I have to do a mea culpa of sorts…I wrote in the spring that I hated the new Olympus Tough 8000 digital camera. Not for pictures, Olympus always made a camera that took good shots. Good focus, solidly made and good user interface.
Until they decided to put a stupid toggle switch in the back this year. Which makes going from menu to menu very hard if you are all thumbs like me…or really easy if you are a boy wonder Iphone user. But I can live with this. It’s my waterproof camera that is on automatic most of the time. One of those things that is great to have in a jiffy
I do like the newly resigned cover plate for SD card and battery. Double locking mechanism, and PLASTIC! The original ones I always owned were made out of metal which was a salt magnet. The whole camera would be in a great shape but the cover for battery and card, the most important thing would be caked with salt. Yeah, the mechanical shutter that closes and protects the lens is neat…till you get some sand in., Then it’s a nightmare. It’s something I could live without it.
So what exactly is my mea culpa?
Video
I bought this camera because it had a 1080P video capability. I like GoPro but there are no adjustments on GoPro, it takes a lot of room and it has no flash to use at night. I tried the video function this spring at sunset while fishing with a Silver Fox. It was awful. Try as it might, the Tough camera kept going in and out of focus. Could not figure out what exactly to focus on, Silver Fox, sun, trees, water. The footage was unusable junk. So I said a lesson learned and used it just for stills.
Then last weekend the wife asked to be taken to Cedar beach in FI. While there, we played around with Super Strike heavy popper and ZeeBaaS reel. First, I wanted to get some additional footage for Mr. Musso I could use in his video. Two, I had a camera in the truck, my GoPro was at home. Since this was really unplanned and my son was bored out of his mind, hey, why not try it.
Let me tell you something, this camera is GOOD. Not only it takes good footage of video in the daytime but its crystal clear. Take a look of this shot of a popper taken off the video as a single frame. It’s clear as bell. It’s not as fast to focus as GoPro but that is because of different lenses. The GoPro has distortion and although it can also take still shots I find the ease of use and switching between video and stills about as easy as telling the truth for a politician…from either party.
Why was I wrong? Because Olympus still sucks in low light condition and you should use it as a still camera at that time. But with ample light from the above, I think you will be stunned by the 1080 images that come out of this camera
sometimes you have to admit that you are wrong…this is one of those times
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I have been using a Kodak Sportplay and have tons of video and very good pictures that I have taken over the last 2 years with no ill effects due to saltwater intrusion or corrosion. It is good for the beach and waterproof to 10 ft. Clean it off with a little freshwater evry trip and it is good to go.
↓Has 5mp camera, 720p, 720p(60) and HD1080p. Good enough for what I need and very reasonably priced. Buttons and all controls easily seen and even a small lcd screen to view what you have shot or videoed. No case to deal with. Decent battery life as well. Decent light level adjustment as well.
You can check out these videos on you tube that were made with the camera: http://www.youtube.com/user/montgomerycoanglers?feature=results_main
I don’t own the Olympus. The shots always looked a little grainy to me. Think I might try the newer canon that came out.
↓I wear my gopro on my chest when I fish. My two biggest quirks with it are the inability to shoot at night (when I catch most of my fish), and its images lack depth perception. You cant really get a good idea of the scale of the subject of my images (waves, fish). Other wise its pretty solid. I wouldnt mind trying a Olympus style camera though.
↓I have a 5 year old Olympus SW1030 which is the precursor to the camara your talking about. Its waterproof to 32 feet, Ive had it down to 45 feet underwater. Takes very good pictures. I gave mine a beating over the years, its still going strong. Never tried the video, but based on this and other Olympus camaras I’ve had, I say its a great brand.
↓Good luck finding any point and shoot camera that rocks in low light its the nature of the beast the lenses are just too small to gather enought light.
I just upgraded to a Canon D20 from the D10 … Its another fine water proof camera, it doesnt seem to get talked about as much as the olympus line.
↓I carry the Olympus Tough TG ??? and my biggest complaint is that the buttons are too f*cking small to manipulate and I can’t work it just by feel. Fish in one hand, rod under the arm and slimy fingers on the camera… jeez, gotta put the flash back on manual. Oh well. Lost that shot.
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