And no, I'm not talking about the very good track by RHCP off Blood Sugar Sex Magik, I'm talking further under the bridge - like, in the water.... Though, I guess you don't need to be 'Under the bridge" but that's the song I had in my head, anyway.... it prompted me, somehow, to think about my experiences with 'hard core' cameras... Waterproof, dust, dirt, sand, mud, jelly... etc - they've been mixed thus far..
The first camera I got hold of to review was the Olympus Tough 8000, it was the first in the (Olympus) series and for the two weeks of review performed very well - what happened to the camera after the review, well that's anyones guess - All I know is the comments on the blog post I made back then, well they started turning less than complimentary. I did contact Olympus, though there was not much they could do, really...
The latest version, the Olympus TG-1, is said to be a whole lot better, but I've not tried it - have you? Leave a comment below...
I have used the Canon D10 which has now been replaced by the Canon PowerShot D20, I've not used the new version as yet, but would hope that it's simply 'better' the D10 was one camera that I was able to hold onto for a little bit longer - I had no trouble with it, but that was only over a month. I hope to get hold of a D20 over Christmas as i'll be back 'at the beach' and will be able to try it out properly... These following two photos come from the Canon PowerShot D10
Second of the 'big names' Nikon, they released the AW100, their new assault on the 'tough' market, though I'm sorry to say it didn't work for me. Long story short - Day one I used the camera in a test kind of way, under water... nothing hardcore - think kitchen sink, and that's about as extreme as it got. Day two and I took it to a friend's kids party - thankfully had my dSLR with me too, as on inspection of the first photo I snapped with it, half of the image was shrouded in mist... [and it wasn't gorillas in the mist, it was 2yr olds]
Some moisture had made it into the camera and had become condensation on the inside of the lens housing. It was something that simply put, stopped me taking photos - I'm sorry to say that, in my book, is a fail... If I were on the second day of a holiday to a country I'd never go back to, with no alternative camera, I'd want blood... Sorry Nikon...
So, there's another I've not tried, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX20 Have you? What's it like?
Looks pretty sexy...
SO, which one would I own if I were to own one? At this point it would have to be the only one I've tried that survived.. The Canon D10
More coming soon...
Sime
