Pentax Optio WP has submarine abilities

The Pentax Optio WP is a small, stylish and versatile camera, which can be used at depths up to 1.5m without additional equipment - perfect for that snorkelling trip to Goat Island.

It just feels wrong taking a compact little camera like the Pentax Optio WP into the water. Most equivalent cameras, such as the Sony Cybershot, need underwater housings to survive a swim, which by rule is a no-go zone for gadgets anyway.

But not the WP, one of a small range of compact digital cameras that are waterproof out of the box.

The WP looks like a regular digital camera, albeit a rather stylish one. But thick seals under the buttons and the battery cover stop water penetrating the innards.

The seals allow you to use the camera underwater at a depth of up to 1.5m for as long as half an hour.

It's a camera for snorkelling at Goat Island or for taking on the wet Shotover Jet ride. It affords a rare opportunity to take high-resolution still shots and clips of video in places most cameras can't go.

It wouldn't pay to push the WP to the limits of its underwater capabilities, however. A browse of a few websites shows several owners have damaged theirs doing so.

But the mere fact that the WP will survive a downpour of rain, being dropped in the snow or splashed with sea water is enough to make its waterproof feature valuable. For sporting Kiwis it's ideal.

Just remember that although the WP is waterproof it's not any more "rugged" than other cameras - so it still needs careful handling.

Underwater shots taken on the underwater setting come out clear. The flash and the two-inch LCD screen function perfectly, as does the WP's extensive menu system..

The WP barely even comes up dripping, as the water rapidly beads off its brushed metal body. A quick towel-off and it's ready for land use.

In or out of the water, it's fairly powerful and offers up to five effective megapixels, three-times optical zoom and four-times digital zoom.

A playback button gives you access to pictures you've taken and there are 20 pre-set image modes and some useful image effects as well.

You can trim and resize pictures on the camera and even edit video clips. You can also leave voice memos for yourself and rate the pictures using a star system, which will cut down on the time you spend searching for the best photos when you get back to your computer.

The camera carries a paltry 10.5 megabytes of onboard memory, but supports the SD card format so you'll want to upgrade to a 512-megabyte or one-gigabyte card fairly swiftly.

The WP's focus setting can be adjusted, though I was disappointed in its auto-focus function in low light.

I took some shots in a dark convention centre using factory settings but most came out slightly blurred. My old two-megapixel Cybershot did better under such conditions.

Still, the Pentax Optio WP is a versatile camera. Selling at a similar price to the five-megapixel Canon Ixus i5, which isn't waterproof, it is a well-priced all-rounder.

Pentax Optio WP

* Price: $579
* Herald rating: 8/10