Pentax Optio WG-1 GPS Review Discussion

[Jim Keenan]

Announced in February 2011 as the company's 12th generation of adventure series compact digital cameras, the WG-1 GPS is accompanied to market by a WG-1 variant that, not surprisingly, omits the GPS function that tracks and records positional data with captured images. While the former camera is the subject of our review, aside from GPS the features of both cameras are identical, so for the sake of brevity we'll just call our camera the WG-1 unless stated otherwise.

Read the full content of this Article: Pentax Optio WG-1 GPS Review

Related Articles:

• Pentax Optio WG-1 GPS First Look
• Pentax Introduces Optio WG-1 and WG-1 GPS Rugged Cameras

[leaftye]

If you're not going to review the GPS feature in these cameras, shoot me an email and I'll come over and take it out for a hike. If you're lucky, I'll even get to test its weatherproofness.

[cphotos]

Hi, the review of the Pentax WG-1 was quite through. The images that were posted to the article lacked a sharp focus and seemed to have significant grain.

Is the shown qulaity the camera or the upload option for the review article. I was ready to buy the camera based upon feaures, however the images have me waiting.

[Jim Keenan]

Image quality on the site is largely illustrative of what I got out of the camera - I do think the original shots look a tiny bit better on my monitor, but they're pretty close.

The WG-1 didn't produce the best images I've seen out of a compact, but not the worst either. I think the waterproof nature of the camera may be partly to blame - any time you add air/glass interfaces to the path of the image to the sensor image quality may be impacted, and I also think Pentax didn't do the camera any favors boosting resolution as they did.

I guess the decision comes down to your need for a camera to endure harsh conditions - if you don't need the WG-1's survivability there are any number of cameras that will put out a better image. If you consistently print large and don't need the tough exterior, I'd pass on the WG-1. If you need something to go out on your kayak with you, I'd give up a little image quality for survivability. And if your use for the images is primarily small or internet-based, you may not be able to see much difference between a WG-1and something with better image quality.