Thread: Robust cameras

Originally Posted by wayne

Hi Guys,
Just wondering if any one owns an Olympus Tough or any camera thats is similar. My wife has dropped and broken all of our cameras and it is by her suggestion we look for something a little more robust.
I was hoping for opinions from you as all my internet searching has left me a little confused. It looks as though the Olympus 8010 or the Panasonic Lumix FT3 might be the pick of the bunch. I am not interested in under water photography splash proof would be good enough.

Cheers Wayne

I would be more inclined to buy a camera you really want.. and ask your wife to either not use it or insist that if she picks it up she needs to put the strap around her neck (or with a smaller camera) on her wrist.. that way she can't drop it...

I have a couple of Lumix cameras and very happy with them, but never dropped.

Why don't you mount your wifes camera in a pelican case & cut openings for the lens etc

Both the Panasonic and Olympus are reasonably rugged but both are very slow between shots. Nothing likes being dropped or submerged too often even when "ruggedised".

I'd also look at one you can get a silicon outer skin for. I know the early Panasonic water resistant ones came with this.

I have an older Olympus Mju-Tough (can't remember the model off hand) and it has been great! I carry it with me always and between working in the emergency services, working on the family farm, playing with Landies, mountain biking, caving, hiking, climbing, snorkeling and wild nights on the **** - I certainly have tested it's ruggedised and water resistant properties regularly and violently.

Despite years of abuse, I only recently managed to crack the screen after accidentally dropping it down an 8m multi-pitch drop inside a cave... When I finally found it 15 minutes later (it had bounced down under a rockfall and was lying in a pool of water) it turned on first go and still works fine. Even the screen is fine - only the outer plastic cracked. It's probably not as water resistant now...

Oh - the week I bought it I took it diving to 10m with no issues. It's rated to 3m...

It does have a few bad points - the image quality is not mind blowing but certainly still more than adequate for the average joe. It's really only low light that lets it down. It also has a tendency to "over-flash". I am forever turning the flash off before I shoot because it would pretty much decide to flash if you took a photo of the midday sun.

Other than that, I have just bought myself a GoPro.

GoPro Products - Record & Share Your Most Memorable Moments

Hi Guys,
Thanks for the responses my wife had a bit of chuckle at some of the suggestions. I think the olympus tough might be the go for my camera murdering wife. She really has had a bad run over the last 2 years.
Regards, Wayne

Hey Shonky that Go Pro looks pretty cool

My mate has one too and the double case and patch lead... we can record in Full HD - 3D!

Looks impressive, even the cheapest model ($149) looks useful.
Would be a nice (clean & clear) continuous running video camera for cars etc...

- Might even be 'Wife-Proof'

- Gotta have some pics from it soon please !