Tough cams: new digital camera catagory? Thoughts?

[billcoe]

Heads up: any thoughts?

 

http://chiqtech.com/the-tough-panasonic-lumix-dmc-ts1-12mp-digital-camera

 

Toughcams are now becoming in the digital camera industry and it is slowly replacing the ever fragile handy digital cameras. The growing need of users to have a rugged camera that could withstand most conditions has fired up another trend in the digital camera competition. The newest model to hit the market is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 12MP Digital Camera, which brings another enhancement to the table.

 

Aside from being waterproof, shockproof and dustproof, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 12MP Digital Camera is the world’s first toughcam that offers AVCHD Lite HD video. Now won’t just enjoy clear photos but also harness the power of High Definition recording.

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http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-W80-Waterproof-Azure-Blue/dp/B002ECF3IG/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1273607928&sr=1-14

[Water]

i have a hard time justifying buying something new when my old whatever works great and gets the job mostly done, but for instance that lumix camera really impresses me with the 'tough' properties in the small package. My A-series Canon is too bulky to fit in a pocket and even some 'snackpack' pockets on packs its too big for that..it would be nice to have a high quality cam that can fit in a side pocket or napoleon pocket with ease. but that said i hate having proprietary batteries..but its been a while since i had them, maybe they are better? (charge quicker, hold more charges over lifetime, etc?)

[gyro]

I think anyone could appreciate a tougher camera, though I personally don't plan on spending any extra money on them. I have a slim little cybershot and I bought a padded little case for it with a shoulder strap, that is very small as a package. I've wiped out skiing, landing right on it, taken it cragging, backpacking, dropped it, etc... and my camera always gets protected by the case, which I think was $20. So with a $80 camera and $20 case I feel pretty comfortable in my camera holding up to anything but water.

 

I guess if you take pictures around water, or drop things regularly it would be worth the extra money. For me though I'll stick with being cheap, and hope that eventually the technology gets tougher over time without having to pay too much of a premium for it. I also notice a lot of '*' on its list of claims.

[JosephH]

Looks like a great unit other than no viewfinder which I can't do without myself. Hopefully Canon will beef up it's SD line to make them a bit more rugged. But I did drop my old Canon SD300 from the top of Blownout in its LowePro Rezo 10 case and it still worked when I found it in the woods...

[Winter]

For a year or two I used a Pentax Optio W60 and had pretty good results. Unfortunately, the screen cracked, although I had it in a soft Lowe Pro protective case and can't remember ever dropping it, so I can't actually recommend it as a "tough cam."

 

Since then, I've been shooting with the Lumix TS-1. The HD video is definitely cool, but I'm a bit disappointed with the picture quality - seems like I get more noise then I did with either the Pentax or prior Canons I've used. It took me a awhile, but I've managed to work out most of the bugs by fine tuning the manual settings on sensitivity, f-stop and exposure, but it took awhile and still I think picture quality lags behind what you'll get from other point and shoots. Definitely not the way to go if you like to set it on auto and go.

 

In the end, I kind of question the tough cam concept for climbers in general. I got them not for the water proofing but more for the dust issue, as Canon point and shoot lenses have a history of jamming up with minimal dust and dirt intrusion.

 

If and when the Lumix goes, I'm probably going to go back to a Canon point and shoot. I'm willing to possibly pay more to replace my camera occasionally for image quality and RAW capability, but that won't be everyone's priority. If you're happy with what you've got, I definitely would NOT spend money to upgrade to a "tough cam."

 

One final aside, I also checked out the Canon D10, but the interior zoom makes the thing so damn wide and bulky that it really detracts from the value of having a point and shoot in the first place, especially for climbing.

 

 

[billcoe]

i have a hard time justifying buying something new when my old whatever works great and gets the job mostly done, but for instance that lumix camera really impresses me with the 'tough' properties in the small package.

 

Me too, but my relatively new Lumix (not a tough one, the one with the huge zoom) with HD video isn't focusing well. I know it's from something I did as it took super crisp pics when it was brand new. samesame different angle.

this Feb - fuzzy: Look how bad this is...this is a 12 Mp camera. (14megapixels?) Blown up it just gets real bad. All the pics are like this, and the lense is clean.

 

last Oct - clean

 

 

 

I borrowed my kids 7mp as it clearer when he went off to college and left it at home with pics of a school project still on it. Yup, the card was still in it. Anyone want to see some hot co-ed pics?

 

kidding!!!

[denalidave]

Bill, I think it is a design flaw in those models as I am on my 3rd one, all of which have had times when it won't focus properly. Usually it was cold when I was having the focus issues. I have also had issues with the LCD screen going black, only on vertically oriented shots, turn it horizontal, and the picture view comes back in.

 

JH, yeah, I hate not having the view finder but it is a trade off for other features I really like. Why would all the big names make them without the view finder anymore? Seems pretty simple, yet so useful in bright light. I just end up point-guessing half the time, same with vertical shots when it's acting up. Suppose I will pony up for the bomber model and give this one to the wife, someday... Hopefully they will start putting the view finders back in by then.