I have convinced myself that there is no durable waterproof compact camera on the market yet. These so called waterpoof cameras don't last if used regularly for sea kayaking. Corrosion creeps past the pretty external metal shell and kills the internal electonic components.
I have however never tested if they are as tough as they claim to be.
Only one way to find out...
While the test was more for "effect" than a scientific experiment it appears that the two candidates can survive normal drops even on concrete.
A typical accident would be slipping the camera out of my hand and onto the ground. Most times the hight would be around 3 feet. But what happens when the camera hits the ground from 6 feet? or even higher like 10 feet and 20 feet?
Watch and be amazed :-)
Surprisingly these so called "waterproof" cameras did not explode like most other compact cameras would. Only the tiny sticker on the selector dial of the Olympus Tough came flying off (at 1:13); no other bits broke off the two cameras.
At 10 feet I managed to crack the lens cover on the Tough, after 3 drops.
glass lens cover cracked at 10 feet drop
At 20 feet things got out of shape, I mean the poor camera bodies compressed so badly that permanently deformed the case.
camera body defomed and no longer aligned with front plate
ouch...
metal corner compressed and deformed from repeated 20 feet drops
Unfortunately I was unable to veryfy if the cameras were still working after each drop: corrosion claimed their respective "ghosts" long time ago :-)
.
Hi Gnarlydog
ReplyDeletePromised to give you a report about my waterproof camera Pentax WG-1. I have now used the camera for a year and with no problems what so ever. Still with all functions intact and still waterproof.
Good test, it show that although it's a tough camera but it also broken if it get impact over limit.
ReplyDelete