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SFR:cameras

3K views 21 replies 14 participants last post by  Daryle Holmstrom 
#1 ·
I'm in the market for a good (less than 500 bones) camera that takes decent pics but is water and shock proof. It's sole purpose would be to take fishing trip pics and be able to stand up to minimal and unintentional abuse.

What are some favorites out there?

Cheers,
CS
 
#2 ·
Olympus SW series. Waterproof, shockproof, takes video, compact, affordable.

I just attended a presentation by Brian O'Keefe, and he packs an Olympus SW series camera around with everywhere. To me that says a ton; Brian is an incredibly gifted and knowledgable outdoor photographer. I have the 725SW (sold by Costco, and has been model upgraded since), and it's a tough little camera. It takes good picture, has video, is waterproof (I swim with it), and small enough for shirt pockets or pants rear pockets.

Downside: no view finder, so it can be tough in bright light using the screen to set up pictures. Also, though it takes good pictures, I find my non-waterproof cameras (say, Canon) take better pictures. However, the water-resistance, compactness (word?), and the toughness of the Olympus make it a great outdoor and fishing camera

Do a search on this site; there have been several threads about this topic, and you should find useful information there.
 
#4 ·
Guess what? You're not the first person to have that question.

This is a subject that comes up about every 2-3 weeks. Every question you can possibly imagine has already been asked and answered and discussed thoroughly. Use the Search function above and type in 'waterproof camera' to find what you're looking for.

K
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the input (the input that was actually helpful to me, that is). I'll look into the Olympus series. They sound like just what I'm after.

I can't believe I'm not the first person to inquire about cameras on this forum. How arrogant of me to be so presumptive! :beathead:

CS
 
#6 ·
I can't believe I'm not the first person to inquire about cameras on this forum. How arrogant of me to be so presumptive!
Sorry my earlier post came off a bit harsh.

Not only is this one of the world's most popular flyfishing forums, all previous threads and posts are immediately available by simply through searching the archives. Chances are excellent someone here has exactly the kind of expertise or input you're looking for.

K
 
#9 ·
I try to be nice but after a while it all went out the window. I guess that me being as old as I am that all of this stuff coming up lately was what I went thru before this thing call the internet came about. I'd rather do it for myself instead of asking 1000 dumb shits how to do it.

I'm just trying to live up to being myself.

Jim
 
#11 ·
We have been looking at the same type of camera. There are really only 2

Pentax Optio W60
Olympus Stylus 850,1030,1050sw

The biggest difference that I noticed was the Pentax had a 5x optical zoom, compared to 3x. Other that the review on all of them are good.
 
#15 ·
Chromeseeker,

I am going to buy the Pentax W60 after comparing to Olympus 1030 but they are very similar. I pulled up all the old threads on this topic and looked through Steves digicam reports and it boiled down to these two cameras for me. Of course as you look through the old threads you start to see model numbers that are not their latest and greatest offerings because they change so often. It gets a little confusing when trying to compare similar products that each has its pros and cons. What I really wanted was someone who really knows digital photography and these two camaras to tell me - This One simply takes a superior photograh. That is hard to find but a lot of people say good things about the Pentax quality (as can be said about the Oly) but I think the Pentax features were better for me (e.g. previous comment, type of memory card, etc.)

I have an older model of the Pentax WP series and it never failed me but I want to upgrade all the same. Good luck.
 
#19 ·
Alright who ruffled the old birds feathers? You grumpy old sons' of ......Jim it's cold out. I am comming over! I'll bring the hooch. I can get to your house in about an hour and a half.


Warm up your vice and tell the wife to get dinner going. I'll keep you occupied so you leave the poor guys alone on wff! :D
 
#20 ·
Not to hijak a hijak, but:

I had the original Optio WP. It failed after...what I think about four seasons or so. Not bad, but not great. The battery is (was, sniff sniff) horrible. And I don't think they've done anything to change that. The image quality is pretty mediocre compared to a lot of other cameras (like the better p&s cams that aren't waterproof), but the point of this camera is that it'll be there when you need it.

Since the camera finally died, I'm pretty sure I'm going with the Olympus for the next round. Why? Mostly battery life and the "shock proof," which the pentax doesn't reallytalk much about in the same way olympus does. Pretty sure it's not up to the same level. Not that I intend to put 200 lbs of weight on the camera, but it'll take some bumps before it's all said and done.

I really like the 5x zoom of the Pentax, and I like the price. But I was never that happy with the camera, especially the battery situation. It sucked juice (at a pretty high level) while the camera was off. So if you didn't use it for a few weeks, and then went fishing it was basically DOA. That is lame. I don't know if they've fixed that with more recent models, but that kind of battery draw (just to remember some setting in the camera) is pretty poor. Defeats one of the bid advantages of Li-Ion batteries.

One thing to note: all the camera manufacturers recommend sending to the factory and having the rubber seals changed out. I think they both specify once a year. That's not a cheap thing to do. I'm not sure if it needs once a year or if you'd get by with it every couple of years...but keep it in mind. They won't stay waterproof forever.
 
#21 ·
I have an Olympus Stylus 500. Two winters ago I left it in my truck and I thought that the lens cover froze up. I would turn it on and the cover would only open up half way. So I sent it to Olympus for repairs. Well the same thing happened again this summer. Well I thought that some dirt had gotten in there to stop things up. So to save myself some money I took the front cover off. When I turned it on with the cover off it workd like it was supposed to. When I set the cover back on it did it again. I discovered that when you set the camera down on it's face it bends the thin metal in and stops up the works. I put some pressure on the inside of the face and reinstalled it. It now works like it supposed to.

I paid $105.00 last time I sent it in plus postage. I now set the camers on it's base to prevent this happening again. I guess that you can say this is a lesson learned..

Now if I could catch something and get a picture of it.

Jim
 
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