is there a rugged digital camera?

Question

I think I killed my little sony- the pictures will not transfer properly from the camera to pc anymore. I plan to buy another camera but I want one that is rugged and can handle bumps and bruises.

Answer 1

Some professional digital slr's have environmental seals. But they are ridiculously expensive, and I don't think you'd be asking about those on this site if you were in the market for them...you'd already know.

The most rugged digital compact camera out there is the Ricoh Caplio 400G. There is a new version coming out called the Ricoh Caplio 500G. It's target market are construction crews, builders, realtors, etc. They even have a "firefighter" setting. The image quality is quirky sometimes. People have noticed in some lighting conditions that there is some horizontal banding (see pic below). But it is no joke very durable, designed to MILSpec 810F shock resistance, waterproof protection of JIS protection grade 7 (underwater to 1m, unprotected), and dust proof to JIS protection grade 6. Hands down, if you're going to treat a camera rough, this will have the best chance to survive.

The Pentax Optio W series of cameras are also a little waterproofed--to JIS Class 8 waterproof standard. But it is not as rugged by a long shot. My friend mananged to ruin his in a pool. Takes better pictures than the Ricoh though.

Many cameras can be placed in waterproof cases, designed for each model, but they are an expensive and bulky option.

The Ricoh is definitely a compromise, if you're into photographic control and image quality. But if you're in the middle of a class 5 whitewater rapids, there's not exactly alot of time to be fiddling with f-stops and ISOs...there is no better option, imo, and personally, I'd never want to put any other camera in such jeopardy.

Answer 2

The hunting/camping/fishing stores have some toughened cameras. Look at example:

http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0033080712328a&type=product&cmCat=searchFeat&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=camera&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=camera&noImage=0

But these still cannot take a severe beating. Whatever camera you get, you may have to take more precaution to protect it.

(Of course, there is always the Fisher-Price Digital Kidz Camera that can survive being thrown down the stairs by a 3 year old! But the 0.3 MP images probably aren't what you had in mind!!)

Good Luck