Pentax WG-3 GPS Review
Video Quality
The Pentax WG-3's video mode is quite good. It inherits all video-related features from the WG-2, including electronic image stabilization. While you cannot control the exposure manually in video mode, three key features that most users will want are present:
- Zooming during video recording
- Continuous video autofocus (can be enabled or disabled)
- Full HD recording
The WG-3 does have one new feature in video mode; it is the first WG-series camera to be fitted with a stereo microphone.
You can choose to record videos in full HD at 30 FPS or 720p at 60 FPS or 30 FPS. There is also a high-speed movie mode which records up to 15 seconds of video at 120 FPS (in VGA resolution) and outputs up to 60 seconds of slow-motion video.
To start video recording, it is enough to press the red button while in any shooting mode. You can also record videos through one of the dedicated modes, which include:
- Standard movie
- Time-lapse movie
- High-speed movie
- Interval shooting movie
- 1cm macro movie
The exposure is accurate the picture quality is good, though there is evident loss of detail due to noise reduction. Nevertheless, the picture quality is more than sufficient for web uploads and casual videos. Here is a sample outdoor video:
The WG-3 outputs .MOV files encoded using the H.264 codec. These files can be opened by most modern video editors, including Windows Movie Maker and Adobe Premiere Elements.
The only issue we found with the WG-3's video mode, apart from the fact that files take a while to be saved to the card, is that it's possible to get mild lens flare, even indoors.
