Pentax Optio WPi - Enough Already, Take Some Photos!

Taking Photos

I would seriously recommend buying an SD memory card with the camera. If you don't have one, then the camera is pretty much a lame duck as the on board 10 MB of storage gets used up pretty quickly (even on low resolution and quality settings). And with the comparatively cheap prices of flash memory at the moment it seems silly to limit yourself to low resolution images when the camera is capable of high quality shots.

Now, here's just a small look at what can be achieved with this camera in the right conditions. 

Clicking on the images will open higher resolution versions.

My brother, an avid Play-Boater strutting his stuff for the camera. (Scaled)

One of my best macro shots. (Cropped and Scaled)

I would like to point out that all of these were taken using the 6 Megapixel and highest quality settings, and although I did a little extra configuration for each shot I am in no way a professional photographer. I mentioned earlier that this was my first digital camera, and to tell the truth it was my first real camera at all.

With good light the WPi is capable of stunning landscape shots. (Scaled)

Another thing to note is that all of these shots were taken on the fly as it were, without a tripod or even really resting my elbows on anything. I much prefer partaking in the activities, and the WPi is perfect for this.

The long-range effectiveness of this camera isn't quite perfect, especially in poorer lighting conditions. And the relatively low 3x optical zoom can limit how far away you can be without some of the details getting blurred. However I have still managed to take some brilliant landscape shots with it (especially in the sunny Alps!).

My only major problem is that once you begin filming in the Video mode, you can't adjust the optical zoom. So some preparation and forethought is often required. This one bugs me as I can see no real reason behind it. If, for instance, you've stopped on the bank to film the rest of your group dropping down a waterfall, they tend to start off far away, get closer to you and then further away again. Not being able to zoom in on their face before the event, than pan out to show the whole scene, and then follow them through the falls, perhaps zooming in as they get further from you, it all makes for a better video.

However on the plus side, the sports shot is excellent. It is especially good at capturing water and spray, as well as quick motions. And I think this more than makes up for the mediocre video capability.

Lighting is key to photography and the Pentax Optio WPi is not exempt from this. In fact it probably depends on lighting a little more for long range shots than most cameras. If the sky is bright and the action well lit then you can get some very good shots with this camera. Conversely I've found that if clouds pass over, or if like me you live in the UK where we aren't blessed with constant sunshine, you may find that your pictures blur a little. Using the flash can help with this, but I try hard not to use the flash for sports shots as it can be very distracting for your subject.

Viewing your photos, I find, is best done on a high resolution computer monitor. The 2" LCD screen is all right for taking the shots, and the viewing mode does allow an 8x enlargement for viewing details later. The only gripe I have with the screen is that it blanks out when you use the multi-shot feature, which leaves you second guessing where to point the camera if you're following a moving target. Why the camera can display movies fine, but not multi-shot stills I have no idea.

You can also view your pictures and videos with the AV cable on your TV, and although this still isn't really good enough to allow you to appreciate just how detailed the pictures can be it is better than the camera's own screen when there isn't a computer around.

There's a whole host of editing modes for touching up your pictures. Color and brightness filters, cropping, stretch/skewing, movie editing and frame grabbing, and a red-eye filter. None of these take the place of a full photo-editing package like The Gimp or Photoshop, but they are fun to play around with after a day out snapping photos.

Next: Put it Through its Paces >>
 

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