UKC

Sadly my superb Olympus 790SW has died after some great surf shots at St Ives.
Its done sterling work over the last few years of climbing but i presume the seals finaly gave up.
Need to know what the best is on the market or point me at some reviews.
I do l;ike the sound of the Olympus TG1 as it has the same layout and good features.
Let me know

In reply to PaulHermes:

Quite a few people I know use the Canon D10, seems to be very well regarded. I'm tempted by the D20 myself ...

In reply to PaulHermes:
Canon D10 here. Doesnt have lots of features but the photo quality is good.

In reply to PaulHermes:
The Panasonic Lumix one and the Sony one seem to come out best in all the tests when I researched these in January. I had the Lumix (not most recent version) and was very pleased with it generally. I unfortunately lost it and replaced it with the Sony which seems to have equally excellent picture quality. The advantages of the Sony (apart from the fact that I got it very cheap) are that it is significantly lighter and it has a sliding door over the lens window which helps prevent rain and snow and general fug getting on it and spoiling shots. It's disadvantage is the touch screen which is fiddly at best and hopeless with gloves or damp fingers - when climbing I just stick in idiot mode and point and shoot. The photos on here in my gallery are taken with these cameras; Lumix last year, Sony this year.

In reply to PaulHermes: thanks for that

In reply to PaulHermes:

As Robert says the Lumix TS2 is good. I've had mine for a couple of years and use it constantly in all conditions.
As an idea of the picture quality have a look at my UKC gallery at vimeo.com/user4777903 I have the American version...
The latest model is the The Lumic DMC TS4 which I'd upgrade to for the full HD video, if somebody bought my old TS2.
I've no complaints with the picture quality or reliability

In reply to PaulHermes: I've used a Pentax W30 for the last few years with great success both above and below the water. The most recent trip was into the Wind Rivers Range in Wyoming. I took hundreds of photos most of which turned out quite well. For a long trip I take a charged spare battery. Pentax now have what looks like a really rugged set of cameras, the WG30 line. Check out their website for details. They come with a lanyard and 'biner attached. I think those items will have a, "not to be used for climbing" warning. One model has GPS built in. That's probably if you get lost while snorkeling. Joking aside, they do look tough.

Good luck.

In reply to Paul:

I was in a similar situation and chose the Panasonic FT3/TS3 as it seemed best in test, (Ebay brand new for £145.) The pictures, movie and sound are good. I'd rather it didn't have the GPS, alti, compass and barometer, but it does and I've used them a lot. Mine lives in a case on a sling, so lack of sliding lens cover, which I thought would be a pain, wasn't an issue.

In reply to loose overhang:

I had the Pentax W20 and then bought the Pentax W30. I quickly sold it as I wasn't at all happy at the video quality in comparison to the previous W20 or Panasonic Lumix TS/TL models, though it seems to be good for snorkling...