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I am looking for a reliable water resistant digital camera. It doesn't need to be professional quality. Just a descent cost vs. quality camera that I can take paddling. Any good reviews?

Thanks.

I have the Pentax Optio W20 waterproof camera and have been fairly happy with it. It fits in the pocket of my PFD and when the lens fogs, you simply dip the camera in the water and then take your shot. It also shoots movies at 640x480 30 fps, which makes for really decent footage. To do that though, make sure you buy a quality high speed memory card.

One negative is that it doesn't have a viewfinder. You have to use the LCD screen. In bright sunlight you can't see squat. But, you can just point in the general direction, focus (it beeps when it has focused) and click. That works pretty good.

One thing I've noticed about all cameras, including the ones with stabilization features, is you get a lot better pictures if you get out of the boat on onto solid ground. The bouncing water even in fairly calm eddies is enough to degrade the sharpness of photos.

The camera I take with me nearly all the time out on the water is a Canon Powershot S2 IS. I think the current model is a S5. This is not a waterproof camera, but I've had it out in the drizzle and gotten it plenty damp without any problem--and I've had the camera for 2 years at least. I carry it in a Pelican 1150 case. This camera also takes 640 x 480 30 fps movies but with an important difference. You can zoom in and out while shooting the movie. Few digital cameras will do that. Plus, instead of just a 3X zoom, you get a 12X zoom. The downside is the footage is Motion JPEG which takes a lot of memory and can only be edited with some software (I use AVS Video). The plus side is the video is really good and the sound is recorded in stereo.

So, if you need a camera that fits in your PFD pocket, the Optio is a very good bet. If you can pack a pelican case, I'd really suggest the Canon for the zoom and better movie-shooting capabilites. And if you really want great shots, get out of your boat.

I have the Pentax Optio W10 (the predecessor to the W20). I think it is great, and it has taken a fair bit of abuse. Photos aren't professional quality, but it does allow you to get photos you never would otherwise. I keep it in the pocket of my pfd.

joat wrote:... it does allow you to get photos you never would otherwise.

That's about all the good I can say for my Optio. Getting a good quality image, even when taking the effort to stabilize the camera, etc. is a total crap shoot. I've got a several-generations-old Canon A95 that gives very consistent, high quality results without much effort, even in point and shoot mode. It's just not waterproof. In hindsight, I wish I'd bought a housing for my Canon instead of getting the Pentax. Oh well, at least the Pentax is small enough to put in a PFD pocket and takes nice looking video.

I was very happy with the Pentax WR90 when I was still shooting film - in fact that is for sale! I had a chance to shoot an Optio a couple of times and liked it.

I have also heard good things about the Olympus SW(??) - I believe it is also shock proof and IIRC it does have a view finder.

Things I will pay attention to more next time :

* start up time (from power on to ready to shoot)
* shutter lag
* frames per second
* auto image rotate - when you turn the camera, does it save it rotated? My Kodak does and that and it is nice

I've got a several-generations-old Canon A95 that gives very consistent, high quality results without much effort, even in point and shoot mode. It's just not waterproof. In hindsight, I wish I'd bought a housing for my Canon instead of getting the Pentax.

I tried the waterproof housing solution with my Canon A95. While it might be a great option for divers, the water droplets in front of the lens were a real problem for taking shots above the water. I was always trying to shake them off or carefully wipe them off. I have this housing still if anyone wants to buy it and try it.

Shutter Lag and Frames Per Second, are real critical parameters for digital cameras. This is the most frustrating aspect of digital cameras and pushes you to a higher end product. The shutter lag to me is the most important of the two as it is most important for those action shots. I would put water resistant third.

My Canon Elph SD800 IS, in its waterproof case, has been doing a pretty good job. The camera is ready to shoot almost immediately, it can take repeat shots at a good clip, it has a fast f2.8 lens, 28-105mm zoom , and I find that in good light, the image stabilization is totally effective.

I think this camera has been superseded by the SD850 IS, with more megapixels but still with 28mm wide angle, very important (at least to me) on rivers and in creek gorges.

The optio w10 is what I use with pretty good results and it is waterproof witch is what the post is asking.I use the high speed setting alot you get about 5 to 7 pics in a row.The 30 fps vid is nice but you can hear the mechanics of the camera when zooming and such.

Its waterproof- small- and takes pretty good pics- most of the pics of the boats I have listed are taken with it- as were the pics of Jim's squirt boat- I'll try to load a pic of Kneal on Wilson this weekend- and of course send him and Mike photos

milkman wrote: I tried the waterproof housing solution with my Canon A95. While it might be a great option for divers, the water droplets in front of the lens were a real problem for taking shots above the water. I was always trying to shake them off or carefully wipe them off. I have this housing still if anyone wants to buy it and try it.

Water droplets can be an issue on the Optio, too. I just keep a small strip of synthetic chamois attached to the wrist strap - a quick dab removes any droplets or fog and does not leave streaks.

How much do you want for your housing?

In My Humble Opinion water resistant camera is necessary only for decked boats. For OC you can easy used Pelican box with DSLR like Canon 400 with 28-135 lens with stabilzator

Beereddy -

You have a point - for the same money, you can get a much better camera and can secure it. Last night I was shooting some low light shots that I do not think I could have pulled off with a point and shoot (due to being able to control the exposure). The zoom you can get on even a point and shoot that is not water resistant comes in handy, too. And I was in a decked boat - the Rockit has lots of room and those new little Pelican boxes are quite compact.

However... I have missed many pictures because of the time it takes to get the camera out and powered up - better planning does help, though... And I have gotten my "dry" camera wetter than I should through splash (though thankfully not dunking). One did die after a water proof bag failed (the kind you can shoot through)...

I think the ideal solution is to have both - the compact water resistant camera can reside in your PFD pocket and not require any special handling. That camera can serve as your general purpose snapshot camera, too - both the Olympus and Pentax will fit in a shirt pocket. You can't take a picture if you don't have a camera with you...

Scott

After hearing these comments and talking to a guy that posted some good photos on the AW website I am thinking the non-water proof option is the way to go.

I did some research and it seems like you can get better options on the regular digitalcameras and they less expensive. I always take my dry box anyway and if it is useable in the area I am in I throw my cell phone in there just in case. I have never had a problem with it getting wet so I think the camera would be safe too.

Thanks for the input. I was on the Chattooga sec. 3 last week for my first time and it was so beautiful. I was wishing I had a camera with me so I could share the experience with my wife.

See you on the River,

Andy

I think the ideal solution is to have both - the compact water resistant camera can reside in your PFD pocket and not require any special handling.

That's actually what I do a lot of the time. This is also a good backup system--should the batteries in one camera crap out on you, you can use the other camera. Or if it's raining too hard to bring out the drybox camera, you can pull out the waterproof one.

I would seriously suggest looking at the Canon PowerShot S3 or S5 IS for the camera in the drybox--if you don't mind lugging a bigger drybox. The bigger zoom is really good for getting closeups of the action and the look on someone's face as they dig out of a hole or surf something big. Also, one thing I didn't mention before is that when you shoot movies with this camera, you can pause the playback at any point and do screen captures (Alt PrintScreen) that enable you to get a still out of any frame of the video. The screen captures aren't as high quality as a photo would be, but they're plenty good for viewing on a computer screen or printing 6x4 prints.