Buying A Camera

[Jonathan]

I am presently looking to buy a new digital camera mostly to use it on the boat whilst fishing and am confused between 2 options:
1 Canon Powershot SX110 where the main thing pullin me towards this cmaers is that it has optical stabilisation (so you don;t get blurry pictures) even on a rolling boat or with an unsteady hand like mine, and especially it has a 10x zoom which would allow me to take good shots of boats which are not so close.

2 Pentax W60 which is a waterproof camera (you can actually swim with it till around 3m), but it only has a 5x zoom and a digital image stabliser not optical, which I believe is an inferior mechanism for eliminating blur as it somewaht decreases image quality increasing noise.

My concern with the Canon is that I am not sure whether the environment on a boat will quickly corrode it. I don't know how long one should expect a camera to last but I think I would expect 4-5years. Am I right in worrying on taking the Canon on a boat or am I exaggerating the risk? I know some might suggest buying a casing for the Canon but I don't like this idea as it's bulky and expensive.

Can anyone give me any advice or share any experience?

[camkev]

Hi jonathan,i will definetely go for the Canon Powershot SX110!!!!The optical stabilisation is very important on a boat.With mine i never get blurred pictures,i own a fuji s20 pro which i usually take on the boat...just keep it away from the water mate

[fishfinder]

Jonathan,

I think that Fuji have marine models that can go down to 10m and they are completly water proof.

[fava]

The Canon Powershot SX110, yes it's bulky; but price comes along with image quality and more functions, more setting that could be manually changed....and so on.
Regarding the Pentax W60, don't know much but if you said an increase of noise, maybe due to high ISO levels? And digital image stabliser not optical, maybe refers to pixel-shader?
Don't know much about marine camera models..

[EmicMalta]

I suggest the olimpus. They have very good models. We use the the SW770. But now there are newer. Its 10mtr underwater without housing and have really good menu. The zoom is only x3 optical

If you want the top then go for a Panasonic TZ5. If you want to spend a certan amount of money, with good x10 optical, full features, and HD video recording with 30F/s. Also heared that that in Febuary must be the TZ7 on the market so check well before buying. I asked a lot and every one adviced me for the TZ5

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Panasonic_Lumix_DMC_TZ5_TZ15/

[Buddhagrass]

Hi Jonathan ...... I would definetely go for the Canon Powershot SX110. I love Canon in fact I've been using Canon for my photography for 5yrs. I've been with a EOS350D, EOS400D and upgrading soon to a better SLR. The SX110 come with amazing features like Shutter speed: 15 - 1/2500 seconds, AUTO, high ISO Auto (with motion detection technology), 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1 600 (1600 is really great for capturing those nice night shots), an optical zoom of 10X which is really a blessing in compact digital cameras and even a video mode of 640 x 480 at 30 images/sec. But 2 of the most important things that this camera has is an IS system (Image Stabilization) and a great Digic III processor with iSAPS technology which is the reason for a great quality end result photo. I dont think you need a 3mtr or above waterproof camera unless you are going to take photos of kocli stuck underneath your boat  . And beleive me ........ none of the other compact digi cams (same budget as the SX110) comes close to what the Canon has to offer. Both in features and picture quality. If you ever set your mind on buying the Canon, or any other camera, please PM me as I can get you such unbeleivable prices on all sort of cameras and photographic equipment  .

[Jonathan]

Hi guys thanks a lot for all the advice.

It seems like the general feedback is to go for Canon which I think I'll follow.
Regarding Olympus, I read about their 1030 model which is also water-proof as well as shock proof, but I read that their picture quality is inferior to that of the Pentax W60. I was looking at the waterproof feature of these cameras not to swim with them (laqqas biex niehu ritratti tal-koccli li mal-propellor ikolli kemm trid!  ) but more just to have my mind at rest if I get spray going on them. Infact I don't think I would actually ever take such cameras in the water as I read so many reports of people where the seals for some reason or another malfunctioned ending with water or condensation inside ruining the camera sometimes even after a few uses.

Regarding the Panasonic TZ5 it seems to be very close to the Canon Sx110. I'm not sure which is the better camera but the TZ5 seems to be more compact.

Buddhagrass, thanks for the offer. At first I went through some of the local shops but I realised many are selling models which are over a year old and at a price higher than that which the latest model is selling for abroad! It's great to hear that you have better sources so I'll pm you as I'ld rather save the hassle of getting it through Ebay or a UK website and processing it through customs.

[Jonathan]

Regarding the Pentax W60, don't know much but if you said an increase of noise, maybe due to high ISO levels?

I did some further reading since this morning and yep Fava you were spot on. Digital image stabilisation seems to involve faster shutter speed but higher ISO or something on those lines as I don't understand much photography jargon myself, but that seems to be the gist of what I got about it.

Optical image stabilisation seems to be the real thing to go for as it involves a mechanical system ensuring a better result. Seems like you are well into photography as your comment was spot on!