Full Review

The Pentax W10 seems to fill a niche for a waterproof digicam, even submersible (down to 1.5m or about 5ft). It seems to be a worthy lower cost competitor to the Olympus 720SW.

Many reviews have noted nice large, bright LCD and easy to use controls and really good, smooth optical 3x zoom (with 4x digital zoom). They don't emphasize how well the really nice "VGA" video (640x320) capability works, including an anti-shake feature. Also, it is really easy to get a still photo in the middle of a VGA video. For underwater analysis of swim strokes, both stills and VGA video this thing is great!

I put it into a DryPak so the little thing floats and to give it a measure of protection should someone take it down below the rated 5ft or so where the seals might leak. To use this feature, really pays to get at least a 1GB SD card which holds about 16min of VGA video set to the highest quality settings.

Oh, and the macro capability is really wonderful. My diddling around pales by comparison with what this nature photographer did with a Pentax W10 capturing some favorite trout food in their native stream habitat:
http://troutstreaming.smugmug.com/gallery/1262453/1/59219826

Alas, the audio is really crude, it is really only useful for recording your comments overlaying the video or really loud goings on in the scene. Also, the zoom and other controls introduce very loud sounds into the audio track. For underwater this doesn't matter and that's what I got it for so using audio just to record memos on photos later is just a nice plus.

As with many prior digicams, I put some screen protector plastic as soon as I got the W10 (shop around, sets of 12 sheets big enough to make two sets of covers for the W10 are now under $10 in many places).

Looking forward in the not too distant future to a version of this camera with Bluetooth and inductive charging so that there is less need to open the little door that seals the SD card, battery pack, and external USB port and charger connector to the camera. Fewer openings should translate to longer life for those critical seals.

Net: at just around US$250 and dropping, it is a very nice digicam package for those who want to take stills and VGA video in and around shallow water. Pick up an extra battery along with a couple of SD cards and you're all set!