Snorkeling in the clear blue waters of the ocean offers plenty of opportunities for taking breathtaking images. Corals, underwater plants and weeds, fishes, and of course your family and friends frolicking in the water make great photo subjects. The various water sports in theme parks, rivers, and lakes also offer spectacular sights. A great camera to capture these images is the Pentax Optio W20 Waterproof Digital Camera.
While the W20 is not exactly the kind that professionals take into the deepest parts of the ocean, it is quite capable of resisting water at a depth of five feet for 30 minutes, quite sufficient for the regular Joe who is out on vacation with his family. It is also dustproof, so you neither have to worry about the water nor the sand when playing on the beach.
Its 7-megapixel image sensor, complemented by a 3x optical zoom lens, assures clear and crisp pictures. To keep the camera truly compact, its lens does not protrude outside the body even in zoom mode. A 2.5-inch LCD color monitor with 115k pixels serves as the camera’s viewfinder and playback display. Its high ISO speed of 1600 helps in reducing, if not eliminating, blurring by enabling a faster shutter speed. It also includes a built-in flash, as well as fill and redeye reduction modes.
In addition to taking still pictures, the W20 can also take videos, including audio, at a resolution of 640 x 480 and speed of 30 fps. An anti-shake function is incorporated to compensate for camera movements while following a moving subject.
Images are stored in a 21.9 MB internal memory or in an optional SD or SDHC memory card. It is compatible with PictBridge thus eliminating the need to download photos to a computer for printing. It is powered by a Lithium-ion LI8 battery.