In terms of water proof, shock proof, everything proof nothing beats a Pelican case.  A bit bulky and heavy but as long as your camera is in the case you know it is completely protected.  I can keep the Pelican case right on the floor of the canoe by my feet for easy access and never have to worry about bilge water etc. damaging my camera.

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Given the quality of the images you can now get with waterproof point-and-shoots, I just can't see taking my DSLR on wilderness trips. My DSLR is old and I just bought a Nikon, (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links). The point and shoot has 4 time the resolution of my "good" camera.  The big downside of the Nikon is it has no viewfinder, just the LCD.

azalea wrote on Jan 19^th, 2015 at 8:09pm:


Dumped my boat at West lake on a solo.......ruined my Cannon SLR which was supposedly in a "dry bag" which I didn't seal properly and it put a big damper (no pun intended) on the whole trip.

Enter in Panasonic Lumix which I wear right on my hip, always available, waterproof and shockproof. Throw in an extra battery and I'm good to go. Zoom is a bit limited but that just means I need to get close......edit on the computer and its fine for the casual observer. 

Of course if photography is the emphasis it wouldn't replace proper equipment. But what I have found is if the camera is neatly tucked away then the pic is generally not taken.

When asked what camera do you get the best pictures with DD responded “The one I carry in my shirt pocket”.  That rang home with me so I wanted to have my next camera fit in my shirt pocket but it must be able to survive if I go for a swim.  I purchased a DMC-ZS40 (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  . It get pictures of things my eyes cant see.  I use it as binoculars with stabilization. Look at the options that thing has (view finder, X30 optical zoom, stabilization, and much more).  I put it in a SeaToSummit 1L DrySack.  I roll the top down and clip it around the camera for extra padding.  It then fits in my shirt pocket. I have gone swimming 2 times and been caught in the rain many times and never got a drop of water on the camera while in the dry sack. I keep my big camera dry by putting it in the closet at home.

I keep my DSLR inside a ziplock in a soft Lowe case that attaches to the thwart in front of me. I have a silnylon dry bag that I can put the whole the case in on rainy days. Not overwhelming protection, but the camera is easy to access when the unexpected encounter occurs.

Last year I decided I wanted a camera that would give me more control than a point and shoot but without the weight and bulk of a DSLR and lens.  The best compromise I could come up with was the Panasonic FZ-200.  I wasn’t disappointed.  This is an amazing camera.  It is built like a small, light DSLR but has a fixed lens.  The lens itself is a marvel – a Leica zoom with a constant 2.8 aperture between 24 and 600 mm (equivalent.)  It has an excellent EVF (electronic view finder,) which was a must for me.  It is a compromise.  I don’t care how good the camera is you’ll never get the same quality of photos on the kind of small sensors that make a camera like this (as well as point and shoots) possible.  But unless you’re a pro and plan to print very large this camera does it for me.  It isn’t water proof but I can shoot RAW as well as RAW + JPEG.
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On this year’s trip I plan to get into night sky photography so in addition to my camera I’ll be carrying a tripod and a wireless remote shutter release.  Should be fun.  The tripod that I’ve chosen, by the way, is also a marvel: Sirui T-025x, which weighs in at 1.8 lb and folds down to 11”!
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I picked up my Pelican 1200 case, by the way, for under $40 at Amazon.com.
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Jimmar, if you're looking at buying a Pelican case make sure you get the right size.  The 1200 will just fit my FZ-200 so anything bigger is going need a bigger case.  I called Pelican with the dimensions of my camera - I originally wanted to try squeezing into an 1150, one size down - and they really helped me out.

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This christmas I learned two things. First I took a number of my better pictures and decided to make 8x10 prints of them.  I also decided to put them on a thumb drive so I could display them on me TV.  In both cases, I needed to crop them (but differently for the two mediums).  The lesson I learned which is another difference from film, do not OVER-zoom.  Take pictures bigger than what you might otherwise and crop later.   And for my eye, the technology has advanced to the point where you have plenty of pixels to spare except for anyone planning on creating HUGE prints (even an ultra HD TV only uses 3840 × 2160 pixels).

The second thing I learned was the height/width pixels on my wife's new point and shoot are twice what my old "good" camera has.  So while I may have 10x zoom and she only has 5x, she can take a picture a 5x zoom and crop it to what I took at 10x zoom and her pic which have the same detail as mine.

I tried something like that a few years back for my little point and shoot.  A real pain in the ass.  If it gets wet you have water stains that affect the photo plus I found that the integrity of the lens was compromised.  What's the point of getting a camera with a good quality lens and then putting a piece of cheap plastic in front of it?  My $.02.

azalea wrote on Jan 26^th, 2015 at 5:50pm:


Important to remember the size of the chip that those megapixels are measured on is important. Thus a full frame 20mp captures much more detail and dynamic range than a 20mp point and shoot. Think of it like film size, the chip on a point and shoot is tiny compared to that in a DSLR.
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I have a Dry-Bag that is a little smaller than my day pack. If I'm in rough water or a heavy all day rain, I'll put the camera in the bag.

99% of the time I keep it in shirt pocket or Napoleon pocket of my Windshirt. I like the zip-lock becasue it protects from sweat/ condensation but my camera is readily accessible.

I've only dumped 1 time and that was in a true solo. That Souris Q-16 tandem is stable especially with a load. I'll trade that stability for speed in a solo anytime, at least for the way I travel and the size of my packs and gear load.

I need to get a digital waterproof camera. I have a Nikon 35 mm that is/was great, but it's heavy and only has a 90 mm zoom. It's now my car camping camera.

With all the new waterproof digitals and the expanding features, I need one and sooner rather than later. Like cars, lot's of choices, hard to decide.