New camera needed? Anybody have one of these?

[jcarter]

We have somewhat older digital cameras, and they are a bit bulky to put in your pocket. I do take the Coolpix 4300 with us in a plastic bag, but I know sooner or later Lilly is going to upset the canoe or somehow I will end up getting it wet.  And I do use the Kodak weatherproof disposibles, but they are film.

So this one would solve our boating and beach camera wishes, and is way smaller than the older cameras we have.
Waterproof and shockproof.  

Here it is, what do you think of it?    They seem to get pretty good reviews except for the video, which I wont bother with much.
http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/541556742.htm

Thank you,
Jane

[Paddy]

Jane, for very little more money, this Olympus model looks much better:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Olym...tylus1030sw.asp

The 850 generally scored about 3 stars on the 5 star system with the reviews I read - and one complained of noise at ISO 100, which is completely unacceptable. This newer model gets much better reviews overall, and has a better optical zoom and is 10.1MP instead of 8.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2008_review...us1030_pg5.html

[jcarter]

Yes, thank you, that is much better.  I think they will be available in our store very soon.
Jane

edit/adding,,,,,,I just read that there are card reading issues, that most card readers wont deal, give you an error message.
But it still looks good, I am looking at the details.  It sure would be the camera for me.

[gunug]

In a related vein I saw this interesting piece about adding a waterproof USB port to an underwater camera housing:

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/adding-usb-...ur-u-w-housing/

Heck the whole Wetpixel website looks like a mecca for this sort of thing!  I will say it looks like fun Jane but I'm more a kind of shower in the bathtub type of a guy!  

WOW look at the slideshow:

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/slideshow/

[jcarter]

Thank you for the link.  Though we also are not into the bigger diving scene any more, at our age, we only snorkel now. I gave all our scuba gear to one of our son-in-laws, and he uses it to get under his big boat to clean the hull.

So all I really need is a quick and easy point and shoot that will be OK to about 20 ft at the most.  But most importantly, this is sad,,,,,
shockproof that wasn't,,,,,.  I had one of the original Calypso cameras,
http://www.cameraquest.com/calypso.htm
and one of our kids borrowed it from me, and was on one of the research ships and dropped it on the deck.
This friend of my husband, Sam Raymond (http://www.benthos.com/marine-undersea-systems-equipment-corporate.asp), has the only other one that I can find, and he will give it to me for parts so that my husband can repair it.  But Sam cant find his camera and we cant find ours anymore.  So thats that. I guess I will go with the Olympus.
Jane

[jcarter]

Hi everybody, we are back from Maine, and I have net access again, nice to be back to my Macs.  But Maine was awesome!

We bought a new tandem kayak today so that we could take Lilly(our puppy who now weighs 64 pounds), with us.
So I really need to get this little camera, but our store doesnt have the new upgraded one, the Stylus 1030SW, and it will take them 6 weeks to order it from Olympus. I love to buy stuff from this local store, as they are really nice people and their prices are not all that bad.
But looks like I might have to get the old one from them, the Olympus 850sw instead.  Or order a new one thru some mail order on-line place.
My husband will be doing a rafting trip, so will need this camera later on.
Do you think that the old one will suffice, or shall I go to another company and get the newer one, as Paddy recommended.
Jane

[Paddy]

Jane, Abe's of Maine seems to have the best price ($320 incl. shipping). I think the newer model looks worth the extra $90 or so.

There are a few fly-by-nights with it cheaper, but checked out the reviews of them and you do NOT want to order anything from them!! (the usual - you place the order, they call to "confirm" and proceed to try to sell you a bunch of over-priced accessories and when you refuse to bite, suddenly the camera is "out of stock"...or "no US warranty" etc. etc.) When buying digital cameras, if it looks too good to be true, 99.99% of the time, it is. Stick with the reputable dealers.

B&H are a bit more - $339, but their site is down for maintenance right now. Both are VERY reliable camera dealers and I've dealt with both in the past - bought both my Canon DSLRs from B&H.

[dboh]

I've been looking at cameras too and pretty much decided on a compact SLR. For $420 from B&H, you can get the Olympus SP570UZ, for which I've found very positive reviews.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012204olysp570uz.asp

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_olympus_sp_570uz.php

[jcarter]

I am seeing more reviews on Amazon now since we got home.
Lots of features on the newer one too, so I guess I shall bypass my nice little local store unless they can get it faster than 6 weeks.
Looks like the Amazon price is $342, no state tax and free shipping.  And the 2 GB card is about $30.  I would need the extra battery too, at $33.
Case for $12 and the floating strap(looks like a life jacket) for $9 and the neck strap for  $5.  Grand total is $431.
I guess thats not bad, as the camera itself without any of the extras would be about $400.
 The only thing I need to research more carefully is their card reader, as there is a warning that regular card readers dont work with these little Olympus xD card. One is the 'type M card' and the other is just Olympus xD.  
So I am off to the store today to get the film developed and will look further.
Thank you for the help and advice!
Jane

[Paddy]

Jane, Abe's doesn't charge tax for MA residents, or shipping and the camera is $320 there. Then get the accessories at Amazon.

http://www.abesofmaine.com/item.do?item=OLS1030SW&id

Think I'd stick with the xD H-type card rather than the type M, if I were you - (faster) - see this Wikipedia article for good info on the cards. You may need to get another card reader, depending on the type and age of your current one.

A couple of options:

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-202181-MAUSB...8914&sr=8-1 - this one is good if you have a readily accessible USB slot

http://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-SDDR-99-Imag...9018&sr=8-2 - this one is good if you need something with a cord (and more cards can be read by it as well)

[jcarter]

Gee, what a great Wikipedia article, just the exact answers to what I needed to know.
The M card is slower, and they sure dont tell you that on the Olympus camera pages. So I will change my shopping cart back to the regular xD  type H card.  More expensive, but that transfer speed is so darn important.  I always get so frustrated when trying to get a bunch of pictures of fast moving grandkids and dogs.  My old camera takes soooooooo long between pictures.
Ive got to study this a bit more and try to put the whole package together.  Its a nice camera, just wish that the whole thing came together in one box with all you need and be compatible.
Jane

[jcarter]

After what we did this weekend, I ordered the whole shebang from Abe's of Maine this morning.
We kayaked all day in the ocean Saturday, and sunday we got 3 HUGE truck tire innertubes and tied them together and rafted down one of the salt water marsh estuaries out into the ocean with the outgoing tide. What a ball we had!  There were some old ladies(probably my age!) watching us zoom by from the shore and were taking pictures of us.  Sure wish I had that camera with me,,,,,,,,,
Thank you for all the advice!
Jane

[jcarter]

Hi, I got it!  And I really like the little camera a lot. You turn it on, and bang, its ready to take pictures, no annoying delay. Same thing when you take pictures in rapid sucession.
And it is waterproof and not heavy.  I got a little metal neck lanyard and just have it about my neck while swimming or playing, tuck it  into the top of the bathing suit, or in the pocket of my shirt. Yes its a great little cam.

Only problem I had was getting the little tiny card out of the Sandisk adapter for the card reader, it was stuck. Called Sandisk Tech Support and the guy said to 'use excessive force' taking the card out with tweezers. I did, and out it came.  He said that if it had broken, they would have given me a new one, as it was with his instructions.  But it worked, probably a little hunk of plastic in the adapter? Who knows but it works now, and here are my first 3 pictures with it.
http://www.jcdouglass.net/summerfun/olympus.html
We usually swim in the ocean as its right here, but once in a while we give Lilly a break from the salt water, and go to this little lake.
Jane

[krissel]

Great pics!  Thanks for the treat.