Waterproof cameras, and gadget lust
In today’s New York Times, the inexhaustible David Pogue reviews three waterproof digital cameras—the Olympus Stylus 770 SW, the Pentax Optio W30, and this Sanyo Xacti E1. Now the first two are not exactly brand new. In fact, I tested the Olympus over a year ago. Then I actually purchased the Pentax last November. Contrary to Pogue’s conclusions, I liked the Pentax much better, mainly because I think it takes much sharper pictures. Still, I ended up gifting it to my daughter and buying a Canon PowerShot SD800 IS (as foreshadowed in that entry). This little camera I adore, and you’ve seen the results in many recent Panbo entries. It takes amazingly good video too. But its not waterproof, and now, damn it, Pogue reports that the truly new Sanyo Xacti, which is primarily designed as a video camera (spec page here), takes better stills than both the Olympus and the Pentax! By the way, aside from the wonderous Woot, I pretty much satisfy my gadget habit at Amazon these days. It’s hard to find a better combination of ease, service, and price. Plus Panbo is an “Associate”. Which means that if you need one of these cameras, and of course you do, please generate a commission for Panbo by using the link below to buy it. Thanks!
Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1
Canon PowerShot SD800 IS
Pentax Optio W30
Olympus Stylus 770 SW
I agree The Canon PowerShot SD800 IS is a great camera for the boat. As part of the zoom feature, the lens is adustable to wide angle shots to get really good people photo’s in the cockpit. The image stabalization feature is done very well and works effectively even in dim light, as the boat is being tossed around a bit.
I would rather risk loosing this camera to potential water damage, then using a water proof camera that is less convientient
Dan