Best S&W Camera

Might as well do my market research here. Tried a few searches, but models get outdated so maybe new information is needed anyway. In search of a new shock & waterproof camera to replace my Olympus Stylus 850sw, post up what your favorite is, why, along with any pros as well as cons. Thanks! Rob

I have the Nikon AW 100 and like it although low light video performance is terrible. The Olympus cameras under $200 are not good.

I've been looking at the TG-1 has an F2 lens so low light should be pretty good, here's some review from Backpacker Mag

http://www.backpacker.com/febraury-march-2013-field-test-tough-waterproof-cameras/gear/17283

I've been looking at the TG-1 has an F2 lens so low light should be pretty good, here's some review from Backpacker Mag

http://www.backpacker.com/febraury-march-2013-field-test-tough-waterproof-cameras/gear/17283

+1 I bought one of those and so far pretty happy im waiting to take it ab diving to see if its as durable as they say

GoPro Hero 2.

I love my Pentax Optio W90. Had it for a few years now--as my fishing camera and our family camera. It replaced my old Olympus Stylus 1050 and the Pentax picture quality is waay better.

I've not had a complaint about any of the Pentax's that I have had.  I got this one for Sara, and it's really nice:  http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-Adventure-Waterproof-Digital-Wide-Angle/dp/B004MKNJEI

I had a Olympus 1030 SW, which cost about 300$ and was always disapointed with the pictures.  I had wanted to try the Nikon Coolpix because of it's low-light picture taking abilities. 

One cool feature about the Nikon is the internal memory, I don't know exactly how much there is, but a couple of times
I was able to copy images to my sd card from internal memory after getting home with fish pics and realizing my card
was in my card reader and not in the camera.

A pretty good camera for a point and shoot.

I've not had a complaint about any of the Pentax's that I have had.  I got this one for Sara, and it's really nice:  http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-Adventure-Waterproof-Digital-Wide-Angle/dp/B004MKNJEI

I had a Olympus 1030 SW, which cost about 300$ and was always disapointed with the pictures.  I had wanted to try the Nikon Coolpix because of it's low-light picture taking abilities. 

+1,000... the pentax is a great camera, and awesome for that price.  I think they discontinued the WG-1 so that is a steal.  It is shock and waterproof.  The later I can attest to... just took mine to Hawaii to film snorkel excursions and it worked like a champ.  It takes great pictures, decent video... and has some cool features including a really cool panoramic mode.  I am a dedicated Pentaxian, so perhaps my enthusiasm should be taken with a grain of salt, but their products cannot be beat in terms of bang for your buck!

I've not had a complaint about any of the Pentax's that I have had.  I got this one for Sara, and it's really nice:  http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-Adventure-Waterproof-Digital-Wide-Angle/dp/B004MKNJEI

I had a Olympus 1030 SW, which cost about 300$ and was always disapointed with the pictures.  I had wanted to try the Nikon Coolpix because of it's low-light picture taking abilities. 

+1,000... the pentax is a great camera, and awesome for that price.  I think they discontinued the WG-1 so that is a steal.  It is shock and waterproof.  The later I can attest to... just took mine to Hawaii to film snorkel excursions and it worked like a champ.  It takes great pictures, decent video... and has some cool features including a really cool panoramic mode.  I am a dedicated Pentaxian, so perhaps my enthusiasm should be taken with a grain of salt, but their products cannot be beat in terms of bang for your buck!

Sounds like Scott is saying the Nikon cool pix low-light capabilities are pretty weak.

Al or SingleVictory, how is the speed of the Pentax WG-1 when it comes to pressing the button and taking the pic (shutter lag)? Reviews of the next gen WG-2 seem like the time it takes is slow, I had an old Sony that usd to drive me nuts waiting that extra sec to take the pic. I am thinking of an AOTY fish jumping off the board of course!

I have not experience any amount of shutter lag that I would consider significant for a p&s digital.  I have taken plenty of fish pics and shutter speed and timing is just fine.  As far as video goes, frankly I don't know how to classify it's abilities other than to say they seem adequate.  I have always been of the opinion that cameras are for taking pictures... video cameras take video.  The ergonomics of a camera seem all wrong for taking video to me.  I have a few fish pics on here taken with my camera... i will try to link one.

With my Optio W90, the shutter speed is decent...you can adjust manually or switch to a mode like Pets that has a faster shutter speed. I always switch to Pets mode before taking hog trough shots LOL and I think the shutter speed is like .5 seconds. So shutter speed is fine. But the one thing that bugs me is the time between shots...after I shoot a picture, it takes like 3 seconds to save the shot (if I recall, the Panasonic only takes 1 second to save). I'm not sure if the newer WG models are faster but I'd assume so.

Here is a link to the last picture I posted... I think the camera did a nice job of handling some harsh lighting in this case. 

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3485.0;attach=200293;image

With my Optio W90, the shutter speed is decent...you can adjust manually or switch to a mode like Pets that has a faster shutter speed. I always switch to Pets mode before taking hog trough shots LOL and I think the shutter speed is like .5 seconds. So shutter speed is fine. But the one thing that bugs me is the time between shots...after I shoot a picture, it takes like 3 seconds to save the shot (if I recall, the Panasonic only takes 1 second to save). I'm not sure if the newer WG models are faster but I'd assume so.

Mine is for sure faster than that... is there any chance that it could be your memory card?  Write speeds have caught up to the cameras these days along with internal buffers and what not.  I don't know if a slow card/old card would make any difference but you may try to swap one out.

We have the first Optio waterproof camera and still have it. It works great...but...we also have the Hero 2.
I can do WAY more with the 2 and it takes great pics.
The only difference is i can't view the pics on the 2 the same as I can on the Optio.Having used both quite extensively, I choose the hero 2.