Shot with GoPro Hero camera mounted on a front deck of JKK Supernova kayak

I am trying to shoot some paddling oriented pictures in my home studio. Here is the recent composition: two Watershed waterproof duffels with a wooden canoe paddle and a hat. I am going to take it set up outdoors and add a river.

Waterproof duffels

I bought these two Watershed Yukon duffles for the 1994 Watertribe Everglades Challenge , and used them also in the 2006 Ultimate Florida Challenge, two Missouri River 340 races and numerous overnight trips. They fit very tightly side by side in a cockpit of my Sea Wind canoe behind a seat and serve three purposes:
1. my main cargo storage with an easy access
2. extra flotation
3. a “bed” to lay down back to rest or take a nap on water or land

After years of use and abuse they are still in a good shape, waterproof and airtight.The only drawback, especially for racing: a long seal is somewhat time consuming to close. Watershed has several models in different sizes.

Hat

This is my cold season head cover. I like it especially for paddling a kayak with a wing paddle which splashes a lot of water onto paddler’s head.

Paddle

I paddle my canoes with Zaveral racing paddles. They are great for paddling, but not so great for photography. The nice wooden Bending Branches Cruiser paddle above travels with me only as a spare in the Sea Wind canoe and appears in action mostly for photography like here on the South Platte. It is much more photogenic than black carbon fiber.

Panasonic is entering a market for compact waterproof cameras represented by popular Pentax Optio W and Olympus Stylus SW series.

Fog on a river may be really photogenic. Well, if it is not too dense. I rarely have occasion to paddle in fog in a dry Colorado and when it happens it is usually too cold to enjoy it. I just returned back to my pictures shot during the 2006 WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge.

April, 2005.
I had been thinking for a longer while about taking a camera for Texas Water Safari, 260 mile non stop race down the San Marcos and Guadelupe Rivers. My first digital camera, Canon PowerShot S40 in its waterproof case was just too heavy to carry it through all portages and logjams of the race. So, I bought Pentax Optio WP, the first waterproof compact digital camera, as soon as it was available.

I am quite happy to paddle and shoot with Pentax Optio “W” cameras as long as producing pictures to be displayed online. They are waterproof, compact, easily accessible in any conditions. The image quality is OK for a blog or website, but usually there is just too much of digital noise for some commercial applications. So, for my stock photography, I am carrying my DSLR camera, Canon EOS 40D. It may be a rather challenging task if I paddle a racing boat like my Thunderbolt-X kayak.

In the search for some alternative solutions I have been watching evolution of Canon PowerShot G series cameras. Canon offers waterproof cases for them.

Pentax has released 5 models in their Optio “W” line of compact waterproof cameras: WP, WPi, W10, W30 and W60. I have been using three of them: the original WP, then W10 and W30. Number of models in Olympus Stylus SW line of waterproof and shockproof cameras is equally impressive: 720, 770, 790, 1030, and 1050 (models available on US market).

Below, I tried to compare selected specifications of the newest models from Pentax and Olympus. Pentax Optio W60 seems to be a progression from earlier W30 while Olympus Stylus SW 1050 is adding some new features (a tap control) but at the same time is packed in less robust case than the 1030SW.

Related posts:
Poll: Your Paddling Camera
Waterproof Digital Cameras for Paddling and Water Sports – A Shopping Guide
10 Reviews of Pentax Optio W60
10 Reviews of Pentax Optio W30
3 Reviews of Olympus Stylus 1050 SW
3 Reviews of Olympus Stylus 1030 SW

A month ago Olympus introduced a new model to the line of their waterproof and shockproof cameras: Stylus 1050 SW. It features a brand new digital camera feature – Tap Control. Tap Control is intended to help photographers wearing gloves access camera controls.

I have found three reviews of the new camera. There are rather moderately enthusiastic, but Olympus Stylus SW has its fans.

Flip Ultra is the model interesting for paddlers because you can get a waterproof case for it just for $30 or so. Waterproof cases for Canon point-and-shoot cameras are almost 10 times more expensive. Of course, you don’t have so many control buttons in Flip camcorders.

Unfortunately, there is no tripod socket on this waterproof (there is one on a camera) case which limits paddling applications of the Flip from my perspective. I like to shoot movies with a camera mounted on a kayak deck or use it as a helmet cam. There are at least three solutions to this problem.

New camera owners are often getting pretty bad, blurry pictures and are really disappointed with a purchase. Shooting on water from a kayak or canoe requires some extra efforts and practice from a paddling photographer.