I am wondering what advice you all might have on taking a camera on the water. My wife and I have been out paddling with our kayaks and I am a little nervous about bringing my digital camera for fear of it getting wet. I am thinking that we might just use our old 35mm camera. Up to this point we have been buying throw away cameras, but the quality is not great. If anybody has any suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.
Tom
KYROSIKE-PERFORM A SEARCH, THIS HAS
been discussed MANY times with a variety of responses based upon all the variables -camera type, camera value, YOUR experience, your boat, your paddling habits and habitats, your assessment of risk, etc., etc., etc.
There’s already QUITE a lot out there, chiropsych, so look it over, and THEN come back -with SUBSEQUENT Qs left unanswered or in need of expansion and/or extrapolation.
BTW, just what IS “KYROWSIKE”…???
Until then, use you waterproof UW dispos as you make up your mind but still
Paddle on!
-Frank in Miami
Be careful and use common sense
and you will be fine. I have had no troubes keeping a camera dry. I use it, with and without the waterproof case (without mostly) and when I am not using it, it is in a pelican case. If I am in my WW boat it is behind my seat, if I am in a seakayak I usually wedge it inbetween my legs. (careful on that one if you have to get out of the boat.)
Some of the places I have been
http://joemess.smugmug.com/
http://community.webshots.com/user/joemess
Take that good camera out and get some photos to show us.
Andrew
Dont drop it in the water
I have been using a digital camera for a couple of years now and have been fortunate enough to keep it out of the water. I take a lot of pictures from the seat of my kayak. I keep my camera in a pelican case which I keep right on the sprayskirt or on my lap below the sprayskirt. It only takes a few seconds to open the case and get the camera out.
Like Andy said use a little common sense and you will get some great on the water pictures without destroying your camera. Gotta love the digitals cameras.
Pelican…
Have been using a Pelican case for nearly 10 years with no problems; have even carried it along while whitewater canoeing. Has never leaked yet & has had a few underwater rides. Just pop it open & take out the camera whenever you need it. Mine is one of the smaller Pelican cases, but has enough room for my Canon AE-1 with a 210 mm macro/zoom lens, a 50 mm lens, and 5 or 6 spare rolls of film. When not in use, the case is secured to a thwart in the canoe with a short piece of utility cord (kept short to avoid foot entrapment) & a caribiner (useful in emergency). Can’t remember for sure, but I’d guess the price on the case was around 40 dollars.
BOB
I use a otter case
Works great only 20 dollars
Only probelm I have hasd was o ring
2 bucks to replace. Now I submerge the box in the sink before a trip and make sure no bubbles come up. I store the box open so as not to compress the o-ring except when in use. When I first got it I stored it closed and after about a year and half it began to leak. I guess the o-ring has a memory.
I store open too
That’s a good idea. I store mine open only to be certain that any moisture trapped inside during a paddle can dry out.
I never thought about o-ring compression.
I also bought a small 35mm in a waterproof case at Target for about $30 and it works well.
I’d love to get an underwater digital but untilthe price drops I use my cony digital in a dry-bag with the cord clipped to a D-ring inside my boat just-in-case. I have to open the bag to get a pic but unless the jet-skis are around, no trouble.
drybag
I use a drybag for my Pentax 645 while kayaking.
if taking
50 ft. and under shots have found the kodak waterproof cameras work well. Used a diffrent brand with less than stellar results.
Camera on Kayak
Tom,
I’ve had great success using an Olympus C-5050 in the Olympus PT-015 housing for capturing some good shots.
Here’s some examples:
http://www.pdxseakayaker.net/wade_norton.htm
Wade
Olympus C-740 UZ
with the pt-018 underwater case. 10x optical zoom gets you in close. Check the photo section at this site. All the pictures were taken with the 740. http://www.crkc.com/index.htm
Gooid deck bag
I use a “wave-resistant” deck bag, and then store my camera inside the smallest roll-top dry bag I have.
The double-storage has kept my camera dry, even in pretty dicey conditions on Lake Superior last summer.
Basiclly I only get it out when I’m confident it’s not too wavy to use. Then, I usually lay the roll-top dry back on my skirt, leave the deck bag open, snap some pictures, and put the entire thing back. I’m carrying a 1970s era 35mm camera that I love, and with which I would not take any chances.
Redundancy is the hallmark of good security