Torn Between A Rugged And A Good Image Quality Compact Camera

Some of the best point-and-shoot compacts in terms of image quality are not made to be a rugged camera. Which is a pity because the beauty of the underwater world deserves to be photographed using a good camera.

The problem is, many of the rugged cameras out there are not nearly as good as some of the best non-rugged compacts. Not sure why but I guess camera makers are doing this to keep the production cost down and allow the camera to be sold at affordable prices.

Thankfully, there are underwater camera cases and houses which allow us to take our precious compacts underwater. Some of these cases are cheap and can be had without hurting your pocket, like the Vivitar waterproof case that fits most digital cameras, iPods, and Blackberries.

The point is, if you already have a compacts with good image quality, there is little need to buy another compact just so you can shoot underwater. Buy one of these cases, put the camera inside and in no time, you’ll be up and about shooting under.

One of these days — we hope it won’t be too long in the future — someone ought to make a rugged compact camera with a 1.7-inch sensor. Anyone listening? Canon, Panasonic, Olympus, Pentax… anyone?