What kind of waterproof digital camera are you guys useing for kayaking?
I'm looking for a digital camera to put in my PFD I also want it to be compatable with my current system. The requirments would be somthing like, uses an SD memory card, able to use normal batterys or nicads, 5 megapixal or more resalution, water proof to about 6Ft (2 Meter) , can also record video. Last but not least a price class of about $250 or less so it's replaceable if it gets lost or smashed.

my Pentax Optio WP does all that, except it doesn't use 'normal' batteries.

www.amazon.com/Pentax-WP-Waterproof-Digi...ptical/dp/B0007CZ6F0

there's also the Olympus Styles 720 SW, although it's probably a bit more expensive:

www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1225

those are the two i know that roughly fit your criteria, but there may be more...

What do you apply to the lens to get rid of humidity - It takes forever to wipe of the lens when I want to shoot on the water. I was thinking rainex, but have not prior experience with it.

easy!! the Hero GoPro III !!!! i'll be carrying them shortly.. great camera with a waterproof housing and it works to 100 feet!

check out www.eomkayaks.com

In reply to the above post ^

It actually states on your website that it can go to 15 feet...not 100.
It doesnt seem to be digital either......

The GoPro that's on the website now is the original GoPro that is a film camera and waterproof to 15 feet. The Hero GoPro III is the one I said I'll be carrying shortly (it just came out) that is digital and waterproof to 100 feet. It also does sound video and three shot bursts for action photography. It's pretty cool and they are a great company to deal with.

www.eomkayaks.com

Aha! Sorry mate, wasn't paying attention. My mistake

I have used both the Pentax and the Olympus. In my opinion the Olympus takes much better pictures. I believe it is more expensive than you want but is very tough. www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1287

There is the link for the olympus.

Maybe the new pentax optio w30 can works well. The Olympus 720 and 725 takes better pictures but the is very difficult to handle them in the river.

Thanks for the replys it definatly helps point me in the right direction.

iv got a Fujie film finepix f700, (hope i spelt that right) its not made anymore but the f710 is and it even better than mine which i realy like and its easy to use in its housing.

that fuji doesn't look very waterproof though...

No i don't think it is, although you can ways buy waterproof casing for it... adds to the price though.

There are hundreds of camera's on the market. Many of them great and many of them pretty crap. I don't want to comment on whats good and whats not but I think the quality of the lens is critical in any camera.

My standard little camera is a Canon with only 5 Mega Pixels, a little point and shoot with only 3 times optical zoom. A mate of mine has a 7 Mega Pixel camera from another manufacturer and the quality is not near as good as the Canon. My old man just bought us a Nikon D80 SLR so that is pretty awesome! Just not the smallest thing around.

In my opinion I'd check out the quality of the photos that the camera can take. Have a look on the net or some photography magazines. You'll be surprised at the difference. Like usual, my 's Canon and Nikon all the way...

Great thread guys thank's!

Cheers,
Whitewaterules

A word of caution perhaps on the Optio.

www.goprocamera.com/

did someone try the hero III camera ?

My wife and i have both used the Olympus 720 and now the Pentax W20 and W30.
I actually returned the Olympus because the picture quality was worse than my 5 year old fujifinepix...

I have some issues with the W20 and W30... shutter delay, low light issues, but other than that, it takes a beating, and takes great video too.

I own the new Olympus 770 SW. They've beefed up the armour on this puppy. More waterproof then the 720 SW. It's also shockproof, waterproof, freezeproof, crushproof. It feels sturdier than a brick! ( www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1287 )

I think it's definitely a good camera as far as durability is concerned. Only used it a few times, but I don't really take care of it like you'd need to for a normal camera. It's usually just shoved in a life jacket pocket or something on the front and off I go. It's great not having to worry about breaking it.

Due to the fact that rivers are generally in a valley or gorge, lighting is generally poor. Also there's generally high contrast in photo's you take (bright white water surrounded by dark rocks, tree's, green water etc.). On top of all of this, everything is moving at 100 miles an hour! This means it's difficult for a camera to take perfect pictures on default settings. I've taken many shots with my 770 SW that are very high quality. The 770 SW does a pretty good job of point and shoot, but don't expect professional quality shots.

If you're tossing up between different camera's, take some test shots of them first and see how they look side by side then decide. Do you're own research and demo some camera's to see what's right for you. If you do the research, you'll get exactly what YOU want . I think the new Olympus 770 SW has to be the toughest camera on the market at the moment, so this is definitely a huge plus when looking for a camera to take whitewater kayaking

I realize that alot's been covered in this but I figured I'd chime in.

I own a Pentax W30 and I love it. There is some shutter delay, but I haven't found it to be that bad. On High resolution (7.1Mp) the pictures are very nice on computer. The video is very good, but eats up hordes of memory. I regularly paddle with it in the front pocket of my pfd, and have taken some good hip shots without even pausing.

To be fair, I have no experience with any of the Olympus models, but they sound very nice.

I hope this helps.

The more feedback the better. Keep em coming guys.

Another note of Critical Importance.

Waterproof DOES NOT equal Floating.

Either secure it to you, or tie floats to it or ecpexct to lose it in a hole...Mercifully one of my friends did this before I had to replace mine for not knowing.

d_black_se is correct. What you can do is tie something to it that does float. I know most boat shops sell little floaty things that you attach to your boat keys so they float. You'd need to find a decent one to keep the camera floating. The only thing is that by the time you have something big enough to float the camera, it can get in the way!

Probably just attach the camera to your PFD with a tether.