Interestingly, you'd never know the Optio W10 was a waterproof camera just by looking at it. It looks just like your average compact digicam. Pleasant, if not exciting, styling. Matte-silver finish. And it measures 4.25 x 2.125 x 0.8 inches and weighs 5.5 ounces including battery -- just small enough to stick into a pocket. And certainly a whole lot handier than a camera in a separate underwater housing.

Not a compromise

Controls are simple. On the top are the shutter and a slightly recessed on/off button. I am not terribly fond of this arrangement because even after years of shooting with digital cameras, every so often I push the wrong button. All other controls are on the backside, to the right of the screen. There is zoom rocker, a menu button, a button that toggle between record and playback, the usual multi-function four-way navigation diamond wher each of the four directional buttons also brings up a functions menu bar (flash, focus mode, drive/timer mode, and shooting modes). Finally, there is a "green" button that, when pushed, sets the camera to basic/standard mode. You can also assign three other menus to the green button. Pushing it repeatedly then toggles through the functions.

Waterproof functions

There are two special underwater camera modes, one for still pictures and one for movies. The manual doesn't reveal what special settings the camera uses in these modes, other than saying they "capture the blueness of the sea." Note that the camera is negatively buoyant, i.e. it sinks. So use the strap that comes with the camera and secure it to your hand when shooting with the Optio in the water.

Using the Optio underwater initially requires a leap of faith. I had planned to don my scuba gear and check it out at the bottom of my pool. That was a tad cumbersome and so I did the next-best thing, hit the rather cold pool with my ten-year-old son and snap pics of him diving. I put the camera underwater, having the awful feeling that it might die right then and there. It didn't. My son took it to the bottom of the pool, which is eight feet, and it was none the worse for wear. The snapshots came out nice, we had tons of fun playing with the camera in the water, and it was a cinch to dry it off afterwards (except for the carry strap that takes a lot longer to dry; they should have used a plastic or ntlon strap instead of fabric). Just make sure to look out for waterspots on the protective glass in front of the lens. If there are any, wipe them off as they'll impact picture quality.

Using it

And speaking of batteries, that's where we run into another design dilemma: consumers want their digital cameras as small and handy as possible because that's convenient. However, in order to make them small and handy, manufacturers have to forego standard AA batteries and use proprietary Li-Ion packs that are expensive to replace and need to be recharged, which certainly isn't convenient. I wish the industry could agree on a standard Li-Ion rechargeable which could then be bought for a few dollars at every drug store.

When shooting, you can set the LCD into four different modes: off, normal (includes basic info), histrogram and info, and no icons. In histogram mode, not only can you use the histogram graph to take better pictures, but too-dark portions of the picture blink yellow and too-bright portions red. Very useful.

The camera has a continuous shooting mode and a high speed continuous shooting mode (3 frames per second). There is also an interval shooting mode where you can set the number of pictures, the interval (between 10 seconds and 99 minutes) and even the start time (up to 24 hours in the future).

As far as picture quality goes, there are some compromises. I was excited about the ISO 800 sensitivity, but it really isn't that useful because images taken that way tend to be grainy. Also, the W10 is not a speed demon in any area. That is not inexcusable in what is, after all, a specialty camera. Unfortunately, speed and low-light sensitivity so happen to be important underwater.

The W10 has limited onboard editing functionality. You can resize, trim, apply one of nine filters, adjust brightess, eliminate red-eye, and add a frame. You can also add voice to any image, or record voice memos until memory is full.

Near disaster

I took it back to the boat. It was dead and did not come back on even after drying in the hotel room later. I managed to get the pictures I'd alread taken off the SD Card which apparently can handle water. After the trip I took the camera apart, carefully dried and cleaned everything and - voila - the Optio came back to life, working perfectly. That's remarkable. However, while it was I who had apparently made the mistake of not locking the door with its safety switch, this can happen all too easily. I would much prefer a safety latch that automatically engages, such as the one Olympus uses on its waterproof cameras.

Bottom line

While the Optio W10 does not replace a true underwater camera for scuba diving by any means, it can be used for some pretty heavy-duty photography in shallow water. Hey, there's a lot of interesting stuff at just five to ten feet! And while $299 is not inexpensive for a basic 6 megapixel camera, consider that most waterproof cases alone cost almost that much. Sure, they let you go deeper, but they also flood easier and they are less handy to use.

We like:

• A camera you can take underwater!
• Still looks and handles like a regular digital camera
• Very simple to use
• Costs less than a camera plus a dedicated waterproof case

• Five feet underwater not enough for real diving
• Somewhat sluggish performance
• Manual safety latch (can lead to flooding if forgotten)
• ISO 800 mode too grainy