Geekfoolery

I’ve been looking for a waterproof way to record my exploits when I am out and about on the water paddling my kayak. Waterproof disposable cameras are commonplace enough, but 35mm film… that’s so 2003. Digital imaging is where it is at. There are now a number of excellent options for snapping pics without worrying about ruining delicate electronics.

My first choice would probably be one of the Olympus Stylus SW models. There are currently two, the 720sw and the 770sw. While I have been watching the market, it seems like they come out with a new model every six months or so with an incrementally improved feature set. Previous SW models, like the 710, can probably be had at Costco or other closeouts at quite a discount. Suggested retail on the top-of-the-line 770sw is about $380; last year’s model can still be found for about $152 on Amazon.

If you’re willing to go a little bit more on the expensive side, there is the Sanyo Exacti E1, billed as the world’s first waterproof digital camcorder. The unit has a something of a pistol-grip and a swing out screen, and can record up to 10 hours of video on an 8 gig memory card, or 4000 6 megapixel pictures, or a correspondingly smaller amount on a more pedestrian 2 gig card. This amazing device runs about $500.

Going the other direction, specifically, about $140 dollars’ worth of other direction, there is the waterproof Digital Hero 3. This camera is really intended to get wet, though like the others mentioned here, is not a diving camera. But the Digital Hero comes with a velcro wrist strap that assumes that you’re going to be using your hands much of the time, surfing or snorkeling or boogie boarding. It takes 3 megapixel stills and 640×480 VGA video (suitable for framing, on Youtube). The major sacrifice at this price point is an LCD preview screen, so you have to wait til you get home to see if your pics came out.

One final option… and one that I actually bought recently, is the Oregon Scientific Action Cam 2000, or ATC2K. This one is about the size of small golfer’s rangefinder, and it’s major claim to fame is the variety of brackets and straps it comes with for mounting it on either your head or a helmet of a bike handlebar, or whatever else you can think of. Like the Digital Hero, there’s no LCD preview, but the idea is that your going to put this on your helmet, then, I don’t know… BASE jump off a cliff into alligator-infested waters, or something. I played with mine over the weekend and strapped it on for a 6 mile paddle supporting an ocean swimmer, and hoped to have at least an hour of video to edit on my return.

Sadly, and no fault of Oregon Scientific, I got a bad SD memory chip, and was unable to retrieve my videos from the device. I have since gotten an exchange from Best Buy, and will post video shortly from the helmet cam. Failed first test aside, the helmet-mounted action cam looks like fun, and will inspire some video that other cameras normally would not, from a dog-mounted critter cam to high-flying kite cam.
The amazing conclusion from this survey is that waterproof digital photography is definitely getting some attention from manufacturers. About two or three years ago, your only option was to buy a waterproof housing for a digital camera that in most cases cost as much as the camera itself. These cameras are great for the casual beach or pool goer, and clearly all the price points are covered. Spend more and you can get more rugged cameras designed to used at depth.

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