Waterproof cameras?

Hi Dean

Yes, we do have deserts, but they don't seem to be dusty. More stony I think.

Camp at the head of Lomindra Gully on the Larapinta Trail in Central Australia.

The 'hills' are the eroded remnants from 60 Million years ago – ancient bones of time. Water is scarce – this was a dry camp with our water in the bottles in the tent.

Cheers

I honestly didn't think about dust. Good points; although then the name should probably be "weatherproof" or something like that. Waterproof cameras, then, have other sealing options that clearly make them suitable for dusty, sandy, windy environs. It sounds like a good option for your situation.

Bumping up this thread.

Since I dropped my three week old camera in the drink, I"m thinking of the TS1 for my next.

Hi Tom,

You might want to hold off a bit, since a boatload (hah!) of new WP cameras have been unveiled recently, including a Panny FT2 and new Oly models that use SD cards (yay).

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/panasonic_lumix_dmc_ft2_review/rivals/

Cheers,

Rick

Now if they'd add a vari-swivel LCD, I'd be happy. I use that all the time on my Canon A620, especially while backpacking.

A swivel screen would be nice, but I think that's asking for way too much since the waterproof cameras are supposed to be rugged too, and building a rugged swivel screen would almost certainly be very heavy.

I'd love to see them put in a gps chip in these weather resistant cameras, along with a real battery, or better yet, AA batteries.

Hopefully they have improved on the shortcomings of their former W models

http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/25372/pentax-optio-w90/

David Pogue at the NYT reviewed a few waterproof cameras/ camcorders today. They may more relevant because they are shockproof as well.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/technology/personaltech/22pogue.html?ref=technology

Nikon D300 and D300S are pretty waterproof – but most lenses aren't…

Still, if you care about good photos, this is the cheapest DSLR that is environmentally sealed enough to be considered tough.

A Pentax K200d can be be bought on ebay for ~$250. It's pretty tough and has a sealed body. I like that it uses AA batteries.