paddling with a camera

• waterproof, it doesn't need to be suitable for diving though
• small size, so it can be carried for training and racing
• good image and video quality
• simple operations, so it is possible to shoot from a tippy kayak and/or when paddler is tired
• some manual control, a customized setup
• a tripod mount, so it is possible to mount it on a bow or stern (a flexible waterproof housing will usually cover a tripod mount)

Of course, for some paddling trips, I am taking my SLR camera in a pelican case and tripod. Sometimes, I am using my Canon EOS D10 with a programmable self timer in solo paddler, solo photographer sessions.

If you enjoy a more relaxed style of paddling and can resist that temptation to submerge your camera you may be happy with a non-waterproof one. You can get better features for a similar price as Pentax Optio.

My first digital camera was Canon PowerShot S40. I used it with a waterproof case for shooting my first paddling videos. However, that case was quite bulky and not very convenient. So, for most of my paddling pictures, I was just carrying the camera in a waterproof Otter box and taking it out for shooting. In the similar manner, I was using a little Contax camera before switching to digital. So, if you don't need a waterproof camera for your paddling or other outdoor activities you have many other choices. I would recommend a recent survey of 10 new compact cameras from BeHardware as really helpful. It is aimed for a photo amateur:

We are looking for handy cameras that are easy to use and capable of responding to all situations. We aren’t Dpreview and our objective isn’t to compete with them, so our approach is radically different from photo specialised websites. They pay a lot of attention to distortion and the noise/signal ratio on test patterns.

We chose to make more practical tests that are more representative of our every day use. From our point of view these cameras haven’t reached a level of perfection where you would need a test pattern to establish differences between products. You just need compare pictures to see the differences. We can measure distortion and vignettage, but focusing on this would be a mistake because no one (our intended readers, anyway) would be handicapped by these factors on the cameras selected.

1. Canon Ixus 800-IS (PowerShot SD700 in USA)
2. Casio Exilim S600
3. FujiFilm FinePix F11
4. Konica Minolta Dimage X1
5. Nikon Coolpix P4
6. Olympus Mju 720 SW
7. Pentax Optio W10
8. Panasonic DMCFX01
9. Ricoh Caplio R3
10. Sony DSC-T9

Out of the 10 tested, one clearly finishes ahead, the Canon Ixus 800-IS. It doesn’t have major disadvantages, it’s good for macro, video and has a 4x zoom instead of the 3x of most of its competitors.

We are sorry for those who would have liked to have seen a camera other than Canon wining, but the Ixus 800-IS is a real success. It isn’t perfect yet as there could be an intermediate speed between 1/10 and 1/5s to gain even more from stabilization. As explained above, while waiting we advise you to take a big memory card and shoot pictures in burst mode at 200 ISO rather than 400 ISO. This could better results despite the amount of poor pictures.

Two cameras share the second place: the Fujifilm F11, and the Panasonic FX01. The price of both cameras is equivalent and they are much less expensive than the Canon Ixus 800-IS. Olympus and Pentax, "two perfectly waterproof cameras great for the beach and swimming pool" were placed in the third group. They came very close to each other in all tests, except video mode, where the Olympus was worse because of a slower frame rate available (15 fps vs 30 fps in Pentax).

• Shooting movies with Pentax Optio WP and W10 and Sisson Nucleus 100 kayak
• 10 Tips on Shooting Pictures without Viewfinder
• Pentax Optio WP/WPi - 10 Tips on Paddling and Shooting
• Pentax Optio WPi or W10? Which Camera for Paddlers?
• Dangers of Kayak Photography
• Pentax Optio W10
• What to buy together with your new camera? ... 6 Tips from a Paddler Perspective