Pentax Optio WP
The Pentax’s first point and shoot digital camera. Back then I was working for one of the UK IT ragsFortunately, with the five megapixel Optio WP I have in my hands now, Pentax has stuck with that approach to solid design. Despite the fact that much of the casing is plastic, the WP is rigid and free from those unnerving creaking sounds that usually result when camera bodies built with cheaper, thinner, and more flexible plastics are handled.
The WP is waterproof and the standard it conforms to is the JIS (Japanese Industry Standard) Class 8, equivalent to the IEC’s (International Electrotechnical Commission) IEC 60529 IPX8 standard.
Class 8 (IPX8) basically denotes that the product is tested to withstand the effects of continuous immersion in water for a specific time and depth as agreed by the standards agency and the company. In essence, the WP passes Class 7 (IPX7) in that it can be operated underwater to a depth of one metre for 30 minutes. However, thanks to the WP’s rubber sealed, double locking battery/memory card latch and another 50cm of depth during tests, this little camera hits Class 8.
Unlike Pentax’s square-shaped, ruggedised, Class 7 Optio 43WR, the WP looks very much like a “normal” digital camera. Nothing about its design actually looks waterproof, but behind the slender and elegant two-tone body the buttons are fully sealed and the zoom lens is housed behind a watertight circular window that somewhat reminds me of a ship’s porthole.
