Waterproof camera

Hi,

I'd like to buy a waterproof camera, but I have noticed that the image quality of all of them is pretty poor even compared with standard point and shoot.

Which one would you suggest me to buy? WG-2 is decent, but there could be better ones.

I would be interested in a P&S + waterproof case combo, but I think it would get quite expensive.

Thank you for the help (holidays are close for me )

I use the W90 and the biggest problem with these cameras is camera shake. They are small and light and not easy to holod still. However, when I get it right they are capable of very good results.

Perfect for carrying all the time, rain or shine, and for arduous use where no other camera would be used.

It depends to an extent how waterproof you want the camera to be - I bought a Pentax Optio WG1 because I wanted to be able to shoot underwater when snorkelling and I found it great! It worked fine submerged for about 3 hours at a time. I also ended up in a tropical storm in New York, where it was tipping it down relentlessly so I used the Optio there too, and it was also a great general beach-type camera as when it got covered in sand etc. I could just wash it in the sink . Certainly the image quality is not what you would get from a DSLR, but my experience with the Optio is that as long as you keep the ISO low then it is not too bad at all. I'll certainly be using mine again this year.

I'll see if I can find a couple of samples to post if that helps.

Cheers

Not sure whether these will be helpful but here's a handful of samples:

Three from New York during Tropical Storm Maria: day and night (although New York has a decent amount of light at night!)









A stingray taking a break (taken whilst snorkelling)



Classic beach!



Obviously I have done some PP on these to suit my taste, but hopefully gives an idea.

Cheers

nice images, the WG-2 should be better, shouldn't it? However I am not sure if it is the best choice out there.

I would like to buy it today, but I am still in doubt between the wg-2 and the olympus 820 tough.

Last recommendations?

Has to be the Pentax WG-2. If you try the Olympus forums they may tell you differently!

I think you should handle them both if you can. If not, buy the Pentax with confidence and just enjoy using it.

I was also looking for a beach/snorkelling camera this summer and one thing that seemed to be pretty common to all of them (as well as slightly patchy image quality) was reports of leaks (which are pretty terminal in salt water). This was even when the users claimed they'd followed the seal care instructions. This had been my experience with my previous (admittedly very cheap) one - and I do know how to look after the seals (I used to have a Nikonos). Also they tend to have pretty naff seals rather than proper O-rings.

So I got a compact (not Pentax) and a snorkelling housing (rated to 3m but was OK at 8m) for about the same money. The design makes all the potential failure points obvious and easy to check, and it inspires a lot more confidence IMHO (though still no proper O-ring on the main seal).

It is though bigger (though you don't have to use the housing when you don't want/need to) and you do (probably) lose things like shock resistance. It's also a bit OTT if you don't actually want to take it underwater.

I was very happy with the results - snorkelling and on a couple of small boat days - and would do the same again.

I've had no problems with my W90. When it comes out of the water though I do wait until it is thoroughly dry before attempting to remove a battery or SD card.

I was out off for the same reasons as MostlyHarmless & too have gone for a similar solution to him.

Whilst I'm sure John's and maybe most are fine, at the time I coudn't find a model that had a reasonable number of reveiws on Amazon that didn't have a fair % of failures. I haven't looked at the two you mention as were not out at that time.

The potential money lost may not be as crital to you than me, but I would prioritise getting one from a retailer you trust to give good after sales service should a return be necessary and you don't want to get into arguements about whether you followed seal care instructions or not.