Tough Cameras - Seawater Test Results
Sony TX5No further damage was incurred by the Sony DSC-TX5 on a cosmetic level, but the amount of sand and salt water behind the front panel had made it tough to power on. Underwater shots were sharp for the most part, and taken extremely rapidly, but the touch screen was unreliable when submerged and was hard to use until dried off. |
Olympus mju 8010With a menu that's slow to react, the 8010 isn't massively simple to use underwater, especially as the buttons are small. It was tough to shoot a sharp image, plus the lens rarely focused quickly or accurately enough to get a decent photo. The SD card also became jammed in the body, making retrieving the images difficult. |
Fuji Finepix XP10As was mentioned in the shock test the Fuji's screen does hamper it, especially when trying to frame up underwater. The rubbery buttons had the perfect texture to grip with wet hands, although the d-pad felt fragile. The camera did take its time to focus, but once it was set on the correct mode and focus setting, it managed to take some impressively sharp shots. |
Pentax W90Much like the Fuji XP10's rubberised buttons the Pentax W90 benefited from having a similar material around its edge. The power button and shutter release are therefore simple to grip and use, making operation simple with wet hands. Once submerged the Pentax W90 was both straightforward and easy to use, focusing quickly and rapidly. |
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Casio EX-G1The tiny on/off and Best Shot buttons aren't the easiest to use while underwater, even if the EX-G1's slim frame makes gripping the body comfortable. Most disappointing of all were the images, as even at lower ISO settings there was an obvious amount of image noise to accompany the lack of sharpness, and the focus was both sluggish and unreliable. |
Panasonic FT2 (Test Winner)The chunky, brick-like FT2's issues with the Mode Dial weren't as obvious in the water test, although the screen scratches from the drop test did make it difficult to frame up. Once underwater the photographs were superb, suffering far less image noise issues than its rivals and producing sharp images and reacting impressively quickly to the shutter press. |
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