back to article Eight... Rugged Cameras

Has anybody not trashed a digital camera at some point while out and about? Dust or sand, water or ice-cream, the great outdoors ruthlessly claims its tech victims on a daily basis. While manufacturers have busily carved out a niche of rugged ‘adventure-proof’ cameras, the truth is that most people, whether on the slopes, at the …

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  1. Hardcastle the ancient
    Thumb Down

    umm..

    I was expecting underwater shots of the same thing for comparison.

    1. N13L5

      Re: umm..

      Looking through Amazon's customer reviews, the Nikon consistently gets bad marks for image quality, but good marks for durability... go figure

      Also wondering why Sony's miniature rugged camera was not included in the review, it is said to take excellent shots.

      1. Tetsuto
        FAIL

        Re: umm..

        Affraid to say I had the sony rugged camera before, perfect in so many way, didn't look like a training shoe, small, good pictures.

        HOWEVER - it's all operated by a touch screen on the back - which stoped registering touches after about 6 months :-(

        Why they didn't just use buttons is beyond me!

    2. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
      WTF?

      Re: umm..

      Kind of baffling to me that the Cannon D10 & D20 were not shown, give they are pretty popular ruggedized waterproof cameras. I've had a Cannon D10 for several years now, and I use it almost exclusively in the water when swimming for underwater & "out in the middle of the pond" shots, not just "near" water/snow. Works great, floats if let go (even in fresh water), great pictures, etc. They are also very brightly colored, specifically so they are easy to spot if you set them down.

  2. Robert E A Harvey

    Pentax Optio WG-2

    So was the weird shape a good idea or a bad one? easier to use or awkward?

    [big question mark icon]

  3. cosymart
    FAIL

    Nikon Coolpix AW100

    So they give a camera designed for the outdoors a DPM (camouflage) case so that when you put it down it is instantly lost - fail!

    1. Fuzz

      Re: Nikon Coolpix AW100

      This camera comes in 3 colours, one of them is bright orange for people like you who are in the habit of leaving their camera lying around in fields.

  4. Randolf McKinley
    Thumb Down

    Viewfinders!

    I need a viewfinder! My middle-aged varifocal-equipped eyes can't cope with screens, particularly outdoors in bright sunlight. Been trying for some time to get a new compact with a viewfinder, can't find one anywhere.

    1. Peter Revell

      Re: Viewfinders!

      The Canon A1200 has a small viewfinder that also focusses in step with the lens

    2. Wize

      Re: Viewfinders!

      Lack of viewfinder has stopped me upgrading my 2mp camera. Viewfinders are helpful in bright light or for saving the battery by not powering the screen.

  5. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    "The smile detector is a neat feature, making that hanging off a cliff-face, or free-falling skydive shot that bit easier to achieve."

    Is there a sheer terror detector setting that I can use?

    1. Synonymous Howard

      Oh you mean the "peril sensitive" mode which is the automatic version of leaving the lens cap on.

  6. John King 1

    Quality?

    Is it just me or do those shots not seem to be much improved from a normal compact camera from 8 years ago?

    I was thinking of getting a new compact but the output seems just as much artifact-riden as my current one on its last legs. Do I need to enter the £600+ bracket to take decent pics?

    1. Zimmer
      Happy

      Re: Quality?

      Canon s95... or its replacement , the new s100, is what you are looking for.

      1. Peter Simpson 1
        Thumb Up

        Canon S90/95/100

        All are good choices if you can find one used. The 95 and 100 add video. I have the 90 and paid US$400 for it. You can probably find it for half that now, and it would be a very good choice. Takes excellent low light shots and has good resolution. Very flexible settings including all-manual and will automatically take a 3-shot HDR sequence at user set exposure increments.

        //not water/shock/bite proof, I'm afraid

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shockproof, waterproof Olympus..

    Except for the one I have here that was dropped onto sand off a beach lounger (approx 1 meter) and now makes a graunching noise before throwing an error and shutting down.

    Total waste of money because Olympus refuse to repair it without a payment of 85 quid plus parts.

    Guess which make I'll never touch again.

  8. sad_loser
    Thumb Up

    olympus tough rules

    I have got the previous gen one of these - you can pick them up on ebay for about £100 and apart from a few megapixals difference there is not much loss. Just check the seals.

    the super macro is very good with built in LED light.

    I bought one because it looked wife-proof, and so it has proved. It is also child proof which means that you can give it to a six year old to go and make videos of her rabbit/ the dog and know that the camera will survive.

    good for taking underwater in the swimming pool or on holiday - can do snorkelling or shallow dives quite happily.

    GPS would be nice but do they hoover up a lot of battery?

  9. jason 7
    WTF?

    Ermmm are these all the same camera....

    ...just with slightly different casings and cosmetic button layouts?

  10. Steve 13
    Thumb Down

    Some details maybe

    It might be useful to include details like what depth these cameras can go to, it's mentioned in a few of the reviews but not everyone.

    None of them are any good for diving though, a basic open water diver can go down to 18 metres, so a 12 metre waterproof limit is just asking to be ruined.

    1. kmarks

      Re: Some details maybe

      I recently went diving on the great barrier reef and we could only go down as far as 10 metres so a 12 metre limit would have been fine. I wish I had had one with me so I could have taken some shots.

  11. Sweaty Hambeast

    Erm...

    "Has anybody not trashed a digital camera at some point while out and about?"

    Yes. Just saying, that's all.

    (Ok, I could have a rant about how people don't see any further than their own horizons, like this, and how that's why lousy programming languages and operating systems are what I have to deal with day-to-day but that would be off-topic.)

    1. hugo tyson
      Coat

      Re: Erm...

      "Has anybody not trashed a digital camera at some point while out and about?"

      Me neither. There's no need to own a camera at all these days; there's a picture of anything you want available on teh interwebz.

      I have on occasion made a tinylink to a google image search and mailed that to my pals as my holiday photographs.

  12. Ian Watkinson
    FAIL

    Where's the HD Hero?

    Given that people have dropped it over cliffs, off cars etc, why is it not in the list? Especially as you can get the lcd back with it and it's still cheaper and lighter than most of these cameras!

  13. FutureShock999
    Devil

    Sample Shots

    I like the article a lot, but please, if you are including sample shots from different cameras, could you at least give us shots of the same subject in the same lighting so that we can do a head to head? You don't need to become a full camera review site, but the included samples are really pretty worthless, given their huge variability.

  14. Matt_payne666
    Thumb Up

    Casio - ive had one of these since release and I love it... the SD card cover is rediculous, but so far its never popped open....

    Ive taken the camera to parties, the beach, pool, sailing, coastereering, clivff diving and my 3 yearold uses it whenever we go out.

    on paper its not as rugged as the rest, but in general use its more than resilient plus, compared to the rest of the chunkers its sevelte enough to slip in a pocket and its smart enough to use in non-extreme scenarios.

    The model reviewed is dated now, so performance wise it is behind the others, most noticably the video is only DVD quality, but as a second camera for kicking about its a great little tool.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    D'oh!

    Thanks for introducing me to a whole new class of desireable gadgetry I never knew existed before!

  16. DMoy
    FAIL

    Where's the Hero2 HD?

    http://www.reghardware.com/Design/graphics/icons/comment/fail_32.pngSeems to me that any round-up of ruggedized digital cameras is just a little silly without inclusion of the Hero2. That camera is pretty much the defacto standard for use by skiers, motocrossers, car racers, BMXers, rock climbers, snow & skate boarders, snorklers, sky divers, 200mph motorcycle motorway nutjobs, etc., etc.

    It's like a fondleslab roundup without an iPad.

    DMoy

    1. John McCallum
      Devil

      Re: Where's the Hero2 HD?

      "200mph motorcycle motorway nutjobs" who you calling a nutjob.Great fun on the quieter stretches like north of the border.

  17. Andy The Hat Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    This is a comparison review?

    I don't usually have a problem with reg hardware comparisons but this doesn't really review much or make much of a comparison ... not very good really.

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