Rugged/waterproof point and shoots?

[robgendreau]

For various reasons I need a camera that can do GPS. In looking around, there are bunch of what marketers call "rugged" or waterproof point and shoot cameras, in the $250-350 range with lots of common features. The Panasonic TS5, Canon D30, Nikon AW120 eg. The TS5 does 1080/60fps which might be handy for me, and also has a time lapse feature which could be handy (I was looking at game cameras and haven't yet pulled the trigger, ahem, on one, so this could sorta fit the bill even without the motion sensor since time lapsing is another way to catch game shots). Also has the wifi thing which I probably won't use much.

It wouldn't be my only camera, so I don't need to worry about zoom and such. Anyone have any experience with these?

 

[Lynn]

We had an early Panasonic Lumix for a while. It took really poor-quality pix. Although it was advertised as 'rugged', after a 3' fall on tile the lens over the viewfinder shattered, and Panasonic wanted more than the camera was worth to replace it.

Hopefully their quality has improved.

YMMV

 

[justfred]

I've got an AW100, and while it's an adequate P&S, the quality of the photos don't compare to what comes out of my D50/18-200. It's somewhat better quality than my iPhone 4.

I miss having PASM capability - or at least being able to set a very slow shutter speed manually.

 

[jtpaintball70]

I have a Lumix floating around the apartment somewhere that I really like. I want a new TS5 though

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

 

[robgendreau]

Think I'm getting the TS5. Although the D30 and AW120 look just as viable, same features. Photo IQ looks pretty similar; about what I got with an iPhone, maybe a bit better. The TS5 1080p 60fps video is a notch above all the others though, and although it's kinda my second camera that's nice. I'll do a review. Mostly this is for cataloging stuff so IQ isn't a huge issue. There was a nice video of a guy freezing all this in ice bricks then dropping them from 2 meters to break the ice, then firing them up immediately to take photos. Pretty cool; amazing what these can do.

BTW, kinda of interesting that many of the reviewers don't seem to get the target audience. For example, I had to do a LOT of reading to figure out that the TS5 was way above the others in terms of having a screen you could actually see outside. That's a HUGE issue. And two many comparisons of still inside photos, and flash, and a bunch of other stuff an outdoor enthusiast isn't gonna care about.

 

[Viggen]

Pentax WG3

 

[robgendreau]

Yeah, the WG-3 looks good too. Wasn't super partial to the sample pictures though. Here's a link to a comparison of most of the semi-current waterproof cameras:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/2013-waterproof-roundup

While I generally like their reviews, and that you have lots of comparisons, they don't really test these in the context for which they're intended. I'd like to see more comparisons of action shots, and less of interior or flash shots. These are OUTDOOR cameras.

And I'd like to see them diverge even more from the "travel" or "superzoom" types. Some have maps along with their GPS, but I'd like to see loadable maps, specifically topos off the SD card. Be a nice backup navigator. And the ability to write the location data, temp, etc right to the photo (good for documenting stuff, even though you can easily do it once you get the stuff off the card). A motion detector instead of stuff like red eye or smile detectors. And more video features, specifically super fast shooting at higher res for slow mo. People seem to use these as alternatives to GoPros, so they could learn something there. Some are coming out with mounts specifically designed for them, etc so I think they're leaning that way. I can do stuff like this with a phone, but I want something I can abuse more.

 

[dddonkey]

I have the Lumix and it is great. Mine takes good pictures and has been all over the world. I bought it for my last deployment, and later took it to the Bahamas were it worked great. I do like the GPS feature also so I can see were I took the picture (or be rescued) if I need.

 

[robgendreau]

I decided to get the Lumix TS5; ordered it from B&H. I'll post up a review.

 

[Ramjet]

Check out Gear Patrol. They recently did a review on waterproof point and shoot cameras.

 

[robgendreau]

Thanks for the tip, but as far as I could tell it was a collection of ads, not reviews. At least of the cameras.