Hobie Cat Forums

A word to the wise ...

I have been taking photos and videos with a Panasonic Lumix which I bought for the purpose about a month ago. Manufacturer specs are waterproof to 1 metre and shockproof etc - a 'rugged' camera.

Anyway the 'rugged' camera is starting to chip/ rust after 1 month. No bad treatment, in fact it has been pampered in accordance with manufacturers specifications. It's gone back to Panasonic but looks like they won't be standing behind it.

The dealer, Camera House is also giving no joy. The memorable quote from them was - 'you've got to expect that everything will have something wrong with it'. The discussion went downhill from there.

The lesson I take from that is go cheap and use an Aquapac.

Oh - and thanks to Hobie for actually standing behind what they make. Its a smaller club every year.

That's sad but interesting. Are you able to take pics and post them? I've got one of these and I'd be interested in seeing the problem. So far nothing wrong with mine.

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I will when it comes back. I insisted that it go to Panasonic. The problem is a line that looks like rust under the viewing screen between the screen and the camera body. The guy at Camera House hadn't seen it before either and that led to the 'you have to expect something to be wrong' comment (and to an increased level of friction - is it just that I'm older that I think you can actually expect things not to be wrong?) It's a real shame because its a Leica lens as you probably know. We actually have two other Lumix cameras of different models because of the lenses.

I use a Lumix FZ50 bridging camera. It is a terrific camera for the price and has a huge Leica zoom lense. I have a waterproof enclosure for it.

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Either lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way!

The lesson I'm slowly learning is to have everything in a waterproof enclosure no matter how much anyone says they are waterproof

Apparently it's the same with the Garmin GPSmap 76 GPS. It seems "Waterproof" doesn't necessarily mean corrosion resistant with repeated exposure to salt water. It does seem a waterproof enclosure is the way to go.

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someone in another post suggested Aquapacs. I found them at Whitworths at reduced prices. They have a good range and seem to work well although getting the GPS into the ram mount when its in the Aquapac is a challenge. I haven't tried it but they say that once in the pack the item will also float. I didn't buy a camera one but they had a range to cope with a variety of lens positions.

I've been using a sandwich bag for my GPS for months with no problems:

I haven't had much luck using an Aquapac with a camera - it distorts the pics. I've since got a little Fuji with a custom waterproof enclosure and it works fine.

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I was using the sandwich bag as well. The difficulty I had is that the Lowrance has a smaller readout than the Garmin and I struggled to read it through the bag. The Aquapac 'clings' to the GPS and makes reading easier.

It's possible that I can get a bigger readout on the Lowrance but this will involve reading the instructions so I'm putting it off ...

There are 2 very good waterproof cameras--Olympus 720 sw (shock/waterproof) and their newer sw models. Also, Pentax Optio30, I believe, is excellent--lots of happy users.

Garmin, et al, make "waterproof" gps units, but they are definitely not corrosion proof when in regular contact w/ saltwater. I am probably the one you are referring to when you mention Aquapac bags. Keep your Garmin in an Aquapac bag if it gets doused w/ saltwater regularly--otherwise it will last about 18-24 months.

VHF radios seem a bit better than Garmin GPS', but they too will corrode and knobs will become unworkable. I keep mine in a bag.

Rather amazingly, the cameras mentioned above seem to handle saltwater w/o problem--at least mine has for over 30 months.

Keith.

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I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades to Cape Romano, Ft Desoto, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

The Olympus SW series are OK. Ive had a couple break on me and the picture capabilites arent stellar. I have heard good things about the Canon D10 though. Only bad part is it looks like a toy. My plan is to sell my Rebel XTi + my lenses and get a G11+waterproof case.

The Olympus 720 sw was one of the first waterproof cameras and is no longer available. AMAZON and their user reviews are always my "consumer guide" on things like this. It would be nice if we could all afford a Canon G11 w/ waterproof case, but these shirt-pocket, tough, salt-waterproof cameras have their place and take a lot of good pictures. All a person has to do is screw-up the seal on a waterproof case ONCE, and the camera is toast.

The Olympus Stylus Tough-8000 is the 12.1 MP camera competing w/ the Canon D10. On Amazon, in that section "What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item...," after viewing the Tough-8000 ($290), 72% buy it, and 6% buy the Canon D10 ($279). The same section for Canon D10, 82% buy it, and 4% buy the Olympus Tough-8000. Seems to be lots of brand loyalty here.

Keith

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I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades to Cape Romano, Ft Desoto, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

That'd be a bit of a worst case scenario Keith. If you screwed up the seal and immersed the camera, it would certainly be toast, but the camera would usually be subject to splashing (albeit sometimes severe) rather than immersion, in which case you would be more likely to get just a few drops in the case, which would be immediately obvious (assuming you kept an eye on it). Not that I'm disagreeing with your comments about the waterproof cameras you mentioned.

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I bought the Canon D10 this summer and really like it. It seemed to be the best of the waterproof/shockproof point-and-shoots if you want the ability to take it snorkling because it is waterproof to 33 feet. Can't take any of them diving, but for snorkling I feel much safer with a camera rated to go down 33 feet as opposed to 10 feet which is the limit of most other cameras in this category. Simply for kayaking (splashes) they are probably all good.

I, however, have only taken it out on rivers and lakes, no saltwater yet.
If/when I do take it out in saltwater I think it will be just fine as long as you give it a good rinsing when you get back to shore, but I think that applies to ANYTHING that gets saltwater on it.

Look behind (or under) your gadgets and see if there's a 'made in china'

Aquapac don't last long too if you flex it a lot. I use mine almost daily and it's leaking and now on my 3rd one.

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More pics/vids in My Fishing/Kayaking Blog