Cameras

I am going to spend a lot of time in a place with high humidity and lots of rain.
I was wondering what the best option of camera would be.
I was told that it might not be best to get a waterproof camera, since these cameras don't take as high quality pictures. The person who told me this said that a waterproof case would be better. A case might be annoying to deal with, though.
What are other people's opinion on this?
Should I get a waterproof camera or just a case?
And if I am to buy a waterproof camera, then which brand and model should I purchase and why?
Thank you for your help!

 

Olympus is the waterproof brand...available in many retail shops for light, p&s camera
or Canon Waterproof body (min. 7D) & L series lens...recommend a SanDisk Extreme cards along with the setup
then u don't need a waterproof case (this cost $200+)

 

Tell us your budget, would draw a closer circle to the available cameras ^^

@noasian: 7D is not Waterproof, it can take some drops of rain but nothing more than that, also not all L are Waterproof.

But as you mentiond, Olympus offers lots of waterproof cams.

 

There is a big difference between water resistant and water proof. An example of this would be watches, which are often rated to hundreds of feet depth. The reason is that everything has a certain degree of water resistance, even a regular plastic zip lock bag (which also works, BTW). It's just a matter of how much water pressure the enclosure can withstand. Like you stated, some camera bodies are natively more resistant to liquid pressures than others, while some can be made more protected by the adjunctive use of an accessory secondary enclosure.

That said, I agree with the suggestion that the water resistant kind offered by Olympus Stylus Tough series, which they conditionally call "water-proof" from 10 and up to 33 feet (depending on model) means that you can take the camera around in high humidity areas (as per your stated requirement), in the rain, or even survive a short dunk into a pool, without worry that the electronics will short out. Moreover, their best ones are also rated for function down to -10 C degrees, providing that the battery isn't frozen (the camera will function, but the battery has to be warm enough to provide power).

See here; they have some nice videos of a bunch of children beating the crap out of these cameras, currently listed from $229 to $399 USD: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital.asp?section=stylustough

As for the pitfalls and other considerations of extreme weather photography, here's a nice page that details some points worth noting:

http://reviews.photographyreview.com/blog/outdoor-waterproof-digital-cameras/

Good luck!

 

question... wouldn't any camera, whether it's water proof, or resistant, have their lens get foggy in a high humidity environment? you're introducing water vapors which would condense during contact with the lens... water proof cameras work underwater because you don't have air in the mix, which would create those vapors... pretty much like swimming goggles........

so my question is, wouldn't lens get fogged up in high humidity environment, with any camera?

 

@rth: Well...don't you consider a body as a camera or at least part of a camera? ^^ If the TO want to get into photography he would't even think to buy one of those Compact Cameras. As a compact itself not bad, but because of it's build structure there is no decent lens. Zooming is a pain and cost lots of image quality.

@ralphrepo: You are right, waterresistant is the correct definition for this.

@dan: I may be wrong, but I think when the lens has the "same temperature" as it's surrounding it should be fine.

The nearest thing from canon to "Water proof" would be the 1 Series + L lens (not all).

 

Thank you for your quick response, noasian!

Crystal84, my budget will not be an issue here. I am willing to spend as much money as a good quality camera costs. Thank you for your response.

It was very kind of you to look up specific product information and post pictures of possible cameras, runtohell121. I want to thank you for your time and effort. I will check each of these links out.

I meant waterproof, ralphrepo, or as close as one can get to it. Thank you for making the distinction, though. I should have clarified this in my first post.

Dan, I do believe that Crystal84 is correct in that water vapor will not fog up the lens when the lens is the same temperature as the air around it. Though, thank you for you input anyway.






So, in terms of the type of camera that I am thinking of purchasing I am probably leaning more towards a compact camera. I know that I am sacrificing quality with this choice, but I need something compact and lightweight for when I go out in the field. I may have a lot to cary in terms of field equipment and schlepping around a large camera is not an option (while carrying something that could easily fit in my pocket is).

I am going to be in cloud rainforests (high humidity and lots of rain) as well as near still bodies of fresh water where I would like to take underwater pictures.

I hope that this information makes my inquiry more specific.
Again, thank you all for your responses.

 

i took his reponse of going to places with lots of rain, NOT waterproof...according the 7D's specs, it has Weather Sealing...so it will do what it should do
well of course it is better to check the weather sealing L series lens...OP has to do some research...i can't post every single product here

he wanted suggestions, i did my part, he has to do his -sweat

btw, don't bother with underwater pictures, they are horrible...you wont' get national geographic quality from those...u see underwater is dark, unless you have a light beside the objects, otherwise they will look dark, flash won't work either cuz it will reflect underwater...

the canon pro series bodies, about $5000+ are water resistant...as google results shows some pro photographers have took it to harsh conditions (snow storms) and they survived...(including 7D)

last year during the second day of the HSBC Fireworks (2009), had my Canon XSi and 55-250mm IS...after the photos I noticed that my lens is covered with water from the rain & lightning storm, dried it with a towel, took it home, detached the lens and camera and added silica gel packages around the gears to dry for a couple of days, it still works fine...afterwards

 

LOL, if you want absolute water proof, there is no such thing. Even nuclear submarines are depth rated, meaning that they can operate or survive to a certain depth in the sea as a function of the physics of pressure (American submarines have been known to have been breached and crushed by sea pressure). But, what you later qualified with "as close as one can get to it..." is the key. If the item is rated to survive a pressure that you would never ever likely encounter, then for all intents and purposes, it's water proof enough for your particular uses.

For your stated purposes (as above), I think the Olympus Tough series would likely be your best and most economical (both from price point and use logistics) choice. The one aspect that I would be careful about is the underwater photography, as some of the cameras are only rated to a depth of 10 feet (user experience will vary), unless you go for the safety margin provided by the depth rating of the pricier models. The venue of your underwater photography will also be important. If you're talking about a pool or snorkeling, then a 10 foot rating may be all that you need. However, if you're going to be scuba diving, then you'll likely need something more robust.

As for humidity and water condensation on camera lenses, this essentially occurs when there is a temperature differential between the camera lens and outside air. People who wear glasses are acutely aware of this, as they step from an air conditioned environment out into the hot humid air; their glasses will quickly fog over. The cold lenses locally condenses the humid liquid ladened air, depositing it then onto the glass surface. Another example is taking a cold beverage can from a cooler; the can then appears to sweat. However, once the temperature equilibrates, then it removes the physics driving the condensation, and lens fog would no longer be a problem. Hence, I would be very careful about coming out from an air conditioned hotel in the morning and shooting right away, as this is the time that it would most likely happen. One way to avoid this is to have your "pre-warm" camera in your pocket; that is, keeping a camera in your shirt pocket while you're in the hotel will eliminate the temperature differential as the camera will be a lot warmer by then.

In terms of underwater photography, what Noasian stated is very true, that unless you're very experienced with the lighting and exposure requirements involved, you're not going to get the same show stopper quality of these magazine type photos. That said, the one caveat that I would use as a benchmark is the pre existence of natural light underwater. If there is enough ambient light underwater for you to see very clearly, then you should not have any problems. The real difficulty comes with use of underwater flash, as camera mounted light sources are only good for really close objects. Anything beyond 10 feet will remain too dark to be seen (unfortunate realities of the inverse square law of light).

 

IIRC, the higher end bodies and lenses have some weather proofing like noasian pointed out but I don't think it means you can take it underwater.

Why not use a standard camera, put it in an air tight, transparent container, and use a remote to shoot?

 

shootin' an underwater porn i reckon..

 

To the two posters above me, please keep this thread on topic. Thank you.





Anyways, I was considering pressure proof apart from water proof and do not need anything that can take pictures at very great depths. I only need the camera to handle being submerged at very shallow depths.

I am fond of the compacts and their freeze resistance and shock resistant design.
I have decided against the whole water proof case idea because I wouldn't have the same protection against the cold or shock.

Currently I am deciding between the Sony DSC-TX5 and a camera from the Olympus Stylus Tough series.

After reading reviews for these two cameras, I'm iffy about the durability of the Sony DSC-TX5 with its touchscreen. With the Olympus Stylus, though, I am worried about its slow shutter speed.

Thank you all for your help. Your responses have given me a great taking off point to look further into this.

 

I don't know if you ever saw the short clips on Olympus' site for their tough series, but they're pretty convincing in terms of toughness and still being able to get the shot. Their examples includes video taken by their camera as it was submerged in the rinse cycle of a washing machine, being slammed head on into by a bowling ball, and taking videos of lobsters walking by while underwater in the ocean.

http://www.getolympus.com/lifeproof/index.asp?intCmp=oima_chip_lifeproof

Heck, those clips were so convincing, I think I just talked myself into buying one, LOL...

 

a bit of an FYI for you... he's a forum moderator......... just saying lol

 

Those videos are amazing, ralphrepo! The whitewater rafting one is really cool. I'm not sure I'd take the camera into the ocean, though. I feel like the salt water would be really corrosive. So, how about you buy the camera and then tell me how it is, hahaha.

Dan, I guess that is why I couldn't report his post as spam and if he really is a moderator, then he should know better...

 

threads go off topic all the time lol... not the end of the world lol