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View Full Version : What waterproof camera to buy?


outacontrol
06-10-2010, 04:17 AM
I am looking or thinking about buying a new small (pocket size) point and shoot camera for going on holidays. So I was thinking it sure would be cool to get a waterproof one. Any suggestions?

fencer
06-10-2010, 04:43 AM
olympus stylus

burrows14
06-10-2010, 04:47 AM
olympus stylus

+1

We bought one last year and are very happy with it:biggrin: It has taken a beating rock climbing and snorkeling and still works perfectly

kien
06-10-2010, 07:11 AM
I have one too and have taken it on a couple of wet vacations. It is also very handy to dunk into the tank and take in tank photos and videos :biggrin:

Delphinus
06-10-2010, 07:21 AM
Almost bought an Olympus myself but got this one instead (edged out the Olympus in a couple areas): http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=2590&modelid=18332

BlueWorldAquatic
06-10-2010, 09:05 AM
I use the Pentax w80

http://www.pentaximaging.com/digital-camera/Optio_W80_-_Cardinal_Red/

Been all over the world with me already, recommended for up to 5m, I've had it deeper :twised:

Ken

foreveringlass
06-10-2010, 01:23 PM
I had always bought an olympus in the past. However, this time I changed up and got the Canon D10 powershot. I love it!

noirsphynx
06-10-2010, 01:40 PM
I have the Olympus Stylus Tough 6020 and I love it.

parkinsn
06-10-2010, 03:03 PM
I picked up a canon D10 last year and have been very impressed with the quality of the pictures that it takes. It was a toss up between that and Olympus though.

Delphinus
06-10-2010, 03:08 PM
Olympus vs Canon was a hard choice for me too. Love the Olympus cameras, have an older one and a newer one - the wife keeps the newer one 'cuz it's tiny and I still use the older one for the occasional tank photo (top downs in particular since it fits under the lights when pointing down which I could never do with an SLR). So I really wanted an Olympus but when I went looking I found the Canon D10 and what really sold me on it was the depth to 33feet/10meters whereas most others in the price point are 10feet. 10feet is good for snorkeling but I wouldn't take it diving. I did take the D10 on a dive and I was the only one in the group able to take away pictures from the dives - for some reason the others either didn't have cameras or the cameras didn't work down at depth, despite being in casings that were rated to deeper water.

Hard to go wrong with Olympus or Canon either way though.

damtrees420
06-10-2010, 03:54 PM
if your going to buy the olympus stylus do not go to deep when snorkling in hawaii my camra and two others got water in them my still works but the other two never worked again

parkinsn
06-10-2010, 03:55 PM
Olympus vs Canon was a hard choice for me too. Love the Olympus cameras, have an older one and a newer one - the wife keeps the newer one 'cuz it's tiny and I still use the older one for the occasional tank photo (top downs in particular since it fits under the lights when pointing down which I could never do with an SLR). So I really wanted an Olympus but when I went looking I found the Canon D10 and what really sold me on it was the depth to 33feet/10meters where as most others in the price point are 10feet. 10feet is good for snorkeling but I wouldn't take it diving. I did take the D10 on a dive and I was the only one in the group able to take away pictures from the dives - for some reason the others either didn't have cameras or the cameras didn't work down at depth, despite being in casings that were rated to deeper water.

Hard to go wrong with Olympus or Canon either way though.

If im not mistaken the Canon not only goes deeper (33ft for the price) it is also freeze resistant to -15 and drop resistant from 10ft. These 3 features are what sold me on the cannon. Also the canon lense/retractable part (sorry not camera lingo savy) does not need to be lubed as it gets older where as the olimpus does. I will throw up some pic's that I took snorkeling in venezuela when I get home.

Delphinus
06-10-2010, 04:11 PM
Can I play too?? :lol: Here are some from Kauai (taken with the D10 around 35 feet or so):

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ujFD9DxsrV8/S5BgsdLkyaI/AAAAAAAAA7E/8bT593X8yAc/s640/IMG_0379.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ujFD9DxsrV8/S5BYtKM3q4I/AAAAAAAAA2Y/TadfHRNph2c/s640/IMG_0335.JPG

This is a bit grainy because it was taken at full zoom so I could stay far away enough to not spook him and I was fighting a bit of current to stay put long enough to get the photo:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ujFD9DxsrV8/S5BZNca7duI/AAAAAAAAA4o/7G7q3Cl8_Ug/s640/IMG_0354.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ujFD9DxsrV8/S6g1KN_YYtI/AAAAAAAABJs/0r1ZK0_VjEw/s640/IMG_0663.JPG

Anyhow. Love the D10 and despite it being an "underwater" camera I actually use it as my daily driver these days, unless I'm trying to work the SLR, but I'm basically unhappy with anything I produce using the SLR these days. :neutral: The D10 takes way better photos of just about everything.

4lti7ude
06-10-2010, 06:56 PM
I use the Pentax w80

http://www.pentaximaging.com/digital-camera/Optio_W80_-_Cardinal_Red/

Been all over the world with me already, recommended for up to 5m, I've had it deeper :twised:

Ken

Oh man, DO want.
How much did you get this camera for?

RuGlu6
06-10-2010, 07:18 PM
I had two Olympus cameras, one i lost when my canoe turned over, the other leaked in the 3 feet of water on Maui vacation.
If you go with Olympus make sure you tape the battery compartment with thick sticky tape and you will be fine !

fkshiu
06-10-2010, 07:20 PM
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q209waterproofgroup/

Bottom line is that the Canon is the biggest and bulkiest but takes the best pictures. The problem with the Olympus cameras is both power and shutter lag.

This review doesn't include the brand new Sony TX5 which looks sweet.

All of these "waterproof" cameras have had reported leakage issues. You have to treat them quite gingerly as their seals seem to be quite delicate. You gotta rinse them in thorougly FW and completely air dry each time you dunk them because SW will destroy the seals in no time.

burgerchow
06-10-2010, 07:27 PM
sony w series with the underwater housing. completely waterproof

untamed
06-10-2010, 08:10 PM
I'm looking for something as well as I have a big trip coming up next September. I'll be diving as well as snorkelling, so I need something rated for more depth. I'll probably end up with a housing on something.

outacontrol
06-11-2010, 02:42 AM
has anyone ever tried this fuji one: http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=69%2C242%2C318%2C3741,3745&webid=861441&affixedcode=WW
for the price it sure seems like a good deal

BlueWorldAquatic
06-11-2010, 03:20 AM
Oh man, DO want.
How much did you get this camera for?

Was only like $350 or so.

Ken

mark
06-11-2010, 03:28 AM
Got a older Olympus 770 (33' depth) and no problems snorkeling with it leak-wise but the shutter lag a little frustrating. Thought it took okay pictures underwater but will admit Delphinus's shots better than I've ever taken underwater with the Olympus.

Not sure how the new Olympus compare.

4lti7ude
06-16-2010, 08:50 AM
Was only like $350 or so.

Ken

Hmm I tried to order off the site...
Seems they dont have them anymore, only the newer generation. Waaay uglier then the old ones.
:cry:

hockey nut
07-02-2010, 11:37 PM
Anyone try the Olympus 8010 ?

GongShow
07-05-2010, 06:34 PM
i work in the camera department of a futureshop and i would say that the panasonic ts2 which is panasonics water proof camera is the best out of the three but to be honest form my many hours playing with them there all super close

fencer
07-05-2010, 06:45 PM
TS2 looks a lot like the Olympus stylus...does it perform better?

fLshgear
07-20-2010, 12:39 AM
i am a huge canon fan, all of my cameras have been canon. and canon is all that i would recomend. i recently got a fujifilm xp. it is shock, freeze, sand, water proof. it was half the price of the canon water proof camera. it takes all right pictures. it is slow, the buttons are hard to use underwater, the menu is hard to use and it is very slow overall. i dont really like it.

when we went to mexico, the snorkel guide had a regular camera in a ziploc type of bag. his pictures were just as good as mine.

you get what you pay for.

DiverDude
07-20-2010, 01:14 AM
In the end, if you want a point-and-shoot camera predominantly for land use and just the occasional underwater use then you have to understand that the photo quality of the underwater shots is going to suffer a bit.

If you plan on doing a fair amount of underwater, then I'd suggest you look at Cannon land-based cameras and a separate underwater housing. Be careful though, not all Canon models have a housing available. The ones that do usually have underwater settings that compensate on colours and white balance for underwater.

The Canon underwater housings are well made and are very inexpensive compared to 3rd party housings. They're rated to about 150' too.

PoonTang
07-20-2010, 01:17 AM
where is the best place to get them? I would like to take a few pictures when I go to Bahamas and do a few dives.

DiverDude
07-20-2010, 01:26 AM
I got mine from The Camera Store here in Calgary (http://www.thecamerastore.com/search/products/results/underwater). There are actually a few enclosures for a few Panasonics and a Fiji too, it would seem.

Prices are hard to beat and they carry all the wacky stuff like this.

milkton
07-20-2010, 06:02 AM
im kinda deciding on whether to get the olympic stylus 8000 or the canon d10, or any other waterproof camera. I hear better things about the canon d10, but i dont like its odd shape and color. Anyone out there that can simplify the choices for me (us)??

vaporize
07-20-2010, 05:09 PM
I have one Olympus Stylus and another Olympus W560 (on sale at $89.99 at SIG - http://www.sigelectronics.com/SIG/Olympus-X560WP-Red;jsessionid=0a010c641f432ae729c8c6db44ddbb89ede 3b9e4b5fe.e3eSc3mSaxuPe34Pa38Ta38Oa3n0) .

The Stylus takes much nicer pictures and with macro shots functions on some. The $89.99 is exactly what it is, a cheaper POS camera with underwater function, useful but the quality definitely degrades alot comparing to the Stylus (but it's cheap at $89.99).

I think comparing to my Canon normal A720 POS, the Canon is by far much much better auto-focus and takes nicer pictures (even the Canon is like 2 years older I think). This one is not water proof or anything, just speaking about picture quality.

Delphinus
07-20-2010, 06:03 PM
I looked at those exact 2 myself. I can't remember what specifically pushed me to the D10, it was either cost or maybe the 8000 hadn't been released quite yet when I was looking (and I sort of needed it right away as I was going on a trip a week later where I would be diving). Hard to go wrong with either Olympus or Canon in my opinion though so pick the one that feels nicer in your hand. :lol: I love my D10, I take it everywhere. The goofy shape doesn't bother me, it's still small enough to fit in my pocket.

The only thing I wish the D10 did is shoot HD video. I don't think the 8000 will either, though. If memory serves, specification-wise they are pretty equivalent cameras. I think..

Anyhow I doubt you can go wrong with either.
im kinda deciding on whether to get the olympic stylus 8000 or the canon d10, or any other waterproof camera. I hear better things about the canon d10, but i dont like its odd shape and color. Anyone out there that can simplify the choices for me (us)??

milkton
07-21-2010, 12:34 AM
alright thanks for the advice, and once again im still leaning towards the d10. fencer and gongshow brought up the panasonic lumix ts2 and i was kinda wondering about that camera as well, i'v heard it takes 14mp pics and has water, sand, shock, freeze, etc. proof as well. Although a bit more pricey than the d10 and stylus, anyone given that a try??

fLshgear
07-23-2010, 04:48 AM
check out http://www.dpreview.com/news/0902/09021805canond10.asp

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q209waterproofgroup/page5.asp



dpreview is a great site for comparison and just general info on cameras and accessories

you can do side by side comparison under buying guide

Namnuta
08-26-2010, 04:19 PM
I used to use a Canon A610 with dive enclosure. But i recently upgraded to a Canon G11 and have the enclosure on order. The G11 takes amazing pictures. Enclosure is good to 130ft, and cost me $200 usd.

saltcreep
08-26-2010, 05:25 PM
I used to use a Canon A610 with dive enclosure. But i recently upgraded to a Canon G11 and have the enclosure on order. The G11 takes amazing pictures. Enclosure is good to 130ft, and cost me $200 usd.

+1

The major factor in your decision is what the intended use will be. If you are intending for quite a bit of underwater use but are wanting a land camera, I would highly recommend going with the G11 and a proper underwater housing. You can never be too careful (ask my wife about our camera:redface:).

I'm eyeing the new Sealife DC1200 for an upcoming trip. Mantas and whale sharks....hopefully.

NanoHuman
08-26-2010, 07:30 PM
Buying a point and shoot and a underwater housing is the best thing to do.

Sony makes excellent housings for some of its point and shoot lines, some of which come with software that can automatically filter so you get proper pictures without having to use a orange colored lens cover.

spawn
09-17-2010, 01:57 AM
Hey how's it going. What setting's are you using to get fair-good quality in tank photo's? I've got the same camera, but it's real tough to get any good color or in-focus shot's. I've played around with it quite a bit. I did get some sweet shot's and video diving in the Dominican, (Boring Diving)max depth on dive was 48' for 32 min. No problems with the camera, apparently there is a case you can get for it to go deeper. I was nervous @ that depth, but kept filming anyway to keep up with the group.