Around mid-2009, Pentax announced the Optio W80, a 12.1MP rugged cam that was designed to withstand drops from 3 feet, underwater dips down to 16 feet, and temperatures of -10° Celsius. The line is now being updated with the newer, tougher W90, in case you need a camera that can survive higher drops, colder temperature, and deeper water.
The toughness factor has been raised a bit to allow it to survive harsher conditions—or at the very least, it’ll allow you to dive just a little bit deeper with it. It can now withstand depths of up to 20 feet, it’s cold resistant to -14°, and it can now survive 4-foot drops. As for the imaging (it’s a digital camera after all), the W90 still keeps the W80’s 12.1MP sensor and internal 5x optical zoom lens, but adds HD 720p (30fps) video recording, and an HDMI-out port for plugging the cam straight into an HD display.
The W90 also has a larger 2.7-inch display (compared to the W80’s 2.5-inch screen), with just about the same amount and level of in-cam tech for point-and-shoot ease, including face, smile, and blink detection, highlight and shadow correction, plus an interesting new feature called the Digital Microscope mode. DM mode is basically macro shooting, but enhanced with a ring of LED lights around the lens for lighting up the tiny details you want to shoot from as close as 1cm away from the subject.
The W90 is due out in April for $330 and will be available in two body colors (pistachio green and black), with accessories (such as a waterproof IR remote and an underwater housing kit that’ll let you bring it down even further to 197 feet) to follow in June.
Tags: Digital Cameras, Optio, Pentax, Rugged
