The original Picsio pocket camcorder from JVC was good, but tiny buttons and awkward controls held it back. So what better way to address the issues than ditching buttons completely in favour for a touchscreen? More »
The Gadget: Olympus’ waterproof, shockproof, coldproof—and hot-tubproof—10-megapixel pocket cam with new controls that work when you are gloved and freezing, as I discovered over the past weekend in Park City, UT.
Is it just me, or did i-mate really go off their game after they stopped just rebadging HTC handsets and actually creating their own hardware? Even if it is just me, it looks like the smartphone company is back in the game with the 810-F, a smartphone built to military specifications that comes with a lifetime warranty. More »
Built by a company with some experience at making things that aren’t flimsy, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 is a waterproof, dustproof and shockproof point-and-shoot camera for the outdoorsy and/or clumsy type.
Olympus’ tough-as-nails Stylus 1050 SW updates the 1030 SW with a tap-control feature that makes it easy to take pictures in extreme environments. While the specs are nearly identical to the 1030—10.1MP, 1.5 metre shockproof, 3 metres waterproof, -10°C freezeproof—the 1050 uses an accelerometer to allow button-free control. Tapping the top, back or sides of the camera cycle through different options, so you can make adjustments to your pictures even if you’re wearing gloves. It’ll be out in October, and for US$300, I’d tap that. The Stylus 1040, one of the best looking Olympus point-and-shoots we’ve seen, down below.
Does a water-resistant and dust-proof camera really have to be as fugly as this? Ricoh’s ten-megapixel, shock-resistant G600 sits alongside its Caplio 500G, and boasts, as well as a 5x zoom, flash with a ten-metre range, 52MB internal memory and hi-def 2.7-inch display.
The US team gave the 1030SW from Olympus a lightning review earlier this week, and although I agreed with what they said for the most part, I had the benefit of taking this baby snorkelling with me in Fiji, and so had a better test of the camera’s underwater skills than Benny’s bathtime hijinks.
The Gadget: The Stylus 1030SW, Olympus’ semi-indestructible 10.1MP point-and-shoot, is designed for fairly extreme conditions. Olympus claims the camera is shockproof (to 2 metres), waterproof (to 10 metres), freezeproof (to -10°C), and crushproof (to 100kg) We’ve seen other cameras with features like this, but it’s rare that they’re all combined into one.
Point-and-shoots bore the hell out of me, and most of the PMA P-and-S spam has all bled together at this point. But, I really like the shock- and water-proof armour Olympus has surrounding its otherwise unremarkable 10MP Stylus 1030 SW. It’s a steely hardass with style, and I love the exposed. It’s actually very lightweight, but you still get a sense of its solidity in your hand (or banging it on the table). Its lesser sibling Stylus 850 SW is lesser both in person and on paper.
Manly and rugged outdoorsmen with small rucksacks might find Minox’s DC6033 WP so far up their mountain path it’s parked in their crevasse. Encased in rubber armour, the six-megapixel point-and-shoot camera is dust, dirt, sand and salt-proof, and you can take it underwater to a depth of 10 metres.
