Opinions on Optio W20?

I'm considering getting an Optio W20 for occasions when light weight and/or foul weather make me reluctant to cart an SLR up a mountain or on a trek.

Has anybody any experience of this (or even the W10 or WPi) - will I get decent A4 photos out of it?

I have had the original Optio WP (5MP) for just over a year and have been absolutely delighted with it. I bought it for the same reason as you, having got tired of hauling an SLR on mountain walks.

Picture quality is excellent, and there is no problem producing A4 sized prints from it.

My WP has now taken over 3000 shots, and been used in the sea without problem.

A particularly good feature is its close-focusing performance, which is fantastic, right down to 1cm.

My Dad uses an old Optio 43WR (the square 4MP one) to take shots which he then uses rectification software on for drawing detailed building elevations.

His company now uses Pentax Optio W series cameras exclusively because they need to be sure of high quality shots in all weathers and because the cameras are virtually indestructible. Land surveyors tend to be hard on equipment, yet they haven't had a single one fail on them to my knowledge.

I have the 6MP Optio WPi, for the same reason - wet mountains. Very happy with it and SWMBO took hers swimming (involuntarily) in Basingstoke Canal and both camera and lady functioned correctly afterwards!

OK I'm convinced. My little lens sale did better than I expected so I have a bit to spare. Now to trawl the internet for prices (avoiding Pixmania it seems...)

If you're not after the latest and greatest check out SRS's A-Grade Pentax digi compacts. I picked my Brother up one for Xmas - a 5MP S5z for just a shade over £115... Had a play on Xmas day and it's great value for money!

Will

Update

Took the W20 up a few fells a week or so ago. The results are just about good enough for A4. One pitfall though - it is easy to accidentally catch the macro button when shooting - a couple of pictures came out out of focus because of this. I also might turn the sharpening down to low - I'm not too keen on white lises along the skyline! Flare resistance is very good however.

It is not up to the K10D + 16-45 but then I was not expecting that!