The Latest In Digital Cameras?

[Smitty]

Been a couple of years since I visited this topic - thought I'd revive it. The reason, naturally, is that I'm looking to upgrade - again.

 

With Airmiles I got one for "free" a couple of years ago - A Fujifilm xp20. Gotta say I really don't like it. One of the main issues, is the start up time from turning it on to taking my first shot. The second, related issue, is that it takes so long to focus to snap one picture or the lag time between taking 2 pictures. Need something that I can point and shoot - faster.

 

Then, a bunch of nit-picky things I don't like.

 

So my friends, what's the latest and greatest in digital point and shoots?

 

(By the way, I'll state the obvious; it needs to be waterproof, shock proof, dust proof, etc etc)

 

Cheers!

Smitty

[cheeler]

I love my Panasonic TS3 - I believe the latest is the TS5, which has good reviews. Olympus had a new one out that comes with a larger sensor that should be better in lower light situations.

 

DPReview.com says they're doing six reviews right now, the latest Olympus is here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympus-tg2

[Jayhad]

Pentax WG-III

[pokerfish]

I just bought the Olympus TG2. And just love it.

The picture quality is amazing.

the controls are intuitive

I really like the one touch video - big button on the side facing you, and really visible - press and the video starts,

 

AND FAST!!

almost no perceptible delay, from hitting the on button, and ready to take a pic

 

bright and sharp pics - with the lens big, the low light pics are superb.

 

The reviews on line rate it very high as a waterproof - usually #1.

 

Did I mention it was FAST!!

 

downside is it is a little heavy ( I had a pentax wp before) and only 5x zoom.

 

So far the battery life has been very good. and recharging is easy - plug the usb connector into a power slot. 30 mins and go. Car, computer , outlet, whatever.

 

All that comes at a cost, and it is a little pricey.

 

 

Talk to the folks at The Camera Store.

[RedBeard]

I love my Panasonic TS3 - I believe the latest is the TS5, which has good reviews. Olympus had a new one out that comes with a larger sensor that should be better in lower light situations.

 

DPReview.com says they're doing six reviews right now, the latest Olympus is here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympus-tg2

 

I also have the TS3, bought it on sale after the TS4 came out and I really love it. When I'm not around dirt and sand I shoot with professional gear, and I'm happy that they introduced the manual setting in the TS4 so you can expose pictures how you want. The Leica lens is not bad, but it's also only 5x zoom, and can get scratched as it's always exposed.

 

I love the GPS on these cameras, if you load them into a program that enables geo-tagging you can see where you caught each of your fish. The HD video is good too, I find it works well for underwater release vids.

 

As with any underwater camera, just make sure the seal for the memory card and battery docks are free of debris and are well maintained. I had an olympus underwater camera before this one and the seal degraded and let water in, which killed the camera. It also had a retractable lens cover that stopped working once it got dirt in it, so watch out for that.

 

I don't usually touch up photos afterwards, so here's some examples straight through the lens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Muffin]

I also have a Panasonic TS3 and love it. On top of the fishing I also used it for some Snorkelling in Australia and found it worked pretty well. All the pictures are on facebook.

 

It also managed to make it through all the drunken shenagins of being dropped and covered in booze. Whoops!

[RedBeard]

This was a sweet find, being that I'm a photographer and a fisherman, haha