Glad to hear that you know people using the 33wr because I was seriously
looking at it, but was afraid of wrecking it. Couldn't see dropping the
money for a good camera and the waterproof housing when my ElphSport takes
very nice pictures. The 33wr does lower the entry cost a good amount.

I do *not* know anybody using the 33WR, which only began appearing in stores
a short time ago. Sorry if I was unclear. My point was just that Pentax
has been king of waterproof cameras since Nikon abandoned the ActionTouch.
Several people I know have ruined Canon Stylus/Mju cameras, also touted as
"weather-resistant", by dropping them in the water. They are definitely not
as waterproof as Pentax P&S models. So given the additional class 7 rating,
you can probably rest assured that the 33WR will work for kayaking.

What is the 33WR? I have the 105WR and like it. The zoom range is 35-105. It is
an excellent camera for kayaking.
Lynn

LLutton wrote:

What is the 33WR? I have the 105WR and like it. The zoom range is 35-105.
It is an excellent camera for kayaking.

Isn't the 105WR's zoom range 38-105? The Optio 33WR is a digital camera
with zoom range of 5.7-16mm, equivalent to 37-104mm on your camera.

Specs are good, and results look very good, but with the included memory
you can fit only 7 images of biggest size 2048x1536 and highest quality,
or 11 images if you go for 1600x1200. For about $35 you can get a 64MB
SD memory card, 4x as large, to hold 28 or 44 such images.

The Optio 33WR weighs 208 grams vs 360 grams for the film-based 105WR.
The 33WR is an ugly square box, not very deep, with rubberized corners.
It takes CR-V3 lithium battery, or alternately 2 standard AAs, which is
about as good as it gets nowadays (AA batteries will be around forever,
and NiMH rechargeables are available). Pentax claims "up to" 450 shots
using the CR-V3 lithium battery, but I could find no independent test.

It takes only 2.5 seconds to turn on, but 2.3 seconds between shots,
although there is a continuous shooting mode for 6 frames in 5 seconds.
Shutter lag is a long 6/10-9/10 second, or 2/10 second if prefocused.
The weakest point for durability is probably the LCD. I'm not certain
how easy it is to wipe fog or splash droplets off the tiny lens.

Isn't the 105WR's zoom range 38-105?

It probably is. I was being lazy and just guessed at the zoom on the low end.
Sorry.

The Optio 33WR is a digital camera
with zoom range of 5.7-16mm, equivalent to 37-104mm on your camera.

Sounds pretty good. I wonder what the 33 stands for? Neither the digital or 35
equiv.
Lynn