Waterproof digital cameras

[TheVBs]

For awhile I've been seriously considering getting a waterproof digital camera. Has anyone bought one? I'd love to hear about anyone's experience with one!

[vicster]

I used one when we went on a cruise and got some awesome pictures of stingrays under water in the Cayman Islands.

[cajunprincess]

I own the Olympus Stylus 770SW. It was pricey when we bought it 3 years ago but the prices have gone way down on them. My camera is waterproof to 30 feet, shock proof from 5 feet, and crush resistant to 200lbs. We LOVE our camera and wouldn't trade it for the world! If mine broke, I would definatley purchase another one. We have gotten some horrified faces when people see us jump into water with it and they say.......OMG MA'AM YOU JUST PUT YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA IN THE WATER YOU BETTER HURRY UP AND GET OUT AND TRY TO DRY IT!!! Anyways, yes, they are worth the money and the underwater pictures are great, as well as the regular pictures. I highly recommend it!

[thrillme]

I looked all over the place for these.

I think the critics recommended Pentex or the Panasonic. I personally didn't find these to be any better necessarily but more expensive. Both did seem to do better in some areas relative to a professional critic/photographer taking pictures...especially at night. BUT they were only availble at some of the pricey camera shops (around me). So I really didn't get to play with them. I do in general although like the Pentex. It's capable of great pictures but sometimes it takes some "skill" to achieve them.

My girlfriend purchased the Fuji FinePix WP. You can find these around for about $159. It did a good job...took some nice pictures. My complaints with it was that it was SLOW to "ready" itself for the next shot, boasted only a "moderate" steady shot when zooming (alas she's not the best photographer) and I felt the controls were a bit cumbersome to press, her camera also handled "moving" shots only moderately well but then...she NEVER reads instructions so she probably didn't have it set right. BUT many of her pictures came out VERY nice and it captured video. It seemed to work very nice on outdoor shots. I also liked the fact that it took a regular SD card. It was supposed to have a "facial recognition" feature but it didn't seem to work well...then I'm not 100% either of us really knew how to operate it correctly.

My husband and I kicked it up a notch. We got an Olympus Tough for about $90 more. Unfortunately the first one we purchased was defective but we returned it without a problem. They have several versions of Olympus waterproofs ranging from $159-350. I think they're "about" the same...this I'm not sure of.

The Olympus WP basic is a lot like the Fuji FinePix with cumbersome buttons. It seemed to have similar features as the TOUGH but...you HAD to enter the menu and fish around till you found the right option.

Olympus WP Tough (we got) was nice because the controls worked like a normal camera with a "dial" to your preferred setting, it has a "dual" stabilization control so that when you zoom...it seems to give you a little more leeway in staying focused. It has a lot of nice features including a "Beauty" feature (but it didn't work well enough to make me look like Catherine Zeta Jones:( sigh). This feature actually was kind of nice because it would take the picture then "create" a SECOND picture that would smooth out skin discolorations and lines. It had several more "scene" modes (including panorama) that would set your camera to capture the best picture in your environment. The big feature my husband liked was that it could handle and accidental drop of about 5 ft. It's also freeze proof which is nice since we like to ski. The cons against this camera are like the Fuji Fine Pix...it's SLOW to get ready for the next shot (I believe ALL waterproof cameras are like this) AND it failed on me after snorkling. The second camera seems to operate MUCH MUCH better than the first one EVER did. I really think it was just defective. But I DID get some nice pictures while snorkling. I got it as Costco and they gave me a full refund. I DID like the camera so I applied it to the second one. I also was a little annoyed that it took a Micro SD memory card instead of the SD. But a 4 Gig Micro SD card at Walmart only cost us about $14...not a big deal and we can use them in our phones.

The Olympus Crush WP had all the same features of the Tough but you could run over it with a "truck"...uhh...OK...:confused: I guess this would be good for those who are really hard on cameras.

On both Fuji and Olympus...the lens is on the cornor of the camera. They LOVE to capture your fingers. Be sure after taking your camera in salt water that you rinse it thoroughly in fresh water (battery and PC access doors CLOSED). WP cameras are good for 10 FT. If yuo want to go scuba diving you will need to buy a housing. I know they sell housings for the olympus...I don't know about the fine pix.

Many of the reviews I read didn't seem to access all areas of the camera's special abilities which can be a selling point in themselves. So that could be something to take into account too.

[TheVBs]

Wow! Thanks for the replies and thank you for such a detailed one thrillme! I hadn't even realized there were that many options. I was considering the Fuji and knew Olympus had one but didn't know much about either.

The slow to be ready thing is something that I know will drive me nuts, but if it's something they all do I can learn to live with it. I'm just looking for a better alternative to the disposable waterproof cameras. The pictures come out so poorly. At only $160, a digital version would pay for itself in a handful of trips.

[MidnTPK]

We bought the waterproof & shockproof one from Olympus when my baby girl knocked our very nice Sony out of my wife's hands accidentally. One minor drop and the Sony was done for (the lens was out of the body when this happened, and it got misaligned and wouldn't go back into the camera's body).

Until my family is completely done with the toddler phase, we'll only be buying waterproof and shockproof cameras. Yes, it's slower and slightly lower quality picture, but it still takes totally satisfactory shots. And we take it into the pool and on rides without a worry about it getting damaged.