waterproof/underwater camera

atlantisboy911

atlantisboy911

Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2009
Messages
188
Santa is coming , suggestions and reccomedations much appreciated.
 
I think jayL recently got one, maybe he'll weigh in on this.
 
I picked up a used Olympus Tough off of Ebay for 70$. Need it as a back up for work, and one I can take fishing with me. I have not been able to use it yet though.
 
There was a thread on here earlier in the year that discussed some different brands. Ive been looking at a Panasonic Lumix myself.
 
The thread was in OT. I'll find it tonight if you can't. I ended up with a pentax optio. So far, so good. Battery life sucks, but everything else is good.
 
I've used a bunch of different Olympus SW and Tough
you need to to your research... they have some great models and some a junk

The pannasonic is also nice
 
after promptly ruining a non waterproof nikon my girlfriend got me for christmas, i realized i needed a "tough camera." I bought the fuji finepix. The picture quality isn't the greatest. its adequate though, especially considering all the quality photo editing software out there. Thus far it has lived up to the "tough camera" moniker. My notoriously clumsy friend wanted me to throw it across a stream to him so he could snap some pics of me crossing a stream on a backpacking trip. Of course he didn't catch it, subsequently the camera smashed off some rocks and fell into the stream, almost washing downstream to be lost forever. Luckily he was able to grab it before it hit the really fast water. It got a few scars from the experience but still works fine.
 
Ramcatt, what were your thoughts on the Olympus Tough?
 
I have the 8000... its nice
i also had the SW1030 and SW 720

the 720 was the first shock/waterproof to hit the market back in like 06... and in my opinion the best... more control and less preset garbage

the 1030 was nice... but leaked... i've read that this has been an issue for that model

the 8000 is nice, but you need to know the menus and get a feel for it... the macro and supermacro are killer... in auto mode everything is a bit flat... with some minor work in pshop or light room you'd can get some great images!

I know a few people with the model with the slide front (5000 ?)
And it was garbage
 
Yea, I have the 850sw. Have not got to try it out yet, other then macro shots, and it did not handle very well. I have a Fuji Finepix for that purpose anyways. Was wondering how the underwater photo's turned out.
 
I have the Pentax WG-1, sweet little rig. Picture quality isn't quite what I get out of my nicer Nikon (P7000), but it's plenty good for snapshots.

The later half of this gallery was shot with the Pentax, starting with the upside down mayfly:

http://tomi.smugmug.com/Sports/Fishin/On-the-Stream-0h11/15288347_wKqkbN#1143721394_Jx9tJ



 
Becker
I'll pm you link to some of my underwater shots
 
+1 on the Pentax WG-1. Only major issue has been poor battery life. Will definitely need backups.
 
I have an olympus tough 8000, no issues with it at all

pretty easy to use for basic photos and can get as complicated as you want to make it with settings and photo shop applications

probably taken 30-40 underwater pictures with it in the last year
 
Nikon AW100 or Panasonic Lumix or GoPro2 are the best in tough/waterproof cameras right now.
 
I bought the AW100 just recently. Have not had the time to play with it yet. Only 300 dollars at Ajrichies.com. A real nice deal and the best price you will find....
 
I've had the Pentax Optio W80 for over a year now and really like it. Like Jay said the battery life isn't great but I have two batteries (the camera package I got came with 2). It is a really nice camera for the price and I've taken underwater pics and the camera has been soaked in the rain and it still works fine. The pics are grainy on the camera screen but when you transfer them to a computer they look very good IMO.
 
I used to own a Pentax Optio WG-1. It's a fine camera with adequate picture quality & features. I lost mine this summer when I dropped it and it sank to the bottom of a deep adirondack pond. Lesson learned - BUY a FLOAT!

I replaced it with the Panasonic DMC TS-1. The panasonic outperforms the pentax in every way...better picture quality, better video quality, etc. The only thing that I would give to the Pentax over the panasonic is that it's a bit smaller. the trade-off is worth it, however.
 
Thanks for all your comments, still not sure :)
 
I have the Canon D10. Love it.

Positives:
1. VERY QUICK. That was the big selling point for me, very important for a fishing camera IMO. I honestly can power it up, let it focus, snap a picture, let it save, and power it down in 5 seconds flat.
2. Great pictures. Picture quality is among the best I've ever used.
3. The strap connect system is very nice. You can secure the wrist strap to any corner you want quickly and easily, or hook up a harness system easily.
4. Battery life is fantastic. Takes one of the Canon Li-ion batteries and comes with the charger.
5. Very good macro setting, nice for taking pics of bugs, though I haven't done much of that yet!

Negatives:
1. Form. It's a P&S, but fairly large compared to the competition, and has a weird egg shape. It makes holding it a bit awkward and could cause problems if you are trying to fit it in small pockets.
2. Not available in ANY stores to my knowledge. Best Buy doesn't even know it exists, they told me Canon doesn't make a waterproof, lol. I got it from Amazon.
3. It was fairly high priced compared to the competition when I was in the market. Not sure about now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Harman's North Fork Cottages


Real Time Data From
the USGS Site

Share this page

Back
Top