Pentax Optio W? or Olympus W7?0

[FishMan473]

I have had the Pentax Optio WP for the past four years or so and it has served me very well for use during outdoor sports and ecology field work. However, it had been acting funny for the past few months, and I finally killed it last week when I dropped it onto concrete. Time for a replacement.

I am a little confused about the lineage of the Optio WP line. It seems there have been about 6 cameras in this line released by Pentax in the past four years. I would really like to be able to use my same batteries and SD card if possible. It appears that the newest W30 uses a new battery type, so I'm leaning against that one. The W20 get some very bad reviews in durability, (perhaps just a bad production run?) so I'm not too hot on that one either. So I guess I'm thinking about getting an older model used. What are my options?

I have also noticed that Olympus has a similar camera out the W720/W770. There are several features of that camera that interest me such as the lens cover and ability to work in cold temperatures since I do a lot of winter sports as well. On the other hand the macro focus is not as close as with the Pentax cameras (I often have to do things like take pictures of the hairs on a plants stem in order to aid in identification), and I would have to buy a new spare battery and a new memory card. Are the durability and other features of the Olympus cameras worth this extra expense and trouble?

ANY advice you could give would be appreciated.

[another view]

I think you're talking about the Olympus 720SW, etc. Actually I read somewhere that there is a new 820SW coming out soon, if not already. I've had a 720SW for about a year and a half for sea kayaking and other assorted things. It has fallen unintentionally a couple of times and still works fine. It does use a special memory card (XD?), and of course you'd have to buy a new battery. With a fresh charge, the standard battery is fine for a day trip.

One other thing - the Shieldzone clear protective LCD covers work very well. I have one on my 720SW and GPS unit.