Pentax WG-2

Pentax WG-2 is Pentax's Waterproof camera initially launched on February of 2012. The camera uses a 16MP, BSI-CMOS 1/2.3" sized sensor and has a full resolution of 4288 x 3216.

The WG-2 is ranked #32 out of 75 in Waterproof cameras & over-all #778 out of 1465 for digital cameras in our collection. Please use our Advanced camera filter to get camera ratings based on your customized requirements.

The following is a graph of multiple factors used in the rating system.

The Pentax WG-2 is part of a family of cameras. You can see the detailed range below.

You can see the WG-2 from several angles in the gallery below.

Below is a list of positives and negatives of the Pentax WG-2 based on features that are generally regarded as essential in a camera.

The sensor specification in the Pentax WG-2 is 6.17mm x 4.55mm (1/2.3"). The 28 mm² sensor can capture 4288 x 3216 pixels at aspect ratios of 1:1, 4:3 and 16:9.

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The BSI-CMOS sensor has 16MP and supports a native ISO range of 125 - 6400. Sadly, RAW format is not saved therefore the user has less margin for error.

The graphic below shows the WG-2's sensor dimensions when compared to other common sizes. The WG-2 sensor has a crop factor of 5.8 and is showcased in green.

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To get a sense of specific aspect ratios, you can refer to the visual below.

Pentax WG-2 weighs about 0.42 lb (192g / 6.77 oz) & the over all size of the camera is 122mm x 61mm x 30mm (4.8" x 2.4" x 1.2"). The weight of average Waterproof camera is 195g so the Pentax WG-2 is similar when compared to various competitors.

Photography Glossary

The following is a pic of the Pentax WG-2 alongside a soft drink to help you to get a sense of its scale.

The top view below will provide the button layout on the WG-2.

The WG-2 houses an inbuilt lens and a focal range of 28-140mm making it a 5.0 x zoom which won't be huge nevertheless it is going to be handy in some circumstances.

At the widest 28mm, the lens comes with an aperture of f3.5 which is pretty slow and not good for low light events and you may struggle to get a shallow depth of field. You will likely also need to raise the ISO causing noisy pictures. At the tele end, 140mm comes to f5.5 which is quite slow and you would need to choose slow shutter speeds.

The WG-2 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• Wireless Yes
• HDMI Yes

Digital cameras that have NFC and / or Bluetooth compatibility can be controlled wirelessly with smartphones. You can easily send photos and usually adjust camera settings with no need to connect physically to the camera.

Certain applications even enable a Liveview and release the shutter in case you are not near the camera. If the camera provides a HDMI port, it can be connected to an external display. Nearly all cameras will allow you to recharge the battery pack using the USB socket.

The highest possible video quality in the Pentax WG-2 is 1920 x 1080 and you can capture in MPEG-4 and H.264 format. 1080p quality offers a decent balance for quality versus file sizes but 1080p is not going to leave you with any room to crop. The camera does not offer a microphone and / or headphone port which means that you get no control over the sound. It is perhaps a better idea to shop for another camera in case you need good sound for your video clips.

Pentax WG-2 has got environment proofing which makes it a excellent choice for use for challenging climates. This is especially useful whenever you are uncertain about the conditions you may face for outdoor photography.

The Pentax WG-2 houses a 3 inch fixed display screen boasting a resolution of 460 thousand dots.

Sadly the display screen is not a touch screen.

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The ViewFinder specifications for Pentax WG-2 are the following:

• ViewFinder None

Viewfinders are really useful for bright outdoor conditions which will make the camera display washed out and very difficult to see.

Pentax WG-2 continuous shooting speed is 1.0 frames/s. The max shutter speed is 1/4000s.

Pentax WG-2 comes with only built in flash lacking external flash support.

Pentax WG-2 comes with just Contrast Based AF & lacks Phase Detect AF. Phase Detection focusing is a lot more quicker & exact compared with Contrast Based focusing. The camera boasts Face detect making it valuable for people photography.

It boasts 9 focus points to choose from. It also includes Tracking AF for objects on the move. Pentax WG-2 boasts manual focusing when required for low light conditions or you want more exact control on focusing.

The battery life (D-LI92) for the Pentax WG-2 is built to last for 260 pictures with respect to the CIPA benchmarks which is similar to it's rivals. The average Waterproof camera battery life is 275. Olympus TG-4 features the best (380) battery life for this type of cameras.

Here is a number of Waterproof cameras that come with the best battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Olympus TG-4
WG-2 vs TG-4380 yesnono

Panasonic TS6
WG-2 vs TS6370 noyesno

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Panasonic TS5
WG-2 vs TS5370 noyesno

Nikon AW130
WG-2 vs AW130370 nonono

Olympus TG-1 iHS
WG-2 vs TG-1 iHS350 nonono

The following diagram shows a summary of the Pentax WG-2 for specific forms of photography. To read more, have a look at the specific section below.

The Pentax WG-2 gets a rating of 40 which is horrible, and means the camera is simply not appropriate for portrait photos. Photographing portraits leans greatly towards sensor specs, support for RAW photos & potential to use off-camera flash.

Having a moderate points total of 54, the Pentax WG-2 is somewhat acceptable to use in street photography. A good street photography camera offers a good balance of image quality plus portability.

A horrible sports photography score of 38 indicates the Pentax WG-2 is simply not appropriate for taking pictures of sports. A camera needs excellent focusing and fast shutter speeds for sports photography.

Size is really crucial in buying a travel camera. Over-all, the Pentax WG-2 gets a very good 70 for a travel camera which makes it a respectable choice to purchase for your vacations.

If you're looking to purchase a camera for landscape photographs, the most significant aspect will be image quality. The Pentax WG-2 and it's reasonable rating of 47 as a landscape camera is reasonably suitable within the current market.

A vlogging camera should really come with a articulating screen, mic port and ideally IBIS. Taking everything into account, the Pentax WG-2 is simply not appropriate for vlogging as it comes to a horrible score of 30.

If you need alternatives to the WG-2, here is a list of the top rated cameras which fall under the category of Waterproof.

The line graph followed below provides you a bird's eye view of the WG-2 vs it's highest scoring competitors shown earlier.

Here are a few more cameras you might check out as alternate options. To see a extensive comparison, simply click on the "compare" link.