death of an optio
Published February 27, 2007 | 
put a dead cat on the railroad tracks
when the wolf bains blooming by the tressel
and get the eyeball of a rooster
and the stones from a ditch
and wash em down with bilge water
and you say you’ll never snitch
-tom waits
when the wolf bains blooming by the tressel
and get the eyeball of a rooster
and the stones from a ditch
and wash em down with bilge water
and you say you’ll never snitch
-tom waits
So here’s my poor, poor Pentax Optio WPi. It’s dead. Gone. Lost to the ages. Now you see, my poor Optio has went the way of so many others. Users often just toss the strap around their wrist as the snorkel or play in the pool or whatever and in time the lock get’s a bit loose. Before you know it, it’s loosened up enough to let some water seep in. Now the first time it happened we were able to resuscitate the poor thing with a blow drier. With some electronics, as soon as you get them wet you can just pull the battery and let them dry. If you wait long enough and be sure they are totally dry, you can slip the battery back in and they work! Well, the second time was it. The blasted thing never came back. Now, the good side is you can have them fixed for about $150 and up. Yet remember we paid about $240 for the thing. Then add to that, we have a big pool session coming up soon so we decided we’d just replace it. Ok fine. Well, we need our new Optio by March 11th. As fate would have it the new Optio WP30 comes out on the 15th. Fate is a harsh mistress. . or something like that. I think I’m mixing metaphors again. So we opted for the Optio WP20 which we can get in time. As for the old WPi? Well we may send it in someday. Maybe I’ll just lay it on some train tracks. Who knows what I might do!?
Related Posts:
11 Responses to death of an optio
Have you thought of getting an lexan case for your camera?
I’m in the same situation as you and looking into a new one as well.
well, we are getting that little rubberized cover for the optio. I have a larger canon with a dive case but that’s in the shop to right now. Just not sure if we’ll get it back in time. I also a dive case for my video camera. But the Optio is just so handy! If I could have, I would have held out for the wp30 though. Sounds like they’ve added some durability and a new water shedding coating to the lens.
i am STILL crying over my camera cards lying at the bottom of the Tanama River. The cards I can easily replace, the photos I can not. Some gear wears out, some gets thrown to the water. The shots that I did get made the folks at Puerto Rico Adventures happy though. kqp
Have you checked Olympus 720, its a waterproof camera that looks tough as nails. I looked at it when I bought the w20, but it was about $75 more.
hah!
Go check out the last comment on my Cold Day at Coney Island II post – I think you’ll laugh…
http://frogma.blogspot.com/2007/02/more-from-coney-island-so-i-can-post.html
hmmm…
http://frogma.blogspot.com/2007/02/more-from-coney-island-so-i-can-post.html
Well, it seems the point of everyone’s stories is that Optios are only temporarily water resistant!!
No, actually there was a particularly idiotic twist to mine. If you want to read it, the comment is attached to the post of Sunday, 2/25 – starts with aquarium pictures, finishes with a drop-dead gorgeous Coney Island sunset, and there are some really cute little sandpipers, too!
Somebody who was there that day (the day I wrecked it, not the 25th) told me that it actually says, somewhere in the owner’s manual, that you are supposed to get the gasket replaced once a year.
I just never thought of that, but it makes sense.
It was funny, I sat it in the warmest spot in my apartment (the kitchen, near the stove, which has a pilot light) to dry out, then took it to a local repair place – it was a cold day, I walked to the shop, pulled the camera out of my pocket, started laughing & said “This is just done, isn’t it?” – the lens was completely covered with a film of condensation.
The repair guy said “Well, what was it, salt, or fresh?”
“Salt”, I said.
I plan to dissect it one of these days. I will post my autopsy report.
WPi I was told stands for “Wenley Palacios Iglesias”. As we know this model has been upgraded to a newer model:-)
Derrickam: I know you want underwtaer photos for your rolling class with Greg and Freya, but can’t you just wait and borrow someone’s waterproof camera for a few days, and then but the WP30. It sounds ideal, and even ifslightly more expensive (since new), it saves you drenching another WP20 and then buying the WP30 in the end anyhow. If I had a waterproof camera, I’d loan it to you at Canoecopia. But I do not. Doesn;t Freya or Grag have one. Hold out for the 30, brother Derrick.
thanks CD. I know, but I want it at the show as well for the demos. Oh well, such is life.