Pentax Optio W60 Digital Camera

I bought this camera because I didn't fancy toting one my SLRs round Barcelona for a long weekend sightseeing. I am very impressed, it has seemed to survive being carted around in the pocket of my shorts in 30+ degrees of heat (with the ensuing and inevitable sweat), dunking in the hotel pool and the med. So, so simple to use. The AutoPicture mode seems to take care of most situations and do pretty much what I would have done in the same circumstances, VERY occasionally I felt the need to override its decision on flash and even more rarely I switched to 'P' mode to override the EV setting ( I prefer to slightly underexpose in most circumstances ). The video mode is great fun, I used the 15fps 1280X720 mainly because I have a widescreen telly and frankly it's only slightly jerky. In terms of image quality it will never replace even my aging 6MP Nikon D70 let alone my D200, main issue there is noise and barrel distortion in wide angle settings (software should take care of that). If, however, you are considering a holiday where you might need a waterproof/underwater camera this is way, way, way better than those nasty single use waterproof disposables you can get. You get the opportunity to snap merrily away on the off-chance that one of the pictures will capture that elusive fish - my daughter and I had great fun chasing fish in the med that were practically invisible against the sand and very fast! AND it is a perfectly respectable snapper above the surface and not one you'd be ashamed to be seen with.

We'll see how it copes at the other extreme at Christmas when we go skiing!

In summary, a reasonably priced, easy to operate and robust camera producing decent enough images in ALL circumstances.