MetaChat - Ask Mecha: Compact digital cameras

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24 April 2006

Ask Mecha: Compact digital cameras I half-want to get a new digital camera, but I'm paralyzed by indecision, and largely because I've been having trouble finding good information about durability/build quality/indestructibleness.→[More:]

Which pocketable digital cameras are especially durable? I'd like to carry this thing in a messenger bag, or a backpack, or a pants pocket, every day for the next several years. And sure, I'm pretty careful, but I'm bound to bang the thing into something, and drop it, and &c., at some point.

Information about durability/build quality/ seems to be mostly absent from reviews written by either consumers or professional reviewers. What's up with that?

Does anyone have a Canon Digital Elph (Ixus in Europe, if I recall correctly)? What about the Panasonic LX series cameras? The water-resistant Pentax and Olympus ones? These are some of the ones I'm tempted by. Panasonic used to have a decent reputation for durability, but does anyone, these days? You see a lot of old Elphs, but does that mean they're durable, or does it just mean that Canon sold a whole, whole lot of 'em?

Am I kinda rambly?

post by: box at: 15:21 | 7 comments

This may be helpful.

posted by amro 24 April | 15:32

Olympus cameras have traditionally had pretty good build quality. My crazy sister in law has all but put hers through the shredder and it still works. Unlike her Dell laptop, which I an convinced committed suicide.

posted by selfnoise 24 April | 15:53

I've got a Canon SD400 Digital Elph, and it's been just fine after short drops (hand-at-side height) to hard ground (hardwood floors, sidewalks, etc.). It's generally more about how it lands than anything.

My old Canon G2 took plenty of lickings and kept on clicking until I managed to drop it on the corner by the shutter button. That did it in to the tune of $200.

posted by me3dia 24 April | 16:06

It seems like many people have had excellent experiences with Olympus w/r/t durability, and quite a few people have had really bad ones. That seems more indicative of a very popular device (the iPod and the PlayStation2 have similar things going on) than anything else.

Are the Olympus cameras nice otherwise (manual options, photo quality, easy upload, that kind of thing)?

The Digital Elph cases are mostly metal, right?

posted by box 24 April | 16:16

I have the 1st generation Pentax Optio S. I've kept it in either the side pocket of my leather jacket or in a thigh pocket of cargo pants/shorts. No casing, no padding - I've basically beat the shit out of it. It's spent a night in a puddle of vodka, it's been dropped on linoleum serveral times. It's been tossed, bobbled, and dropped on industrial carpetting a couple of times.

The only thing that's gone wrong is the battery cover doesn't stay closed anymore (cheap, small plastic part went bloop) - I've got a couple of rubber bands around it.

The next iteration of the Optio S had a far more robust battery cover, continuous video, and a much lower shutter-lag.

ymmv, of course

posted by porpoise 24 April | 16:21

The Canon cameras are awesome construction with metal bodies. However, every digital camera has an LCD, which most of the time is fixed in place and can't be protected without a decent case. If you drop or manhandle pretty much any camera, the first thing to go will be the LCD. I'd say a Canon SD450 or SD550 with a leather case would be about as rugged as it gets.

posted by knave 24 April | 18:55

May 20, 2006: The SD700 IS Digital Elph goes on sale.

posted by mlis 24 April | 23:37

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