Summer is upon us again (at least for those in the Northern Hemisphere), and many people will be taking advantage of the nice weather by heading to the beach or mountains. While a 'regular' camera can take most of the photos on your trip, it won't survive a dip in the ocean or a tumble out of your backpack.
That's why rugged compact digital cameras continue to be one of the very few areas of the market that's still going strong. There aren't quite as many new models available in 2014 compared to 2013, but every major manufacturer has something to offer.
In this year's waterproof/rugged camera roundup we have four cameras: the Canon PowerShot D30, Nikon Coolpix AW120, Olympus Tough TG-3, and Ricoh WG-4 GPS. The table below gives you a quick overview of the differences between these four:
Canon PowerShot D30 | Nikon Coolpix AW120 | Olympus TG-3 | Ricoh WG-4 GPS * | |
---|---|---|---|---|
MSRP | $330/£300/€330 | $350/£270/€350 | $350/£350/€400 |
$380/£330/€330 |
Resolution | 12.1MP | 16.0MP | 16.0MP | 16.0MP |
Max aperture | F3.9-4.8 | F2.8-4.9 | F2.0-4.9 | F2.0-4.9 |
Focal range (equiv.) | 28-140mm | 24-120mm | 25-100mm | 25-100mm |
Display | 3" LCD | 3" OLED | 3" LCD | 3" LCD |
Display res. | 461k dot | 921k dot | 460k dot | 460k dot |
Max depth | 25m | 18m | 15m | 14m |
Shockproof | 2m | 2m | 2.1m | 2m |
Crushproof | No | No | 100kgf | 100kgf |
Min temp | -10C | |||
Manual exp. | No | No | Aperture | Shutter |
GPS | Yes | |||
Maps/POI | No/No | Yes/Yes | No/Yes | No/No |
e-Compass | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Pressure | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Wi-Fi | No | Yes | Yes | No |
Video | 1080/24p | 1080/60i/30p | 1080/30p | 1080/30p |
Battery life | 300 shots | 350 shots | 380 shots | 240 shots |
Dimensions (mm) | 109 x 68 x 28 | 110 x 66 x 26 | 112 x 66 x 31 | 125 x 65 x 32 |
Weight (loaded) | 218g | 213g | 247g | 236g |
* A non-GPS model is available for $50 less
On the following pages we'll take a look at each of the cameras in detail, and then wrap things up and tell you which is best!
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