Waterproof Digital Cameras or Waterproof Case for your camera? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Waterproof Digital Cameras or Waterproof Case for your camera?
Is it worth investing in a Waterproof Digital Camera for Disney? I've realized we'll more than likely be doing a lot of water activities while we're there. Has anyone on here just gone ahead and just used your normal Digital Camera or have you gone through buying a Waterproof one? I've been looking around and some of them don't seem all that expensive. Or are there any good waterproof cases for digital cameras and either Blackberry's or iPhones? I want to make sure if we bring our regular digital camera that it won't get ruined by all the water of the rides same with our phones. We aren't sure which phone we're getting, since our plan is up in June but we're looking into Blackberry Storms or iPhones which will be coming along to Disney with us.
We never had any issues with our cameras getting wet! I'm not sure a waterproof camera is required for just touring the parks. If you were going parasailing or diving, then I'd say yes, but it should be fine otherwise. We have Canons (point and shoot and DSLR) and never had an issue!
We've taken phones and digital cameras onto rides and never had any problems with them getting wet. The only ride we got really soaked on was Kali River Rapids and they have a bin in the center of the raft where you can put your things. We just put the camera in there.
Thank you all for letting me know. I'll look into the camera case. Our camera is light weight and fits on my wrist with no problem, hence the investment since it fits perfectly in even a small diaper bag. I wasn't sure if it was worth getting a waterproof camera for the water rides or not, but also how to protect our camera and phones.
Mine also fits in my pocket, and sometimes I kept it inside a resealable sandwich bag (more to keep it from getting scratched than wet, but works for both).
I love Splash Mountain and always get drenched on the ride. I'm always the one who wants to sit in the front row of that ride too. Kali River Rapids is on our list of rides to go on. Since we're not adding the Water Parks to our tix and there are so many Water Rides in the parks and the pools at the hotels, it will be nice to get some pictures. Even since my mom doesn't go on water rides, we can have her take a pic of us coming down all drenched. I am going to invest in a belt bag and carry around the camera when not in use, our phones, money maps, my glasses case for when I'm on the rides and can't keep my glasses on, etc in there (the smaller items) and leave the back pack for dry clothes, and stuff for our son in the stroller. At least a belt bag will be smaller to bring on the rides. I just don't want our camera and phones getting ruined. Thanks for all the wonderful tips everyone. You're all extremely helpful.
you've got a couple different options, but since it doesn't sound like you want to take photos underwater, your options are cheaper.
first option I would suggest is simply getting a good camera bag. I have a small one for our point and shoot camera by Lowe Pro, it still fits in a pocket or can sling it with the included strap (that is like a shoe lace) and it also includes a rain cover that I can pull over the case should I be concerned about the camera getting wet. Not quite as portable as just sliding the cam in my pocket, but if I'm concerned about wetness, then that would be an option.
Another option is to look into a "dry bag" that you can get at an outdoors store. they are designed for canoeists, backpackers and other outdoor types to allow items to stay 100% dry, even while getting dunked into water. They work really well, and if you want to keep more than just your camera dry (i.e. smart phone as well) then they'd be a smart bet.
If you're only going to use it for this disney trip, then why not look into, as others have said, just using high quality ziploc bags. They're cheap, easy to find, re-usable and will work quite well for what you're looking for.
Oh, and if you're trying to decide, iPhone wins the competition against the Storm, and not just because I'm typing this on my Macbook Pro... check out Cnet's head to head competition that pitted the Storm against the iPhone. Kudos to the Storm for being able to do the Blackberry PINning quite well, but the reviewers pointed out that it was slow to try and scroll through the pages on the phone, and that the iPhone's app store is more well rounded than Blackberry's. Also, IIRC, I believe the review also said that the Storm didn't have WiFi access.....I'd look into that as well, as that is a great feature about the iPhone. If you're looking at iPhone vs. Blackberry, I'd probably look at either the Bold or Curve instead. Not touch screen, but probably better competition than the Storm is.
Sorry to semi thread-jack, but I work in the electronics industry, so enjoy geeking out on it every now and then
you've got a couple different options, but since it doesn't sound like you want to take photos underwater, your options are cheaper.
first option I would suggest is simply getting a good camera bag. I have a small one for our point and shoot camera by Lowe Pro, it still fits in a pocket or can sling it with the included strap (that is like a shoe lace) and it also includes a rain cover that I can pull over the case should I be concerned about the camera getting wet. Not quite as portable as just sliding the cam in my pocket, but if I'm concerned about wetness, then that would be an option.
Another option is to look into a "dry bag" that you can get at an outdoors store. they are designed for canoeists, backpackers and other outdoor types to allow items to stay 100% dry, even while getting dunked into water. They work really well, and if you want to keep more than just your camera dry (i.e. smart phone as well) then they'd be a smart bet.
If you're only going to use it for this disney trip, then why not look into, as others have said, just using high quality ziploc bags. They're cheap, easy to find, re-usable and will work quite well for what you're looking for.
Oh, and if you're trying to decide, iPhone wins the competition against the Storm, and not just because I'm typing this on my Macbook Pro... check out Cnet's head to head competition that pitted the Storm against the iPhone. Kudos to the Storm for being able to do the Blackberry PINning quite well, but the reviewers pointed out that it was slow to try and scroll through the pages on the phone, and that the iPhone's app store is more well rounded than Blackberry's. Also, IIRC, I believe the review also said that the Storm didn't have WiFi access.....I'd look into that as well, as that is a great feature about the iPhone. If you're looking at iPhone vs. Blackberry, I'd probably look at either the Bold or Curve instead. Not touch screen, but probably better competition than the Storm is.
Sorry to semi thread-jack, but I work in the electronics industry, so enjoy geeking out on it every now and then
Tim
I appreciate your reply. I'm looking more into long run with our camera for keeping it dry with wet attractions. We have other theme parks near us (I prefer Disney; I'm a spoiled FL born and raised girl-grew up at Disney) that we've tried out or will be trying out, so for the investment of keeping our camera from getting ruined by water attractions in general is a huge concern. We're also at some point going to try the DCL or another Cruise in a few years for another Wedding Anniversary and will bring the camera with and probably do water attractions there as well. Since we have a young one, we'll probably go in the route of bringing Ziploc Bags with us anyway for the lil guy's soiled clothes, our sweaty clothes, snacks etc. Maybe for a less expensive option that's what we can go with for this trip. At least it's an everyday household item that serves multi-purposes.
I appreciate your reply on the comparisons between the iPhone and Blackberry Storm. Everyone's pursuading us to go with iPhone. We have the Razor phones right now but want something with more options in a few months. It will defanitely help keep me up to schedule and mine will mostly be for business purposes with going into the Bridal Industry. I keep track of all our appointments for the family so it will be nice to not have to lug around a daytimer anymore, and my old outdated Palm Pilot doesn't work with Windows Vista. Plus if we don't bring a computer with us to Disney anyways, at least we can stay in check with our bank account and send out e-mails or pictures that are on our phones from Disney to loved ones when the areas where you can send e-mails from in the park are busy with other guests.
I own a waterproof camera and the pics are awesome. Especially when you are in a pool and taking pics underwater. Its made by Olympus. Its great, you can take it on rides because its waterproof and shockproof. When you go on a waterslide and/or lazy river you can take videos. I have really bad luck when it comes to cameras (I've lost two in the past). So this time I bought one on Ebay refurbished for $150. They usually cost $300-$400.
I saw the Olympus Waterproof Camera and that was the one I was thinking of buying. Now that our son is getting older and we head to the pool every summer when the pools are open, it would be nice to have either a camera or a waterproof case to get pictures of him learning how to swim, or or if we do plan a day at Sea World on our Orlando Vacation and happen to be in the "Splash Zone" for the Dolphin or Shamu show not have to worry about the camera as we're getting pix of them flipping in the air. We have a waterproof stroller cover for our son which is the best thing ever if we're sitting in the stroller section with him, but cameras I'm such a camera happy person it would be nice to not have a camera get ruined from water seeping it's way into it. I've had a camera get ruined in Israel in the sand dunes and that wasn't pleasant either. If we don't go with the waterproof camera right away, I will look into the waterproof bag s we can still take pictures even if it's in a bag. I'm just happy I now have a small enough digital camera to fit into my pocket, not my monstrosity of a camera (my old Sony one). That one was just as bad as carrying around my good Cannon Rebel DOS which weighs a ton. If I only have to carry around a camera that can easily fit in my pocket that requires AA Batteries and tiny memory cards, not film or rechargable batteries, much more easy. I love how technology has changed and you can store 400-800 pictures on a memory card, not 24-27 eposures on film and print out what pictures you want, and delete the ones that don't come out, and also share them with friends and family right away instead of waiting for them to come back from being developed.
Just out of curiosity, since there was mention of iPhones running off WiFi, I know Disney charges you to use the internet in your room for computers, they don't do that for cell phones running on WiFi do they? If not, that would be another great reason to go with the iPhone. Almost everyone in my family has either a Blackberry, Palm Treo, or Smart Phone of some sort. We've been waiting to get a good deal on them and wait until our plan was up. I've always had the most basic cell phone and my Razor is the first Camera Phone I've ever had.
if you are looking on going with the Olympus camera, be aware that it isn't just a waterproof camera, but a "ruggedized" camera. The Olympus rep was into our store for the demo and dropped it from shoulder height, stepped on the camera and then powered the camera on and took a photo. It is supposed to be really good for standing up to the beatings that can be given to a typical digi-cam, and also take photos up to 10 ft. under water. I don't know how it can do that, but it's just crazy that we have that sort of waterproofing tech on hand.
Regarding 'net access at the World, the room access is (right now) ethernet cable only (which you have to pay $9.99 per 24 hour block) rather than true WiFi. There are a few free spots you can grab a WiFi signal for free, apparently the McDonald's by the All Stars is one of them, so you'd be able to use the iPhone for your 'net signal there, amongst other spots.
If you're looking to use your iPhone for a calendaring tool, they have the ability to run more than one calendar on the phone (i.e a "home" and a "work" calendar) so you can quickly flip between the two. Also there is an online presence you can subscribe to called "Mobile Me" that gives you online storage space to share photos, video etc (of your Disney trip perhaps) as well as the ability to real-time sync e-mails, your calendar and address book with what's on your iPhone and computer.
I look after business-customer sales for a major multi-national tech company, and have my Apple Sales Expert training, so if you have any questions about any of the Apple tech, feel free to ask.
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I'm not sure a waterproof camera is required for just touring the parks. If you were going parasailing or diving, then I'd say yes, but it should be fine otherwise. We have Canons (point and shoot and DSLR) and never had an issue!
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