: Hello folks,

: Wow! The sun has come out for a day, here in Maine. Sorry, had to say that.

: I'm in the market for a waterproof digital camera. I've tried searching the
: archives because I know we've talked about this many times. but I'm not
: having luck finding the right threads.

: I'm considering some of the new cameras and I know people don't have much
: experience with ones released this year.

: I'd like to hear about the brands you have and what you liked or did not like
: about them so I can project those characteristics onto the next generation.

: How do you keep water and salt off the lens?

: Personal tricks and tips for use?

: Any Mac compatibility problems?

: All the best,

: Rob

Picked up an Olympus 790 for a very reasonable price as they were being cleared out for the newer generation(s). I'm actually quite impressed w/ it's performance, more so than I figured I would be. It's just a simple point-n-shoot w/ video capability. It doesn't give you much to play with, but it provides sharp/vivid pics w/ good contrast & great color rendition.

Other P-n-S's I've used have failed to offer such 'lively' pics. I use a Nikon D-70 SLR w/ Nikkor lenses on land. The 790's pics are not quite at that level, but then the camera was less than half the price of any of my SLR lenses. The camera has survived many rolls and I've taken some underwater shots. It is thus far watertite.

Check out the reviews. From what I've come across, it seems folks were generally happier w/ the earlier generations of this camera model.

Happy hunting,
Todd

ps: The camera output are jpegs, and most any computer will easily deal w/ them. But yes, a Mac will simply do it better! Do note that Olympus uses a 'D' memory card, which is not the most common size. Might need to p/u a card reader (they're cheap) if your printer's card readers does not accommodate this size.