I am looking to upgrade my current camera to something waterproof and shock proof. I have looked into the pentax optio w90 which I think Spartan 2 has. I am leaning that way but thought I would get some various opinions from the many good shutterbugs on this site.  
[smiley=dankk2.gif]

I too am interested in a similar product.  Waterproof, shockproof, even a little freezeproof would be nice.

Other desired features:
- Unlimited shutter speed, I want to be able to open the shutter, walk away, and have it stay open until I close it.
- Burst Mode, so many good wildlife shots are that one in a series of 4 or 5 burst shots.
- Silent.  I've seen way too many cameras that don't have a true silent option.  Don't ever make a noise.
- Tripod nut in line with the lens.  Too many cameras do not have this basic requirement.
- Not tiny.  Those little cameras take great shots of my finger.  Give me room to hold the camera and not have my finger cutting off the lens.
- Macro Mode, pretty sure all cameras have this.


From what I've seen, these options are only available to snapshot cameras.  Limited zoom, digital zoom is not my preference & I can do this better at home.

I also have started to look for something to take on my canoe excursions and came up with "Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 12 MP Digital Camera" fpr $259 on Google or Amazon.  Or "Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 14MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD" for $307.  

Not sure what is out there in the $300 or under price range, but these may be worth checking out.   I don't have experience with either but you can read reviews on Amazon or Google.  FWIW.

On a recent trip to AZ to see sister and terminally ill brother in law, I got to see/use a Panasonic digital camera my sister just bought.

Not sure of model, but it had a lens equivalent to 300mm and built in anti-shake, which worked beautifully.

We did a day trip to Grand Canyon, and the pics were superb. She took a pic of a deer that was crossing the river. I saw the movement and she zoomed in. I was amazed how far the little camera could zoom 8-)

Problem was as you guys mentioned was its size :'(
I don't have big hands or at least not compared to guys much bigger than me, but I couldn't use that camera for the life of me.

I ended up hitting the wrong button or switching modes, which didn't endear me to my sister >:(

I have a old school Nikon waterproof IQ 90 zoom. It's a monster compared to the new digital cameras, but the buttons are large, spaced well, and you can actually hold it with both hands and not take a picture of your finger.

I think if I get into a digital, I would make sure it had a tripod mount and make a homemade pistil grip for it. Maybe a wood dowel, with a finger style bike grip and tripod mount epoxied to it. Something I could hold comfortably in one hand and avoid to many chunky fingers on the little buttons ;D

Well. . .my Optio is only the W30 and it is tiny.  Has lots of shooting modes, has a macro focus that does tiny things quite well, does a great job with water and sky shots (sort of hyper-saturates the blues), and is very, very waterproof.  The zoom does well at the lower ranges, but when it gets into the optical zoom it isn't very sharp.

Have never used it on a tripod, as I use my digital SLR for tripod shots.  I use it only for quick shots from the canoe, shooting on rainy/wet days, carrying with me to football games, art fairs, etc.  It is a good little pocket-size camera, but not as good as my digital SLR.

On the other hand, I haven't begun to really explore what it can do because I am not that interested, so perhaps it has a lot of features that I am not using fully.  For most photography I would just rather use my good lenses and my SLR.  I paid about $250 for it and I love it for its intended uses.

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Had a Pentax optio6 that finally died, about 50K shots.

Picked up the Lumix TSC-1.  Spendy. Good optics. HD video. H2O proof to 10 feet.  

The TSC-2 goes deeper and has even better optics.  

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Jeff

wrote on Sep 20^th, 2010 at 3:57pm:

I also have started to look for something to take on my canoe excursions and came up with "Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 ....

I'm thinking about this one too. I wish it had a view finder, I have old fart eyes and the sunlight washout of the LCD is usually a problem for me. If I recall DD may use one of these. Any one else have any experiences with this one.

Jimmar
I have done a bit of on-line research with different reviews and like what Kheya has except I think I will step up to the dmc ts2. It has a power lcd screen which will help in direct sunlight plus it has imovie capability to interface with my Mac. Written up very nicely from a variety of sources.

I can deal with hordes of bugs, actually like extreme weather and generally ignore or laugh (in a "nice" way  ;) ) at whiners but nothing will ruin a trip faster for me than having my camera go down.

Nice pic BTW Spartan 2 of the wolf spider. This summer one of my crew had one take up lodging in his boot during the night. Up his thigh it went in the morning. We both yelled ("shriek" is probably the right word  ;D ). Dang things are BIG!

A little on the large size but this is what I use...has a view finder, manual function, 20X digital zoom, etc.

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Not really looking for a waterproof case.  I'm not going scuba diving, I just want to be able to leave it out in the rain or drop it in the water without worry.

Actually, I posted the spider shot because I know they always give solotripper the shudders.   ;) ;D

Spartan2 wrote on Sep 21^st, 2010 at 3:35pm:

Actually, I posted the spider shot because I know they always give solotripper the shudders.   ;) ;D

I've handled pet tarantulas, but one of these scurrying out of my wood pile unexpectedly, did make me scream like a little girl ;D
For the longest time, I assumed ( wrongly), that the colder climate of the Q, limited the size of spiders. turtles etc.

After seeing these spiders and the monster snappers, I now know they may take longer to grow ( turtles), but they get plenty big enough to startle the unwary paddler :o

Looking at the Lumix DMC-TS2 or DMC-FT2 (same camera, regionally different names) it looks really sweet.
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Personal High Points:
-ISO Sensitivity (Standard Output Sensitivity) Auto / 80 / 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 High Sensitivity Mode: Auto (1600 - 6400)
-Shutter Speed Still: 8 - 1/1,300 sec Starry Sky Mode: 15, 30, 60 sec
-Continuous Shooting Mode Full-Resolution Image, 1.8 frames / sec
Max. 5 images (Standard Mode), Max. 3 images (Fine Mode)
Hi-speed Burst Mode: Approx. 10 frames / sec (Speed Priority), Approx. 6 frames / sec (Image Priority)
(recorded in 3M for 4:3, 2.5M for 3:2, 2M for 16:9)
Approx. 15 - 100 shots.
* Maximum is 100 shots.
・The number of consecutive shots is limited by the shooting conditions, card type, and card condition.
・The number of consecutive shots may increase immediately after the card is formatted.
-Optical Zoom in Motion Picture Yes
-Water Proof 10.0 m (IEC60529 IPX8 compliant)
-Dust Proof Yes (IEC60529 IP6X compliant)
-Freeze Proof -10.0 °C (~15F)
-Shock Proof 2.0 m (6.5 feet) (MIL-STD810F Method 516.5-Shock compliant) -It amazes me how many cameras are shock proof to 1m.  If I'm going to drop it, it's likely I'll drop it from face level not crotch level.

I found this site while looking for waterproof digital cameras.
It has many of the models mentioned listed, and a few I had never heard of.

Obviously a surfer has different priority's than we might, but while not all cameras have a written review yet, there are a few that get high marks and fall into the lower end of the price category. The GE G3 got my attention.

Some had simple controls, basic modes. Probably not for the hardcore photographer, but ease of use has too count for something ;)

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wrote on Sep 20^th, 2010 at 3:57pm:

I also have started to look for something to take on my canoe excursions and came up with "Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 12 MP Digital Camera".

All of the shots included in this years trip report have been with this camera.

I'll be posting another trip report soon.  I'm not great with photography, but you can judge for yourself about the quality.  I haven't done any underwater shots with it on a trip yet.