WaterProof Camera

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Nighters

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Paul Nightingale
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Hi all,

Need some advice, I need a camera I can take with me Kayaking so needs to be waterproof and compact. I wont be taking underwater shots but shots of wildlife, landscapes at kind of thing. Price range of uptp £250.00, any recommendations would be great.

Thanks.
 
The Olympus Mju Tough range are worth a look if a simple P&S is all you're after. Fully submersible and will take pretty much any abuse you're likely to be able to throw at it.
 
I'd go for a dedicated housing on a P & S over a waterproof body every time. The waterproof ranges are very open to having card and battery doors knocked open and then they ain't waterproof anymore, a housing gets round this, but is a little more cash
 
+1 for the Olympus Mju - they are tough and reliable. The booklet tells you that the rubber seals are only guaranteed for 12 months and should be serviced - we have had one for 3 years and its still going strong and great for snorkelling.

Chris
 
3612879977_f8544518b8_o.jpg


Was one from a random sample - no resize or photoshop. Before you judge, remember that this was from the 720 and we had just been snorkling around Discovery Cove in Florida.

When you get out of the water, you turn the camera on and blow any excess water from the lens.

3613704028_89f96f479d.jpg


This one from underwater. To be honest, I rarely get anything worth keeping from underwater - them fishes are fast!

Chris
 
There are some waterproof single use* cameras available too.

(* sometimes called disposable although they're not).


Steve.
 
friend of mine went for the MJU
seems pretty good, takes a knock, and his goes down to 10m depth and -15oC in the snow or something
pretty good cameras
 
Pentax also do a waterproof P&S you may want to look at. :)
 
rolleiflex also have a waterproof PnS well under your budget, the Rollei X-8, I haven't tried one.

There is a new canon waterproof camera too, but that is a little above your budget, the PSD10.
 
You can get a Fuji F100fd for about £150 and a 30 mtr underwater housing for it for another £100.

12mp compact about the size of a fag packet (out of the housing) 5x zoom lens (28-135 eq) IS, face detection. Very good images in daylight but the night capabilities are not great. Good underwater though in the housing.
 
Drop into your local dive shop, maybe get a good deal?
Jim
 
There are quite a range of waterproof cameras on the market at the moment, lots of which can be mounted to things, so you can attach them to helmets, boats, etc. and a lot of them are under £250.

A particularly good one for kayaking is the GoPro Digital Hero 5, it is really lightweight so you can strap it to your wrist or your paddles.

If you wanted to pay a bit more though the Sealife DC1000 is a beautiful underwater camera but a little bit more pricey.

Check out these links though as that site has lots of great waterproof cameras.:thumbs:
 
I'd go with some of the others here and say camera and housing. Seals on "waterproof" cameras can deteriorate quickly in the conditions they get exposed to and leak.
 
minus one for the olympus, they're slow to use and not great out of the water (this was a previous generation, they might have improved).

DPreview did a waterproof camera test fairly recently, I think the panasonic and canon came out tops, I've just got a panasonic and so far, so good..
 
Another vote for the Olympus Muju - Ive got the U850 SW. Had it about three years and have done nothing to maintain the seals. I go Sea Kayaking and have never had a problem, just run it under clean water after use - that's often some days after use.

You need to ask yourself what your needs are. Are you white-water, flat water or sea kayaking? That will dictate size of camera and whether you have room for a camera with a lens in a housing. Do you need a good zoom.

Unfortunately it comes down to personal preference and compromise. I would never take my SLR on the water but I know people who do.

Ken
 
Another MINUS one for the Olympus Mju. I got one for snorkelling and general beach use and it was just what I wanted. I was very conscientious about rinsing it after salt water use and keeping the seals dust and hair free but it still decided to leak just out of warranty. Oly didn't want to know - the warranty was over, so end of story.

I've since replaced it with a Canon D10 but haven't yet been anywhere warm enough to go snorkelling so can't report on it's waterproofness. Above water, the images knock those from the Oly into a cocked hat and wee-wees all over them for good measure!

On a tighter budget, Fuji make a waterproof compact - on offer at Jacobs for £129.99, FinePix Z33WP. The Panasonic Lumix FT1 is also waterproof but is probably overbudget.
 
The Olympus MJU for me too. I have the 790SW quite an old one at that and I have never maintained it at all. I used it in Feb in the Maldives for snorkeling and never had a problem with it and yes, it is as tough as folk say it is.

All these underwater images were taken with it:

http://cid-68bf43e2375a73ec.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Meeru%2008%20underwater/nemo2.jpg


The first week I had mine I was walking in the Peak District, my niece was carrying it and about an hour into the walk she declared she had lost it.

We backtracked for about an hour trying to find it and eventually I noticed a bit of string poking out of the snow. The camera had dropped from chest height into a tractor rut full of water which was covered in snow.
 
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