Activitycam - when a SLR is too much..

[RobDickinson]

Am looking for some sugestions as to what pocketable cam I can take mountainbiking/snowboarding (and possibly with a waterproof housing , surfing).

So as such landscapey/sports in decent light.

Kinda thinking around $300nz. Must have a wide angle lens (< 30mm 35mm eq), not too fussed about video or lots of zoom or more than 8mp. Would prefer the ability to have raw and manual control.

Has to be around a hdd based ipod in size. A quick shufty sees the Panasonic DMC-FX37 as an obvious choice.

Price menu:
http://www.pricespy.co.nz/cat_13.html

[Woz]

If you want one that can take a battering, what about this Olympus:

http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/29_digital_camera_mju_1030_sw_18625.htm

No manual controls or RAW though...

[RobDickinson]

Had a play (along with a 5D mkII, yum!) with one of these at lunchtime:

http://www.photowarehouse.co.nz/1004002/olympus+mju+tough+8000+12mp+10m+deep+black/

Ticks most of the boxes apart from being $688....


Will have a look at the 1030!

[liamail]

What was the IQ like? Love the idea of this rugged camera, but 12MP seems a bit OTT.

[liamail]

.

[Wendelius]

I've got the Olympus Mju 1030. Discussed here: http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=530090&highlight=Olympus

I have to say I really love it. Nice brigth screen. Very rugged (it's been underwater, in hot sulfurous springs, on the beach, taken in rainforest treks, dropped by my 2 year old a few times and hasn't missed a beat).

As I mentioned then, you do need to learn not to let the camera make all the decisions though. Most normal condition shots will be fine on auto or using a scene mode. In low light, you might want to set the ISO yourself so the camera doesn't go to silly lengths. It's still a compact and "not great" at over 2000 ISO, after all. :)

Not sure how this one compares to the one you linked. But I can vouch for the Mju range being rugged.

Wendelius

[Woz]

I'd love to get one of the lower end models for my 7 year old. No money at the moment though.

[RobDickinson]

What was the IQ like? Love the idea of this rugged camera, but 12MP seems a bit OTT.

Only saw results on its own screen (2.7" I think) it looked ok (zoomed in etc) but who knows...