Ok, I’m busy hatching an ingenious disingenuous plot here, but first some background. I was just recently blabbing about the Canon G series cameras, namely my old Canon G9 and the newer Canon G11. Good, durable cameras at a pretty decent price for what you are getting. They only have one big problem, they can’t get wet. Actually I’ve proven personally that they can get wet and live another day, they just can’t get dunked which for any fisherman is a constant threat. One solution is to buy an underwater housing, the cheapest you can pull that off for is about $185 shipped. So, between the Canon G11 and a housing you’re ahem, getting soaked for close to $800. Ouch!
Pentax Optio W80, waterproof, HD video
As fate would have it I just got the heads up on a Valentines day camera sale and one of the cameras I’ve had my eye on for awhile, Pentax’s Optio W80 is on the block. I know a few guys around that have them and swear by them. One of the more notorious Optio users would be none other than the grand poobah of the Trout Underground, Tom Chandler. One only has to prowl around the Underground to see that TC does an excellent job with his. One must also consider Tom’s #1 rule of “The Five Zen Photography Tips You Might Not Have Heard Before”.
So what’s so hot about the Pentax Optio W80? If you bothered to read Tom’s Zen article you would have noticed the big one right away- it’s waterproof. To 16 feet that is. If you get in that deep, a fishing picture is probably not the issue at hand and getting a breath of air probably is.
Floating camera straps
You can buy little floatational devices to keep them afloat like this cute little wrist strap, but it’s still better than helplessly watching it sink into the abyss. If you are not a great swimmer you might consider some giant ones for yourself.
What else? It’s shockproof, purportedly it can survive a 3+ foot drop. So unless you’re a midget you are already living on the edge on that one. But hey, in general we tend to treat anything we pay more than the price of a 6-pack of decent beer with at least a little respect right? It has a 12 MP chip, that’s plenty for what most of us are doing, even a photo editor will be happy with that. It does video, as in HD 1280×720 pixels at full-speed 30 frames per second. That will stop some pretty serious fishing action including monstro breaching in mid stream just as the end of your tippet snaps. And then the ensuing stream of expletives and gesticulations that follow, all in HD!
And this is cool also, macro to 1 cm. That’s close. That almost makes your bugs look like something out of Aliens. The only hitch is getting them to either stay put or keep them from climbing up on the lens.
Now, let’s fast forward through the rest of the Optio’s goodies. Shake reduction, face detection, 28×140mm (5x) lens, 2.5 LCD viewing screen and it’s coldproof. Pretty standard issue stuff there. Coldproof is interesting, an ambiguous rating to 14°f. I’m guessing that’s like the sleeping bag ratings. You know the story, it said -10° on the bag’s spec card yet you nearly die of hypothermia when the temperature hits 10°. Temperature is such a personal thing. At any rate, Pentax is solid performer, they’ve been around for awhile and rank right in this market with Canon, Nikon and Olympus.
Anyway, back to the plot. Whatever happened to that old camera? The one that got left in the cooler sandwich box with the half eaten sandwich for a week last summer and the wife wouldn’t touch again? Isn’t it time for that thing to suddenly appear just begging for a replacement, I mean who’d want that thing to take a picture of that nice Valentine bouquet at dinner? Definitely not me!
The hot deal, till February 15th, Abe’s of Maine is selling the Pentax Optio W80 for $200 US after a $50 instant rebate, the only kind of rebate and ground shipping is free. Regular price is $300.
