.

I was thinking the W60 would be a great match for her intented use. Drop it in her pocket and have it with her whenever. I have read where the W60 does not match up to other P&S's, even other Pentax camera's in IQ, low light, focus speed, etc... She will not be using it under water and I am not sure (although they work in the rain) if she will stop to take pictures in the rain. Other conditions mentioned above will of course occur. I was also thinking of her dropping the camera in mud, snow, or whatever.

Should I recommend the W60 or a different Pentax? They are not perfectionists (thus not going to be pixel peeping) but I don't want them to have an inferior IQ or "birthday party" camera if it's not necessary (and maybe my reading is wrong, basically dpreview).

Jeremy

[barondla]

W60 would probably be a perfect camera for her. There may be better cameras available, but she might not notice the difference. We tend to worry about things that average folks don't. They just want decent pics.
thanks
barondla

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[ve2vfd]

If you go in the setup and lock down the iso to 50-400 it's an OK camera. Not great, but ok.

Unfortunately it's flash is anemic and it tries to make up for by boosting the ISO to the point of being grainier than a miami beach.

In decent light conditions the pictures look good. In low light this camera does not shine.

On the waterproof side, it's excellent. I swam with it in a lake, and last week threw it at my Scouts in the public pool where they roughed it up and took a ton of pics. It survived I even keep it in my bunker gear pocket when I am at work, so it's been inside a few fires and it's not dead yet.

As Barondla said, for people who are a bit less picky than most of us are I am sure it's probably a decent camera. Out on the range it's probably in it's element.

Pat

[jgredline]

I went through a similar dilemma a few days ago and decided against this camera. If you want to follow my discussion it is here.
Which one or none? - Photo.net Pentax Forum

[emaruyama]

Hey Jeremy! folks! how's it going?

Happy New Year! If you're still in search for a P&S, I'd go for the W60.



Picasa Web Albums - Ed - Iqaluit

Here's a shot of our dog... it's kinda grainy, unfortunately, but I've used no flash...
Outdoors, with lots of snow the camera is quite good...


On the other hand, if you DO need lots of quality without the "waterproof" feature, there might be a few other better options round...

Regards,
Ed