Water proof camera review

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by JSP

IQ (image quality) again. To get a 12X zoom into a lens that big takes a major toll on the quality of the optics. If your happy with that quality, then stay with your £300 camera.


Nope, same goes. Squeezing all that into one big zoom lens and you forfeit quality.

Smaller sensors are a bad thing in most cases. Smaller sensors with higher pixel counts mean the pixels are closer together producing more noise.

Most high end prosumer and DSLR have HD video.
To tell you the truth I've only scanned the review. Still think the price tag is un realistic.

Yes the price tag is way too high - but I suspect it will be 1/2 that in a few motnhs - rrp and what you really pay are quite different!!!

Obviously the bigger the lens and the bigger the sensor the better - I used to use medium format a lot and it's the same principle - you needed double the lens size for the same magnification - ie a 200mm Pentax 6x7 lens was equal to a 100mm lens on a 35mm camera.

I never thought I would say it but the sheer convienience of a digital camera with a huge zoom is hard to beat.

This is what they say about the video

"The GH1/14-140mm combination's silent and quick contrast detect AF, coupled with ergonomics that have been designed with video in mind, certainly take it beyond the current crop of video-enabled DSLRs which suffer from clunky video controls and largely unusable AF systems. Like those DSLRs though it can shoot video with the shallow depth-of-field that you would only get from significantly more expensive large-sensor camcorders, and for this reason alone it will certainly find its way into the equipment bags of more than one professional videographer - if not as the main, at least as an additional tool."

If I want REAL quality I will use my 70mp camera - my trusty Canon A1 with a fixed 400mm f2.8 and a quality slide scanner!!!

[JSP]

Originally Posted by codprawn

Yes the price tag is way too high - but I suspect it will be 1/2 that in a few motnhs - rrp and what you really pay are quite different!!!

Obviously the bigger the lens and the bigger the sensor the better - I used to use medium format a lot and it's the same principle - you needed double the lens size for the same magnification - ie a 200mm Pentax 6x7 lens was equal to a 100mm lens on a 35mm camera.

I never thought I would say it but the sheer convienience of a digital camera with a huge zoom is hard to beat.

This is what they say about the video

"The GH1/14-140mm combination's silent and quick contrast detect AF, coupled with ergonomics that have been designed with video in mind, certainly take it beyond the current crop of video-enabled DSLRs which suffer from clunky video controls and largely unusable AF systems. Like those DSLRs though it can shoot video with the shallow depth-of-field that you would only get from significantly more expensive large-sensor camcorders, and for this reason alone it will certainly find its way into the equipment bags of more than one professional videographer - if not as the main, at least as an additional tool."

If I want REAL quality I will use my 70mp camera - my trusty Canon A1 with a fixed 400mm f2.8 and a quality slide scanner!!!

We could go on all day, and if you have a 70mp camera, was that made in 1898?
Digital SLR full frame has far out rez'ed 35mm film, as has medium format digital backs too. LArge format is still really the realm of film but it's a dieing breed.

[ianhappy]

Originally Posted by JSP

What's your budget Ian?
For mounting climbing and your Arctic trip you'll need to keep the batteries warm. Keeping spare sets against your body will keep them good. Condensation inside the lens and view finder will be a problem too. Try and climatise your gear well before you need it.

If you don't need full water proof both Nikon and Canon do dust and splash proof DSLR's which can be fitted with camera armour for extra protection.

Well I have £300 set aside at the moment; I guess that's more than enough for a quality compact but not enough for a splash-resistant DSLR?

Thanks for the pointers, we had considered the battery life but not the condensation issues; is going from warm to cold as bad as from cold to warm? And are the waterproof ones just as susceptible to condensation as others? Presumably they're not fully sealed and moisture-free inside.

And you're right, for my use I wouldn't need fully waterproof, even though they are quite tempting for ribbing where the camera could quite easily end up in the bilge or could be used for arty shots through the spray etc.

Tricky choice; thanks for any advice/experience people could offer.

Ian

[JSP]

Originally Posted by ianhappy

Well I have £300 set aside at the moment; I guess that's more than enough for a quality compact but not enough for a splash-resistant DSLR?

Thanks for the pointers, we had considered the battery life but not the condensation issues; is going from warm to cold as bad as from cold to warm? And are the waterproof ones just as susceptible to condensation as others? Presumably they're not fully sealed and moisture-free inside.

And you're right, for my use I wouldn't need fully waterproof, even though they are quite tempting for ribbing where the camera could quite easily end up in the bilge or could be used for arty shots through the spray etc.

Tricky choice; thanks for any advice/experience people could offer.

Ian

At the moment the DSLR's with dust and splash seals are out of that price range.
I can't comment on the waterproof cameras as I've never owned one but they could suffer from condensation. I've know a few photographers that have been on trips to photograph wildlife in the extreme cold and it was something that dogged them all the time, that and battery life.


You need to ask yourself a what you want from the camera. Long Zoom? Image Stabilization etc
Short list a few and then look them up on here http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs.asp
Look for one that has the least shutter lag and low noise at high ISO's (using High ISO will help you get photos' with out as much flash making it a more natural photo.) and I'd try and get one with as much manual control as possible. Using a camera in manual can scare some people off but if you learn before you go (really is easy) you'll find getting the right exposure allot easier than relying on the camera to get it for you.