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Outside Magazine September 2003

Rugged Digital Cameras
Shoot the Rapids
With the right armor—either built in or as a high-tech housing—the new digital cameras can take the hits and keep your vision alive

By Tom Bie


Intro | Pentax Optio 43ORS & Canon Powershot S400 Digital Elph | Boundary Waterproof and First Ascent | Sony DSC-U60 Cyper-Shot U & Olympus Stylus 300 Digital

Dry and high: Make your digicam adventure-ready with a sturdy waterpoof housing. (Jonathan Kantor)
DIGITAL CAMERAS are often so fragile that they should carry a warning label: for INDOOR USE ONLY. That's changing. Most major manufacturers—including Canon, Pentax, Olympus, and Minolta—now offer rugged, hard-plastic waterproof housings specifically designed to give their digi- cams a beefy outer shell. Tuck one of these shooters inside its matching case, snap it shut, and you'll be able to pop off underwater JPEGs at depths of 100 feet. The new cases will also protect your camera from mud, dust, salt spray, and even hard knocks. (In field tests, each of the five hermetically sealed models we tested survived intact after a four-foot drop onto a rock.) Granted, your wallet may take a little punishment—the most affordable digicam-plus-housing setup here will run you $598—but just think of all the waterlogged memory cards you won't have to replace.




Next Page: The Amazing Pocket Fisherman and Foam Noir

 
Intro | Pentax Optio 43ORS & Canon Powershot S400 Digital Elph | Boundary Waterproof and First Ascent | Sony DSC-U60 Cyper-Shot U & Olympus Stylus 300 Digital