Anyone aware of a waterproof digital camera with at least a 10x zoom?

Eric wrote:

Anyone aware of a waterproof digital camera with at least a 10x zoom?

No, the Pentax 33WR and announced-but-not-yet-available 43WR both have
37-104mm equivalent zoom, which is about 3x. They may have digital zoom,
but I don't believe DZ is useful, so I don't pay any attention to it.

http://creekin.net/cameras.htm

The Minolta Dimage A1/A2 have 28-200 equivalent zoom, which is over 7x,
but are not water-resistant.

Bill Tuthill wrote:

Eric wrote:

Anyone aware of a waterproof digital camera with at least a 10x zoom?

No, the Pentax 33WR and announced-but-not-yet-available 43WR both have
37-104mm equivalent zoom, which is about 3x.

Yes, this is what my research has turned up as well. Unfortunately, a 3x
optical zoom isn't really worth it, imho.

I guess I shall wait a bit longer until someone does make the camera I
am looking for.

They may have digital zoom,
but I don't believe DZ is useful, so I don't pay any attention to it.

Yes, I agree, a Digital Zoom is not useful.
I only care about optical zoom.

On 4-May-2004, (Eric) wrote:

I guess I shall wait a bit longer until someone does make the camera I
am looking for.

Are you including waterproof housings for digital cameras in your search?

Mike

Michael Daly wrote:

On 4-May-2004, (Eric) wrote:

I guess I shall wait a bit longer until someone does make the camera I
am looking for.

Are you including waterproof housings for digital cameras in your search?

No. I have one for my current digital camera and find it rather
annoying.


--
== Eric Gorr ========= http://www.ericgorr.net ========= ICQ:9293199 ===
"Therefore the considerations of the intelligent always include both
benefit and harm." - Sun Tzu
== Insults, like violence, are the last refuge of the incompetent... ===

I haven't heard of a "waterproof" digital camera with at least a 10x
zoom. It's difficult to keep a water tight seal on a zoom. For this
reason, most "waterproof" cameras have a fixed focal. There are
"water resistant" digital cameras with a zoom.

(Eric) wrote in message ...
Anyone aware of a waterproof digital camera with at least a 10x zoom?

I'd like to ask a silly question in this thread.

From my personal experience, even the 3x zoom can give me blurred
pictures from my boat. I can only assume 10x would be worse.

Unless you are paddling in a super-wide boat in very calm conditions.
In which case I don't see the need for waterproof. Granted you could
be taking photos in the rain, but I doubt it.

So what is the advantage of a 10x zoom waterproof digital camera? I
have to assume I am missing something.

- Eric

Eric Nyre wrote:

So what is the advantage of a 10x zoom waterproof digital camera? I
have to assume I am missing something.

I really don't consider anything less then a 10x zoom to be worthwhile.
One doesn't have to use the full 10x zoom.

The 10x zoom would be available when one is not in a kayak.

Being waterproof means it is relatively safe to take it while kayaking.

I do not wish to own both a camera with a 10x zoom which is not
waterproof and a camera with less then a 10x zoom which is waterproof.

I find the waterproof cases to be annoying.

--
== Eric Gorr ========= http://www.ericgorr.net ========= ICQ:9293199 ===
"Therefore the considerations of the intelligent always include both
benefit and harm." - Sun Tzu
== Insults, like violence, are the last refuge of the incompetent... ===

Anyone aware of a waterproof digital camera with at least a 10x zoom?

10X, get real. People think that a zoom lens is magic, it's not.
On a 35mm camera "normal is a 50mm lens, so a 10X zoom would have a 500mm
focal length. Check out a 500mm lens on a camera with interchangable lens,
it's huge, and a lens that zooms from 50mm to 500mm would be even bigger.
Also most zoom lens get "slower" (that is; they gather less light) at
their longer focal length. In an automatic camera that means a slower shutter
speed and a greater chance that the camera will shake and ruin the photo during
exposure.
Finally the greater magnification also magnifys any shake you impart to
the camera. Many ,probably most, people will have trouble holding the camera
with a large zoom still enough to be very useful, that's on dry land, in a
kayak the problem would be even worse.
Better to buy the waterproof camera that's available and learn to take the
kind of photos that it is suitable for taking.

Arthur

Eric wrote:

Yes, this is what my research has turned up as well. Unfortunately,
a 3x optical zoom isn't really worth it, imho.

It is very difficult to design a 10x zoom, especially one with good
optical performance.

The current Tamron and Sigma 28-200 lenses are quite good, and can be
placed on a Canon or Nikon or Pentax DSLR such as the 300D or D70 for
an equivalent focal range of of 45-320 or 42-300 respectively. You
could buy a Ewa-Marine waterproof case for lotsa bucks.

The more-than-10x Tamron and Sigma 28-300 lenses are much less good.
I have seen results from the Tamron and wouldn't buy one myself.
Best 10x zoom would be the Canon 35-350, which retails for $1500.
Seems like Canon announced a new wider-angle 10x zoom but I can't
remember any details.