Pentax Optio 33WR

Opinion: I've had this camera for 4 years and taken it with me whenever I expected rough conditions or a chance for the camera to get wet (at or on rivers or the sea). It's still going strong. I still use it with a laughably cheap 256MB SD card and AA rechargables.
Picture quality up to IS0 400 (the highest setting) is as good as on most digital compacts I've used, and the 3MP has always provided enough resolution, even for smaller poster sized prints.

On at least one occasion, the camera got fully submerged while I had to swim with it. No problem.
In summary: it's as sturdy as plastic for this price can get. And it's still the cam I take with me on canoe trips.
A little cam one can easily grow fond of, inspite of the downsides (see below).

Opinion: I got this camera specifically for outdoor, all-weather use - whitewater boating, sailing, winter sports, and so on. It takes decent pictures (especially when considering the diameter of the lens, and size of the sensor). But more importantly, it's a VERY handy package that can be tossed in a shirt pocket, backpack, car console, you name it.... I've soaked it numerous times (including a few intentional underwater photos that didn't turn out too well).

From a pure digital photography standpoint, it's a mediocre camera - only 3.3 MP, marginal low-light performance, fairly slow autofocus (although the AF has been very accurate for me, even when the lens is halfway obscured with water drops). White balance is good in natural light. Contrast is great in full sunlight. In fact, with a clean, dry, lens, this camera produces sharper jpegs than many of the higher-end digital P&S cameras I've seen. Since most "wet" outdoor activities will probably be photographed in the middle of the day, I'd say this camera takes more than adequate pictures.

The price (at the time of this review, the Optio 4.3WR and the Optio WP are out, so you can probably find this camera for $150 new) is right for an extremely compact camera that can hold up to almost any envirornment. I'd recommend this camera for any outdoor activity, other than actual underwater photography.

Opinion: I wanted a good pocket camera to use when I didn't want or was unable to carry around my G2 and accessories. I decided to go with the 33WR because of it's size, water resistance, image quality, and price.

So far I have been very happy with my choice. I no longer worry about my camera when I'm taking shots at a pool or in the rain. It takes great shots outdoors but is definitely not an indoor camera. The flash is low power so you need quite a bit of light if you are shooting indoors (which is often not possible). But since I wanted this camera mostly to take outside, this is not a big concern with me. The camera easily fits in my pocket and has a quick start up. I use Rayovac 15 minute recharge batteries and get very long use time out of them.

I am definitely satisfied with my purchase. The camera does exactly what I want it to and is fairly inexpensive. I paid $275 shipped and got my Pentax $50 rebate last week. Add a bigger SD card and some rechargeble batteries and you'll probably be back up to around $300 (and you'll be able to use the SD and batteries in other devices).

Opinion: I was looking for a camera as a back-up for my EOS 300D. I wanted a camera which I could use in all conditions and ended almost naturally with the Optio WR which I could pick up for only 150€.

At first, I found it an ackward, ugly little thing, but now after only one week, I'm completely in love with it (as is my girlfriend.)

The essentials are there: nice picture quality (although it does not compare to my EOS 300D), superb white balance, good exposure. The only thing I would complain about, is quiet a lot of noise at 200 and 400 ISO settings.

All the rest is positive: excellent macro mode (you have to see to believe it!), very nice ergonomics, small but not too small and weather (and water) resistant and shockproof to top it off.

I would recommend the camera to everyone!

Opinion: Was great until it went missing. Nice design and practical. Only complaint that it was slow to take pictures-about a second from the time you pressed the shutter button to when it took the pictures. Great documentation and very enjoyable camera.

Opinion: I think this is an excellent camera. It has a whole host of useful features - video and still time lapse, video with sound, slideshow, zoom in playback still mode, easy to download images/video to computer and video, memo mode, and the usual camera features such as flash, picture mode, timer, white balance adjustment, etc. I had a great time learning to use the many features of this camera. In my view, there is no comparison, feature-wise, with a normal 35 mm film camera of the same price.

It is quite a robust camera and I especially like the rubber corners. One of its biggest selling points for me is the water-resistant feature - brilliant. I will have no hesitation in using it in the rain or damp conditions. I haven't dropped it on solid ground or in water yet, but it's good to know that it should survive the encounter.

I have found image quality to be pretty good and battery usage seems fine with NiMH batteries, but I can't compare it with other digital cameras. Suffice to say, I think it has a reasonable power consumption but whatever you do, don't use normal AA alkaline batteries.

I like the shape and feel of the camera, but I don't think that is shared by too many other people. The camera is hard to come by in New Zealand and the price has been reduced from approximately NZ$750 to NZ$399 (I am not complaining about this!)

I have had no problems at all so far, but I have a few suggestions which Pentax should consider.

Firstly, a good camera case. It does not come with one and I have heard that the case you can buy for it is not so good. Robust as it is, a camera case would be a good idea for the 33WR. A lens protector would also be a worthwhile idea, and a protector for the LCD screen too. I would love to see a small, pull-out lens shade above the lens - this would be great in very bright and rainy conditions. It would reduce glare and stop raindrops landing on the lens. Maybe I should copyright this idea. And finally, a metal casing instead of the plastic one would further enhance its rugged reputation.

I would certainly recommend this camera to anyone. So far, it has been brilliant and if my camera suffered severe misfortune (lost, stolen, etc) then I would do my best to buy the same one again, no question about it.

Opinion: I had spent many weeks researching when I finally decided on the 33WR. It has almost every feature you could ask for except for full manual controls. It's really easy to use and easy to handle. I don't care for the plastic body. I'm glad to see Pentx is putting out the 43WR, as 3 megapixels is starting be a low end camera.

Opinion: I have found that this camera is ideal for what it is suposed to be good for - a water resistant go anywhere camera. I do not need to worry about taking it out in wet or coastal conditions and it is even happy being rolled in my kayaks. I am very happy with the photo quality given 3 MP.

Opinion: A very nice little camera. I got it for the water-resistance and thus the ability to take it anywhere and not worry about a bit of rain, spray, high humidity, sand, etc. Also for the small size, again as a take-with-always camera.
Image quality is really very good as compared to other ~3 MP cameras I have seen or used. The fine jpeg mode is finer than at least some; for example Nikon Coolpix SQ only saves 4 bits/pixel in finest mode, while the 33WR saves 5. It is good enough that jpeg artifacts are very rare. It has a very flexible intervalometer mode that I expect to use to monitor animal locations in eological experiments. Overall, I would recommend this camera.