underwater compact digital cameras

[Freaks]

Hi,

Sorry in advance for the long thread... but I'd appreciate drawing on your knowledge & experience.

I am a novice and am looking to buy an underwater/shock resistant type of compact digital camera and have read various online reviews of the Olympus tough 8000, Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1, Canon Powershot D10 and the Pentax Optio W80.

I understand image quality from these types of cameras is not as good compared to their land-based equivalents. I want to use it it at the beach swimming/snorkeling, kayaking and may occasionally use it whilst scuba diving (at shallow depths) ...so was considering only buying one of the cameras that are rated to a depth of 10 meters.

Only the Olympus and Cannon are rated to 10m and the Canon is the bulkiest in size of them all - so do not prefer the Cannon. I have read many reviews about the poor image quality and water leakage of the Olympus (the camera shop has had a few returned and I know someone with one that had water damage repaired under warranty).

The Pentax (5m depth) doesn't have mechanical image stabilisation but has "Pixel track SR (shake reduction)" software but apparently this slows down the processing time after taking a shot to 4+ seconds. The Panasonic is only rated to 3m. All these cameras are 12mega pixels.

A camera shop I visited has shown me an Agfa Photo Optima 830UW but I haven't been able to find any user reviews for it. It's rated to 10m depth and has image stabilistaion but only has 8mp. The Agfa is also the cheapest of them all.

My main criteria are image quality and water 'proofness'.

My questions are:
1. does the fact the Agfa is only 8mp mean that it's images are necessarily worse than the cameras with 12mp?

2. Does a camera that is rated to 10m depth necessarily going to be more resistant to water leakage/damage than a 3m or 5m rated camera at shallow depths eg at only 1-3m depth?

3. does anyone know anything about the image quality and "water proofness" of the Agfa 830UW?

This is my first ever posting so I really appreciate your time to read it and reply.

Thanks,
freaks

[Photo-John]

Welcome to the site! Great post! If only everyone would give this much detail when they post a question

First of all, if you haven't seen it, here's a link to my waterproof digital cameras guide:

Outdoor And Waterproof Digital Cameras >>

I've used a bunch of waterproof cameras and I've only had one leak while underwater. But based on the user reviews here and comments on pro reviews and the waterproof cameras article, I have to assume that the fail rate is still somewhat high. On the other hand, it could just be that people who have camera leak are extra pissed and motivated to write a negative review. Without seeing statistics, there's no way to know. But right now, I think the safe thing is to assume that they have a high likelihood of failure underwater. That wouldn't stop me from buying or using one. But I would use them differently. If I could afford it, I might buy two so I had a backup. And I'd be very careful about downloading the memory cards every day - especially if I was on vacation and the photos were really important.

I don't have any experience with the Agfa camera you mentioned. In fact, I wasn't even aware of it. I will look it up now, though. And if it's not listed in our reviews we'll get it added.

I have no idea how the Agfa would compare to the other cameras as far as watertightness. Based on the reviews and comments, I couldn't help but be a little nervous about any waterproof camera. As far as the 8-megapixel sensor goes, I wouldn't worry about that. I would be more concerned about Agfa not being a top-tier digital camera maker. Personally, I'd be most comfortable with Olympus, Panasonic, Canon and Pentax. User reviews aside, the Olympus waterproof cameras have been the most reliable for me. The Canon D10 has the best image quality of all the waterproof cameras I've used. But I agree with you that it's too big.

I don't know if that helps you or not. Sorry I don't know more about the Agfa camera. Let us know if you have more questions.

[Freaks]

Hi Photo-John,

Thanks for your reply. I had previously read your "Outdoor and Waterproof Digital Cameras" review that amongst other things, made me aware of not expecting the same picture quality as non-waterproof cameras and also that user reviews are disproportionately from those with negative experiences.

I think your comments have reinforced my decision to go with the 'top tier' Canon D10. I know I said it was too bulky (and maybe it is for us guys to put in our pocket!) however, the camera is for my daughter (so it'll mainly be carried it in her bag) and she was happy with it when I took her to the shop to compare them. The challenge now is to get her to let me use it!

When we fired up the Canon and Agfa in the shop to compare them we were immediately put off by the extra time the Agfa took to process the image compared to the Canon. The salesman had some prints he'd taken on the camera that looked great and also, I know it may not mean much but, the colour reproduction on the LCD screen of the shots were also far clearer and 'true to life' colour than the Agfa.

We're also a bit 'Canon biased' because my daughter has the EOS 40D SLR, my wife has an Ixus compact and we have had several Canon compacts over the years and always been impressed with the image quality. So image quality became the number 1 criteria with this purchase - even though my son refers to it as the "ugly" camera!!

We got a great deal on the D10 and given the chances of water damage, used the money we saved to buy an extended 2 year warranty (ie 3 years in total). We also have a local Canon service and repair centre but hopefully, I won't need to use them!

Once we've used the camera I'll post some comments - hopefully positive!!

I really appreciated your review of these cameras and thanks for the offer to chase up some Agfa info but as we've purchased the D10, I no longer need the info.

Merry Christmas.
freaks