Waterproof Point & Shoot Update

<p>This set of posts should be in the "Beginner Questions" forum. My apologies for posting here. Moderator -- please move if you can. Thanks.<br>

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Last week I posted about my search for a waterproof point & shoot camera to take with me to Palau and I told about the failure of the Nikon Coolpix AW110 and my subsequent purchase of an Olympus TG-2. There was some interest in the drama and even a request for an update, so here it is.</p>

<p>I'm on Palau now and the TG-2 spent several hours in warm seawater today and it still works just fine. No failure yet like the Nikon.</p>

<p>The camera really feels solid and probably would withstand the pressure, freezing and dropping that Olympus advertises.</p>

<p>The screen is almost impossible to see in bright sunlight or underwater. Check that, it IS impossible to see.</p>

<p>The underwater white balance setting works great.</p>

<p>A pixel peeper will see almost criminal softness due to sharpening, noise reduction or whatever. Unfortunately, I'm a pixel peeper. At normal resolution, however, the images are okay. Not great, okay.</p>

<p>I wish there was one of those shutters over the lens to prevent scratching, but there isn't.</p>

<p>Overall, it's great fun to take photos underwater and this camera does that just fine. It will also live happily in my fly fishing vest when I get home, but it will not replace my Canon 7D. I like it, but I cringe when I turn it on because I know the images will be so much poorer than what I'm used to. Oh well, not much can be done about that.</p>

<p>By the way, underwater photography isn't easy. Those damn fish won't hold still and the waves and current make me not hold still either.</p>

<p>Here are five images from today taken with the TG-2:</p>

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<p>That should read "The weather was not our friend today." Internet service ain't so hot here.</p><div></div>

<p>Oh, jeez! This is supposed to be in the "Beginner Questions" forum. How did it get here? Moderator: please move. Thanks.</p><div></div>

<p>I'm not sure it was me. The Internet is really bad here and I'm getting a lot of errors as I try to upload stuff.</p><div></div>

<p>Last one. Sorry for the trouble.</p><div></div>

Thanks for the update, Dave - I was curious to know how the Olympus was

doing since I'd suggested it. (And the update is fine here rather than

the Beginner forum.)

 

Sorry to hear the reports about the screen were true - I only had the TG-

630 iHS to judge by and it seemed ok, although I hadn't tried it in water.

 

Your sample photos look great to me, but I know what you mean about the

typical Olympus JPEG processing. They do seem to lay on the luminance

noise reduction smoothing a bit heavy. But I remember the early Olympus

digicams that lacked any NR. Those JPEGs were ugly at anything other than

base ISO.

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Whoa, double-double posting-posting. Using a

tablet and mobile app for PN now. First time

I've seen this happen.

Yikes. Mobile app errors.

<p>I really like that giant clam--kinda abstract!</p>

Moderator's note: It shouldn't be in the Beginner's forum; I moved it here. This is a much more appropriate place for a report and samples from a point-and-shoot camera.

<p>Nice to hear the update. So seldom do we hear how things turned out.</p>

<p>Also nice results. I'm looking for some kind of waterproof too, mostly for wet weather, but who knows - perhaps I'll be stricken suddenly with the diving bug. ;)</p>

<p>No worries, Mike. The original posts on this subject were in Beginner's Questions so I figured the follow up should go there too. I got your email after I finished and realized what was going on. Cheers.</p>

<p>Further update:</p>

<p>It was cloudy all day today and the screen was much easier to read. I turned the intensity up all the way and that helped. I also managed to drop the camera about 3 feet onto hard tile and it still works fine.</p><div></div>

<p>Most fish are cautious, but some are curious.</p><div></div>

<p>More Internet problems.</p>

<p>This guy was anti-social. He didn't like me taking his picture, so he bit me! I had to report him to the Visitor's Bureau. I hope they threw the book at him!</p><div></div>

<p>I love your photos, especially the one of the clam - it's amazing! Sounds like a great little camera, certainly much cheaper than a DSLR housing.</p>

<p>Thanks. I'm back in Tokyo now with real high-speed Internet. I was only on Palau for two days and I may never get back, but it was wonderful. Highly recommended if you have the chance.</p>