Looking for waterproof camera recommendations

I am looking for waterproof camera recommendations. I am looking for
something small enough to bring in a whitewater kayak or carry on me
while paddling.

Thanks

Vince

I have 2 Olympus Stylus Tough camera's and love them. They don't take amazing scenery pictures, but are small, durable, and fit in my PFD pocket.

I have knocked mine around quite a bit with boating, biking, climbing, skiing and they are still going strong.

They also have longer battery life in cold temperatures, are somewhat shock resistant...I have tested that a few times. Also, they are waterproof, unless you forget to close the USB port before jumping into the pool.
Luckily, Olympus was very generous with their warranty and were able to repair it at a minimal cost.

Here is a link:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital.asp?section=stylustough

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q209waterproofgroup/

I found this article helpful, haven't bought one yet though.

I second the Tough series from Olympus. I've got a 1030SW which is the predecessor to the Tough 8010. The biggest thing people seem to overlook when selecting cameras for kayaking is the shutter lag/delay. Some are so bad, they are pretty much unusable to capture action. You're left guessing as to when the boater will be in front of the lens and have to push the shutter a second or more early. The 1030 SW is as quick as I've seen in a point and shoot camera. I'm sure the 8010 is as as well but you should definitely check this out on any camera you're considering.

Bought the camera when it came out in April. Have abused it and it has come up smiling. I agree with Curtis about shutter lag but would add that turning the camera on from either sleep mode or off and having it ready to shoot for Olympus and Pentax paled terribly to the Sony "less than a second" to pull a shroud down and shoot a picture or movie. Full 720P HD at 29.97fps doesn't suck either. My color balance and auto white balance has brought some pretty great pictures, some of which you will see in the calendar this year.

I have only had one issue. The paint came off of the shroud, leaving a bright "chromed" shroud. I kinda like it, and nothing has gone wrong with the camera otherwise.
Bill

See the Sony TX5 here

Bill, my Olympus 1030 SW starts up in about one second. Sounds like the newer Tough series cameras are slower. I guess newer isn't always better. I do agree that this is an important consideration.

How do you feel about the 10' waterproof rating? I don't have any experience with Sony waterproof cameras but I know people who have had Olympus cameras rated to 10' that have leaked in whitewater and while snorkeling. I feel safer with a 33' rating.

Thanks for the advice everybody.

I always wonder about the waterproof ratings. I ruined a sony sportsman radio
rated to 12 ft from water jetting on it white surfing a wave but never submerging it.

the online reviews I read for the wp camera indicates a lot of failures, but this
might be slanted due to only people with bad experiences making reviews.

Vince

Make sure if the camera is water-resistant or waterproof (you want a waterproof) and be sure it is shockproof.
A very good/tough camera is the olympus 6020

Sorry Curtis, just saw this. I have taken my Sony and put it in my PFD for about 30 runs, and have rolled with it about a dozen times. I have had no issues with leaking. Given I have only owned the camera since April, when they first came out, I do not have a lot of beta for life testing. I am still very happy with it, especially how fast I can get a shot off.
Bill

I've enjoyed my Olympus Style Tough as well, right up to when I killed it last summer. I Googled Sony vs Style tough 6020; there's a few differences-
My next camera will probably be another Tough, as I've already got the charging stuff, etc, and will most likely purchase a refurbished directly from Olympus, as it was cheaper than Amazon (for comparison).

PENTAX W90 all the way!

The newest edition is 14mp, waterPROOF to 33 feet for 2 hours of photos/videos (yep.. underwater vids/pics), shock proof to 5 feet, dust/wind proof etc...

I just picked up the "old" one, 12.1 mp, waterproof/underwater function of 20 feet for 2 hours, shock to 4 feet, came with free extended warranty from CC Camera, float strap, webbing/carabiner attached, spare battery, screen covers, for $340 OTD.

It's slick. The thing has tons of shooting modes and extras. For me, it takes a beating, clips to my gear, works underwater, and is awesome.

The new W90 has an optional GPS version as well, which automatically geo-tags your images on the SD. This does kill battery, so I opted for the non-GPS camera. The new ones are $349 and $399 (GPS) and come with none of the extras. I would check with Creve Coeur Camera and see if they can grab one of their last W90s from another store and throw the same "total package" deal I found last week.

From "power button" to "snap" is less than 1 second, but I have read that the shutter speed is set on the camera, meaning that even in bright conditions it might not snap as fast as one would like. So far I haven't been able to fully test this. In the week I have owned it, the pics have turned out nicely. That said, water pics are coming in a couple of days.

Whatever you choose, happy hunting!

After reading the reviews here and elsewhere I bought a Olympus Tough CG610 14 megapixel camera. This is Olympus's latest mid level model of the Tough series wp cameras. I bought the camera based on Olympus's long history in the wp camera business and the fact it has 3 models to choose from signaling a commitment to this market segment.

It is rated 16 ft wp and 5 ft shockproof. There is a lens cover that automatically closes when the camera is off. This protects the minuscule lens very well. It has small buttons instead of the newer touch screen used by other manufactures.

The camera has many pictures taking modes that took time to figure out, especially without the manual handy. It even has pet face recognition and macro underwater modes for fish close-ups. My favorite mode was the panoramic mode that stitched up to 3 pictures together. Once the first picture was taken one turned the camera either left or right and then both a crosshairs and white dot appeared. Continue turning the camera until the white dot is centered in crosshairs and take next picture.

The camera does have a lag between pictures that I was aware of based on reviews here. I however feel the 720 dpi movie mode made up for this. I found the battery lasted 3 days of moderate use on a 6 day trip. I later bought another camera battery for $13. These are a must for multiday trips.

It is the smallest and lightest camera I own. I paid a little over $300 and it came with an extended warranty as part of a promotion. Keep in mind that in a wp camera one is paying a lot more for wp rating than for lens quality. Wehn I purchased the camera their apeared to be a shortage of models due to the Japanese disaster.

Here are some pictures taken with the camera on my Idaho / MIddle fork trip.

http://gallery.me.com/kayakvince/100054

Thanks everyone for replying with helpful info.


Vince

I see Nikon just entered the wp camera niche with the Nikon coolpix 100AW.
It features incluse wp, 16 mp, freezeproof and GPS. Too late for me to purchase
but for those in the market it is another model to consider. It specs out better than
what is previuosly out there.

Vince

My Pentax was stolen in Virginia Beach, so we ended up with the Nikon Coolpix instead.

It too is a powerhouse and, thus far, impossible to break/drown/destroy.