Sunday, August 09, 2009

Waterproof cameras group test on Imaging-Resource.com

Recently Imaging Resource has published a thorough test of 7 waterproof cameras. Tested cameras: Canon D10, Pentax W60, Olympus Tough 8000, Tough 6000, Stylus 550WP, Fuji Z33WP, Panasonic T1.
Sadly I must agree with IR's conclusion on my own wp-camera (the Olympus Tough 6000):
"...big complaint is its sluggish performance. Shutter lag and shot to shot times were very slow, making it poorly suited for any kind of action shooting. Given that a camera as rugged as the Olympus 6000 invites use in all sorts of active settings, we find it hard to recommend for the active life it seems designed for."

In figures: start up time is measured by IR 4.2 seconds, Autofocus lag time is 1.24 seconds. This makes it very difficult to capture any moving subject with this camera. For action pics on the water I still prefer my old Sony-camera.

5 comments:

kayakr said...

Have a look at my friend Eriks website before choosing a new waterproof camera. It seems like the Panasonic Lumix FT-1 wont stand salt water!? The site is in swedish and can be translated with google.

http://www.kajak.nu/2009/08/panasonic-lumix-ft-1-tal-inte-saltvatten/

Peter

Unknown said...

Hoi Hans, Dankjewel voor het plaatsen van deze links.Deze zomer heb ik problemen gehad met mijn Pentax, en was op zoek naar een vervanger. Na bestudering van alle gegevens heb ik voor de Canon D10 gekozen, een dezer dagen komt-ie.
Bekijk mijn foto's van het Morbihan-zeekamp op http://www.pbase.com/gisellabotma/morbihan
of, als je mijn foto's als link op je site wilt plaatsen, de homepage: www.pbase.com/gisellabotma

Gisella Botma.

Unknown said...

Hi Hans,

thx for these links.

As my waterproof camera (not digital yet) broke down during holiday, this is the moment for me to choose

for a waterproof digital camera.

The reports however make it not easy to chose:

Tough 6000 = too sluggish

Tough 8000 = speed already much better, but may be not fast enough. soft corners.

canon D10 = very fast but lacks image stabilisation and a bit soft in the corners

pentac W10 = the fastest and best optical, but shutterbutton too difficult/unrealiable

What's your idea??

René

Hans Heupink said...

Hoi Gisella! leuke foto's van Morbihan, dat moet een mooie plek zijn om te varen. Ik ben benieuwd naar je ervaringen met de canon D10. Laat hem even zien op Vlieland! Ik denk dat je een goede keus hebt gemaakt - ik was zelf net iets te snel en te gretig met de aanschaf van mijn Olympus. Blijf daar een beetje een dubbel gevoel bij houden. Je kan er best aardige foto's mee maken. Het ding heeft ongekend veel mogelijkheden. Maar het is zo traag...
groeten, Hans

Hans Heupink said...

Hi Ren'e!
Welcome back!
I would go for the Canon. Despite all the test-reports - it's always a guess. Regarding the Olympus 8000 - I can hardly believe it's much faster than the 6000 (I did hardly notice any difference), and for what I've seen: image quality is worse. Pentax picture quality is best, but there are quit some issues with built quality. The Canon is the only one I have not taken picures with. But I've heard some good stories about it...
greetings,
Hans