treadhead1952
June 22nd, 2010, 18:53
Hi All,
Since I intend to do quite a bit of Kayaking these next few months and would like to share some of it through photos and video, I needed to find a decent camera to use. While I have a nice shiny Nikon Point and Shoot 12 Mega-Pixel that I use at home, I have no desires to drag it out to the lakes, a bit too delicate for such duty. I work for the largest Photography Company here in Las Vegas, so I went to our Purchasing Director for a little advice on what we might have available. Describing what I wanted to do with it, he came up with a couple of suggestions, both of which were Olympus cameras. While there are other brands out there with waterproof features and the option of sticking a camera in a water proof clear bag as well, I wanted something that would be dedicated to Kayaking.
We finally came up with the Olympus SW 1030, a 10 Mega-Pixel Point and Shoot style. It is water proof down to 33 feet, can be dropped from 6.6 feet with no effects, shoot in temperatures down to 14 degrees and will withstand being run over by 220 pounds without a problem. Almost sounds like a Jay proof camera. As it happened, he had one in his "Scratch and Dent" bin, a new unit that had been on display and had a few light scratches on the face plate from handling that made it unsalable as new. He had set up this bin system so that the company could recoup some of the losses by selling them to the employees at extreme discount. Right now, the camera is listed on Amazon at $399, it retails for $488.88, I managed to snag mine for $134 plus tax.
In discussing this particular camera, I found out that it had been loaned out to my immediate "Boss" for his recent trip down to Cancun so I did ask him about it. He gave it glowing remarks as to picture and video and even said that he had shot some underwater video with it. Naturally, I took it home with me, charged up the battery, it uses a Lithium Ion type and comes with a charger in the box. With the battery charged up, I put it and a memory card in for an initial test shot or two. Pressing the "Power" Button rewarded me with a musical chime and the rear screen briefly lit up then nothing. I tried it again, same result. Oh well, when all else fails, read the instructions.
According to the manual under the subject of Maintaining watertight integrity, it tells you to rinse the camera off in fresh water after use. Aha! Also under the same heading it tells you that if it won't operate to place it under a running faucet while repeatedly pressing the power button until the lens window opens. The "Boss" neglected to rinse it off after his underwater photography stint. It now works quite well, I shot a few pictures with it and can't wait to get it out on the water.
I think that I will tie it to one of those little rounded football shaped buoys until I get a mounting pole set up to mount it in one of the rod holders on the Kayak. It will probably sink like a stone otherwise. Until I can make other arrangements for it, it will ride on the lanyard around my neck that I carry my signal whistle on.
Here is what it looks like.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/treadhead1952/EmOlySW1030001.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/treadhead1952/EmOlySW1030003.jpg
And yes, that is my little Nikon reflected in the shiny surfaces. They are very nearly the same size as one another, but the Olympus does out weigh the Nikon. Most likely due to the amount of metal and waterproofing used in its' manufacture.
Jay
treadhead1952
Las Vegas, NV
Since I intend to do quite a bit of Kayaking these next few months and would like to share some of it through photos and video, I needed to find a decent camera to use. While I have a nice shiny Nikon Point and Shoot 12 Mega-Pixel that I use at home, I have no desires to drag it out to the lakes, a bit too delicate for such duty. I work for the largest Photography Company here in Las Vegas, so I went to our Purchasing Director for a little advice on what we might have available. Describing what I wanted to do with it, he came up with a couple of suggestions, both of which were Olympus cameras. While there are other brands out there with waterproof features and the option of sticking a camera in a water proof clear bag as well, I wanted something that would be dedicated to Kayaking.
We finally came up with the Olympus SW 1030, a 10 Mega-Pixel Point and Shoot style. It is water proof down to 33 feet, can be dropped from 6.6 feet with no effects, shoot in temperatures down to 14 degrees and will withstand being run over by 220 pounds without a problem. Almost sounds like a Jay proof camera. As it happened, he had one in his "Scratch and Dent" bin, a new unit that had been on display and had a few light scratches on the face plate from handling that made it unsalable as new. He had set up this bin system so that the company could recoup some of the losses by selling them to the employees at extreme discount. Right now, the camera is listed on Amazon at $399, it retails for $488.88, I managed to snag mine for $134 plus tax.
In discussing this particular camera, I found out that it had been loaned out to my immediate "Boss" for his recent trip down to Cancun so I did ask him about it. He gave it glowing remarks as to picture and video and even said that he had shot some underwater video with it. Naturally, I took it home with me, charged up the battery, it uses a Lithium Ion type and comes with a charger in the box. With the battery charged up, I put it and a memory card in for an initial test shot or two. Pressing the "Power" Button rewarded me with a musical chime and the rear screen briefly lit up then nothing. I tried it again, same result. Oh well, when all else fails, read the instructions.
According to the manual under the subject of Maintaining watertight integrity, it tells you to rinse the camera off in fresh water after use. Aha! Also under the same heading it tells you that if it won't operate to place it under a running faucet while repeatedly pressing the power button until the lens window opens. The "Boss" neglected to rinse it off after his underwater photography stint. It now works quite well, I shot a few pictures with it and can't wait to get it out on the water.
I think that I will tie it to one of those little rounded football shaped buoys until I get a mounting pole set up to mount it in one of the rod holders on the Kayak. It will probably sink like a stone otherwise. Until I can make other arrangements for it, it will ride on the lanyard around my neck that I carry my signal whistle on.
Here is what it looks like.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/treadhead1952/EmOlySW1030001.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/treadhead1952/EmOlySW1030003.jpg
And yes, that is my little Nikon reflected in the shiny surfaces. They are very nearly the same size as one another, but the Olympus does out weigh the Nikon. Most likely due to the amount of metal and waterproofing used in its' manufacture.
Jay
treadhead1952
Las Vegas, NV