Pentax have announced the introduction of the Optio Wpi, a compact digital camera with 6.0 effective megapixels, 3x optical zoom lens and waterproof performance in a slim, easy to carry body.

The Optio Wpi continues to combine 'sportiness, elegancs and leisure', a concept used successfully in the Optio WP, which was launched in February 2005. Offering the same waterproof performance as the WP, the Optio WPi also boasts a sophisticated design, making it suitable for use on virtually any occasion. Despite its slim design – the Optio Wpi is just 22mm thick – the body is robust enough for most shooting environments, including watersports, skiing and other outdoor pursuits.

The Optio WPi delivers pleasing optical performance with a lens comprising 9
groups of 11 elements. It also includes three aspherical lens elements that
compensate for aberration and enable photographers to achieve for even sharper results and makes use of a refraction lens system to deliver 6.3-18.9mm 3x optical zoom performance, covering angles of view equivalent to those of a 38-114mm lens in 35mm format. These features combined allow photographers to take full adavntage of the Optio Wpi's ample 6.0 effective megapixels.

The Optio WPi also boasts a large, 2.0 inch LCD monitor with 115,000 pixels for speedy and precise confirmation of recorded images. This low-reflection monitor features a backlighting mechanism to effectively maximise visibility, even when used outside on sunny days. A Power saving mode is also available, which automatically reduces backlighting intensity to enhance battery performance.

The Optio WPi complies with JIS class 8 waterproof performance, enabling it
to withstand up to 30 minutes of continuous operation underwater at a depth
of 1.5 metres. Furthermore, the Optio WPi has also been proven to conform to
Class 5 dustproof performance of Category 2. Waterproof performance of this kind also means users can simply rinse the camera off any time it becomes dirty to prevent dust and dirt causing lasting damage.

The Optio Wpi supports mixed-pixel, high-sensitivity shooting, offering
users the choice to shoot at a Standard Output Sensitivity of 800. This results in crisp and clear shots with minimal noise, hand shake and other blurring.
When high-sensitivity shooting is selected, recording size is fixed at 1280
X 960 pixels.

The popular Mode Palette is included on the WPi, displaying multiple shooting or playback options simultaneously. This mode allows the user to display 15 mode
icons at once out of a total of 22, with the remaining 7 icons replacing the
selected 15 on the user's command. For ease of use, pressing the Green button while the Mode palette is on is all it takes to display easy-to-understand explanations and photos for the selected item, thereby reducing the need to consult the user manual. Upon selection of Sport, Pet or Kids mode, Continuous Auto-Focus or Tracking Auto-Focus are automatically activated, allowing the camera to track a moving subject within the frame and maintain accurate focus accordingly.

The Optio Wpi features a movie editing function, allowing users to edit recorded movies in-camera. Users can also select clips to be saved as new movie files, select single frames for saving as individual still images and combine individual movies as one file. Users can also record up to 20 seconds of audio data while a still image is being shot - extending from 10 seconds before to 10 seconds after the moment of shutter release. Such capability allows users to capture special moments in a more memorable manner.

And there's no need to panic if you accidentally erase an image or audio data. The Optio Wpi comes equipped with a handy recovery function that remains active until the erased data has been overwritten or the power is switched off.

Other features of the Optio Wpi:
1) Ready to shoot just 0.6 seconds after the power is turned on
2) Real-time display of "washed out" and "blacked out" areas
3) Soft flash function avoids overexposure when shooting with flash in close
proximity
4) Up to 4x digital zooming
5) Macro mode enables shooting as close as 1cm from the subject when lens is
in wide setting
6) Three color modes (full-color, B&W, sepia) for versatile movie recording
7) Clock Mode function displays the time even when the camera is off
8) SD memory card compatible; approx. 10.5MB built-in memory
9) Standard image viewer, ACDSee for Pentax software
10) FotoNation's red-eye compensation function for flash shots
11) DPOF, Exif Print, and PRINT Image Matching III compatibility

Price and availibility
Launch date and price of the Optio WPi to be announced.