New water/shock proof camera

[Franco Darioli]

Another one from Olympus
Exciting shots in and by the pool and water as waterproof to 10m*
Take it anywhere, anytime as shockproof up to 2.0m**
Crushproof 100kg***
10.1 Megapixels to make poster-size prints
3.6x wide optical zoom (28-102mm****) for stunning close-ups
6.9cm/2.7" HyperCrystal II LCD with a bright display even in brilliant sunlight and at extreme angles (230,000 dots)
Scratchproof metal body in 3 colours: Platinum Silver, Midnight Black and British Green
Underwater shooting up to a water pressure equivalent of 40m possible in combination with optional underwater case PT-043
Note the 28-102mm (35mm equivalent) lens
Franco
And BTW they have given a name to this camera, Stylus (or Tough over here) 1030SW…….

[Greyson Howard]

For those of you that aren't mind readers (lucky for you, I am), the camera is the Olympus Stylus 1030 SW.

Looks pretty cool…

[Joshua Mitchell]

Yeah just saw that on a gadget site… also supposedly has an accessory that will take it to something like 30m submerged? OH! HA! That was actually in Franco's post…

I think I may have just found my new boyscout camera…

PS – Here's a link – Stylus 1030 SW

[Siegmund Beimfohr]

Camera specs looks really good. However, this would be a non-starter for me: NO viewfinder!

[Dondo .]

Franco, this camera is hitting at lot of my hot points. Tough,check; waterproof,check; 28 mm at the wide end, check; LCD can be seen in bright sunlight, check.

Wish it had aperture and shutter speed priority, though. The 10 MP worries me a bit, too. Is this likely to be a noisycam?

Maybe the Fuji F30 and the Olympus should have a love child.

[Franco Darioli]

Dondo
You have hit the nail on the head. Fujifilm has just announced the F100FD.
5x zoom (28-140mm), 12mp using a 1/1.6" CCD (from the specs looks like a Fuji made CCD), full manual controls. No viewfinder and no weather proofing .
This one looks even more interesting. Because of the bigger than most CCD, I see some real potential here.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012407fujif100fd.asp
Beside, I really like the Fuji look (colours,low noise,good balance between detail and sharpness)
And PMA hasn't even started……
Franco

[Dondo .]

Thanks for bringing the F100fd to my attention, Franco. After reading the description, it sounds like the camera I've been waiting for. With everything it has going for it, I think I can learn to protect it in the field. I'll be anxiously awaiting the reviews.

[Dondo .]

Bummer, no aperture priority or shutter priority. What was Fuji thinking?

[Franco Darioli]

Ooops, I have just noticed the DPReview correction.
Never mind. All of this type of compact cameras only have two or three apertures, so if you want a wide aperture (shallow depth of field) use the sport mode, for a small aperture use the landscape mode….
Franco

[Dondo .]

Thanks for the tips, Franco. My current digicam has no manual controls so I'm using Landscape mode for large depth of field and Portrait mode for shallow depth of field. I didn't think to use Sport mode; I'll give it a try. To slow down the shutter speed to get that flowing water effect, I've been using Night mode. It works to some extent but not as well as I'd like.

Are you saying that there is no advantage to aperture and shutter priority in these small digicams because you can get essentially the same thing by "tricking" your automatic camera?

[Franco Darioli]

Hi Dondo,
No, my suggestion was about making the most out of a bad situation.
As stated, most compacts only have two or three aperture settings, so using the modes you can (almost) get what you want. As for the shutter speed, the Sport , Portrait or Night Time mode (as well as slow flash in some cameras ) do help but you still don't know what you are going to get out of that box of chocolates.
I am slowly working on my "fantasy" backpacking camera.
Really we are not that far from it. Take the ergonomics and controls of the Ricoh GX100, the sensor from the Fujifilm F30 (maybe the F100 will work better ….) a 24-100mm lens, some weatherproofing ( water proofing would be better but not necessary) , use the Canon Digix or Fuji processing, Panasonic's Image Stabilizer, Panasonic's barrel and pincushion correction ( note that those straight lines on the Panas are obtained in processing) and you get a pretty fine camera or maybe you end up with a camel.
BTW, something that cannot be done using small sensors is to have the very shallow depth of field of a FF or APS sized ones. The smaller the sensor, the wider the focal length will be so the greater the Depth Of Field.
(of course someone will work out how to "defocus" the background during processing…., you read it here first)
After a quick Google search I found out that there are already several patent applications regarding that idea.
Franco

[Dondo .]

The day Franco's Fantasy Camera gets announced, I'll be the first to jump all over it, especially if they throw in that "defocus" feature. Until then, I understand that tough decisions must be made if I insist on a compact camera. Since I like landscape shots in low light conditions, I'm still leaning toward the Fuji. Am I barking up the right tree or are there other cameras out there I should be considering?

[Franco Darioli]

Dondo
The Fuji F100 is on my "must test" list. I am waiting to get back the pics I took with the Pana FX36 (FX35 over there) but most of the shots were taken in very favorable light. I don't expect crystal clear, noise fee images from the Olympus SW790, but based on the results from the previous versions should prove to be a great camera for the more "active" where the shock/waterproof feature takes precedence over quality. The other two candidates are the Sony W 170 and the Canon SD870 (860 here) already out for some time. ( I would have preferred a smaller screen and an optical v/f as with the SD800). But so far the Fuji seems the most promising of the new batch.
Franco

[Rick Dreher]

Sample DP1s seem to be leaking out, and into the hands of testers. My Korean is nonexistant but the samples waaaay at the bottom of the page are the best images I've ever seen from anything less than two pounds. Freakishly detailed.

http://blog.paran.com/foveon/24785998

Sigma's muttering something about shipping in March.

–Rick

[Dondo .]

Thanks, Franco. I'll be looking out for the reviews. Rick, that DP1 looks sweet, but a bit pricey for me. Looks like I may have to enjoy it vicariously through you. ;-)

[Franco Darioli]

Dondo
I have just noticed your tent pics at Backpackers.
I have some bad news for you. Looking at those shots I think that the Sigma could be your ideal camera…..
Don't expect that sort of dynamic range or detail out of the Olympus SW, but maybe the Fuji will be close to that.
I tested a pre-production Pana FX36 (FX35 over there) and just hope that the production version will be dramatically better….
So now I really have to get my hands on the Fuji F100 and the Sigma DP1.
Franco
BTW, I can look at tent shots all day and I am a sucker for green, so that shot from the inside of the Montbell Diamond is about as good as it gets.I hope that you have that picture up on a wall.

[Rick Dreher]

Gents,

A few DP1s are in "civilian" hands now, as it's available in Tokyo and a few Asian and European cities.

This fellow (a confirmed Sigmanaut) seems to be enjoying his:

http://www.rytterfalk.com/

[Dondo .]

Thanks for the compliment,Franco. I'm kind of partial to green, also. Unfortunately, the shot from inside the Diamond was taken with a 2 mp point-and-shoot so it probably won't print out too well. I should back it up, though.

Because of your background, I tend to put a lot of weight towards your camera suggestions. Eight hundred bucks is a lot of green to me, so I'm proceeding cautiously. You say every picture tells a story. What story did you see in my photo in the tent pics thread at Backpacker that makes you think that the Sigma could be my ideal camera?

[Dondo .]

Interesting link, Rick. To my untrained eye those photos look pretty good. Let us know when/if you decide to go for it.

A question for both you and Franco. Do you see a fixed lens as a limitation? Is it just the price you have to pay for a high quality compact? I use to have a Yashica T4 (before I drowned it in a stream) and had a lot of fun with it. It never occurred to me at the time that I could take better pictures with a zoom lens.

[Franco Darioli]

Dondo
I am surprised that it was a 2mp camera that took that shot, quality is hard to tell from a computer screen compressed image, but it does seem to have good detail , the colour balance and exposure are just right. No wonder I often remark that given the right size sensor and a sharp lens (combined with good firmware) six million pixels are more than enough.
Why the Sigma ?
Because your two shots at Backpacker are the kind of shots that the Sigma would excel at and a lot of other "compact" camera fail.
You are into landscapes, so a wide angle is important. At the wide end (28mm and about) most lenses on a compact camera are at their worst :soft and with a lot of barrel distortion. Couple that with a wide aperture required in low light, and too many tiny pixels, and your pics end up looking like a shot from a Box Brownie.
The Sigma is just the opposite. It has a large sensor, a sharp 28mm (looks relatively distortion free) and performs well fully opened.
I used a lot of compact film cameras, including your Yashica T4 . I owned a couple of Rolleis with a similar lens. There were not many compact cameras with a better lens and none with a zoom lens.
$800 maybe the initial sell, but it will settle at a lower price point as soon as Sigma catches up with the pre-orders. (this could be just wishful thinking but I don't think so)
Franco

[Roleigh Martin]

Franco, what is the weight of the camera with batteries inside the camera? What is the weight of a replacement battery (does it only use one?) What type of memory card does it use? Thx.

[Franco Darioli]

The Sigma is 9.5 oz with battery, 8.8 without.
It takes SD and SDHC (now available with 32 GB capacity)
As a comparison, the Sigma sensor is about 12x larger than the commonly used 1/2.5" version.
Franco

[Dondo .]

One thing I didn't realize before watching Carl's video was that it has a lens hood and also accepts filters. It's looking better and better.

Do you have any opinions about the Foveon X3 sensor?

[Franco Darioli]

Dondo

There are a lot of people more qualified than me . For a good explanation see this link

http://mydp1.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/whats-the-big-deal-with-foveon-sensors/

My take is that the Foveon ( this is based on shots I have seen from previous Sigma models) tends to produce results that have a more "analogue" (film) look. The downside is that it is not ideal for action shots.

Franco
BTW, there are different weights for the body only on the net, one Sigma spec sheet states 8.5oz

[Rick Dreher]

Hi Dondo,

re. your earlier question on the prime lens, it's truly the photographer's preference as to whether to go with a prime or a zoom; of course, 98% of cameras sold today are zooms. The DP1 has received howls of derision for this lens: "not a zoom" "too slow" etc. I've no doubt they made the right choice in order to keep the results without compromise, while keeping it small and below a thousand dollars (barely). The lens is sharp, even wide open, corner to corner. So, mission accomplished there.

Because of your experience with the T4 (a classic) you already know this world and I'd guess would easily adapt. Please note that the optical viewfinder is an acce$$ory, but I don't know how anyone would get by without one, at least outdoors.

The adapter and hood are also accessories, but (relatively) cheap. I figure after half a year, Sigma will offer complete kits, maybe a wideangle converter too?

The Foveon chip throws an interesting curve into the works. It seems to have superior dynamic range and more film-like noise characteristics than a typical Bayer sensor. Limited low-light capability and no IS are a potential shortcoming, depending on the photographer's needs.

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