Underwater Camera Shootout

Underwater Camera Shootout27075121577PentaxOptio W20If your upcoming travel plans include a tropical escape aboard a cruise ship or whiling away an afternoon on an azure beach on some speck of land in the Caribbean, you're in luck. Not just because you're going to be working on your tan while everyone else is bundled up for winter, but because Pentax and Olympus have now put underwater digital photography within everyone's reach. With competing 7-megapixel 3x zoom compact digicams that can handle a snorkeling adventure right out of the box without any additional housings, you might want to consider packing either the Pentax Optio W20 or Olympus Stylus 720SW in your beach bag to capture your underwater adventures. There's nothing on either camera that jumps right out and says "we're waterproof" in a dramatic manner, but if you look close, certain design elements -- such as locking battery compartments and rubberized control buttons -- hint at the secret life of these cameras. The 7.1MP 3x zoom (38-114mm equivalent) Stylus 720SW ($300, street) is Olympus's first dive into the underwater realm. With a compact, shockproof build that's submersible up to 10 feet, the 720SW doubles the depth rating of Pentax's 4th generation aquacam, the 7.0MP 3x zoom (38-114mm equivalent) Pentax Optio W20 ($250, street), which upgrades circuitry, processing and megapixels of its predecessor, the 6MP W10. So does the deeper-diving Olympus upstart have what it takes to unseat the Pentax Optio W20 as the king of the seas?Underwater Camera Shootout225765OlympusStylus 720SWIf your upcoming travel plans include a tropical escape aboard a cruise ship or whiling away an afternoon on an azure beach on some speck of land in the Caribbean, you're in luck. Not just because you're going to be working on your tan while everyone else is bundled up for winter, but because Pentax and Olympus have now put underwater digital photography within everyone's reach. With competing 7-megapixel 3x zoom compact digicams that can handle a snorkeling adventure right out of the box without any additional housings, you might want to consider packing either the Pentax Optio W20 or Olympus Stylus 720SW in your beach bag to capture your underwater adventures. There's nothing on either camera that jumps right out and says "we're waterproof" in a dramatic manner, but if you look close, certain design elements -- such as locking battery compartments and rubberized control buttons -- hint at the secret life of these cameras. The 7.1MP 3x zoom (38-114mm equivalent) Stylus 720SW ($300, street) is Olympus's first dive into the underwater realm. With a compact, shockproof build that's submersible up to 10 feet, the 720SW doubles the depth rating of Pentax's 4th generation aquacam, the 7.0MP 3x zoom (38-114mm equivalent) Pentax Optio W20 ($250, street), which upgrades circuitry, processing and megapixels of its predecessor, the 6MP W10. So does the deeper-diving Olympus upstart have what it takes to unseat the Pentax Optio W20 as the king of the seas?

If your upcoming travel plans include a tropical escape aboard a cruise ship or whiling away an afternoon on an azure beach on some speck of land in the Caribbean, you're in luck. Not just because you're going to be working on your tan while everyone else is bundled up for winter, but because Pentax and Olympus have now put underwater digital photography within everyone's reach.

With competing 7-megapixel 3x zoom compact digicams that can handle a snorkeling adventure right out of the box without any additional housings, you might want to consider packing either the Pentax Optio W20 or Olympus Stylus 720SW in your beach bag to capture your underwater adventures.

There's nothing on either camera that jumps right out and says "we're waterproof" in a dramatic manner, but if you look close, certain design elements -- such as locking battery compartments and rubberized control buttons -- hint at the secret life of these cameras.

The 7.1MP 3x zoom (38-114mm equivalent) Stylus 720SW ($300, street) is Olympus's first dive into the underwater realm. With a compact, shockproof build that's submersible up to 10 feet, the 720SW doubles the depth rating of Pentax's 4th generation aquacam, the 7.0MP 3x zoom (38-114mm equivalent) Pentax Optio W20 ($250, street), which upgrades circuitry, processing and megapixels of its predecessor, the 6MP W10.

So does the deeper-diving Olympus upstart have what it takes to unseat the Pentax Optio W20 as the king of the seas?

Read on to see how these cameras compare in Hands On Feel, Settings and Control, Video Performance, Playback Modes, Camera Navigation, Certified Test Results, or just jump to the end to see which camera is the true King of the Seas.

Pentax Optio W20

What's Hot:

Higher quality video mode of 30fps at 640x480

Waterproof to 5 feet for 30 minutes

In-water ergonomics

What's Not:

High ISO noise and resolution

"Underwater modes" simply add blue cast

Click here for a gallery of images of the Pentax Optio W20

Click here for a gallery of images taken by the Pentax Optio W20

Olympus Stylus 720SW

What's Hot:

Waterproof to 10 feet for 60 minutes

Shockproof enough to handle drops of up to 5 feet

Truly useful underwater shooting modes

What's Not:

High ISO noise and Resolution

Small, slow video mode of 15fps at 320x240

Confusing menu navigation

Click here for a gallery of images of the Olympus Stylus 720SW

Click here for a gallery of images taken by the Olympus Stylus 720SW