A tough act to follow

Special Feature: ADVENTURE

Waterproof, dustproof, freezeproof or shockproof - whatever the need, there's a growing number of cameras that can handle the rough stuff.

This year's PMA Show in Anaheim underlined the interest being shown in the 'rugged' camera category by nearly all the major manufacturers.

PMA provided a perfect platform for suppliers to demonstrate new features with cameras drowned in aquariums, dangled from climbing walls and 'frozen' in ice.

As the popularity of outdoor sports and recreation increases - think mountain biking, snowboarding, surfing, diving, kayaking and boating - the demand for better photographs has created a steady influx of new models from basic point-and-shoots to some serious top-end kit.

This year saw a host of 'rugged' cameras featured on the PMA show floor, among them:

- Casio Exilim EX-G1

- Fujifilm FinePix XP10

- Kodak Playsport

- Olympus Stylus Tough-8010

- Olympus Stylus Tough- 6020

- Olympus Stylus Tough-3000

- Panasonic Lumix TS2

- Pentax Optio W90

- Samsung AQ100

- Sony Cybershot TX5

While Panasonic, Canon and FUJIFILM are relative newcomers to the rugged camera market, makers such as Olympus, Ricoh and Pentax have claims to being the category pioneers.

The 2010 PMA show saw three big name makers - Samsung, Casio and Sony - introduce rugged point-and-shoots. HD video also appeared on many waterproof digital cameras for the first time. Olympus, Samsung, Sony, FUJIFILM, Panasonic and Pentax now all offer waterproof cameras with HD video.

Olympus recently released its Mju Tough 3000 compact, claimed to be waterproof to a depth of three metres; shockproof against falls from as high as 1.5 metres and -snowproof- at temperatures as low as -10C.

The Mju Tough 3000, the twelth Tough camera to be launched in Australia, features a single door for USB, battery and card slots and HD movie recording.

Sony?s new CMOS-sensor, touchscreen display Cybershot TX5 is claimed to be 'the world's thinnest and smallest certified waterproof' point-and-shoot camera.

The TX5 is also claimed to be the only waterproof point-and-shoot with a touchscreen display or a CMOS sensor, which Sony says delivers better low light image quality.

Available from April, Panasonic?s Lumix DMC-FT2 is the second generation Lumix rugged digital camera featuring AVCHD Lite High Definition (HD) video recording capabilities. Waterproof to a depth of 10 metres, shockproof from a height of two metres, dustproof, and also freeze-proof to -10°C, the DMC-FT2 offers 'enhanced ruggedness for the active photographer who ventures to extremes'.

The DMC-FT'2s removable protective silicon jacket is an extra measure to shield against liquid, sand or dust, heavy knocks and external scratches. Inside the camera, rubber padding, reinforced glass and carbon resins ensure the body is airtight and protected from water immersion, dust and sand. The DMC-FT2's lens design uses folded optics to prevent the lens unit sustaining damage if it is dropped during operation.

Launched at PMA last year, FUJIFILM's FinePix Z33WP features 10 megapixels, 3 x optical zoom and waterproofing up to 10 metres.

This year, FUJIFILM released its second waterproof camera, the FinePix XP10. which is seen as more of a serious outdoor camera. The XP10 features a stainless steel body that looks and feels the part.

Pentax released the Optio WS90 at PMA, the successor to the WS80, which features 10 megapixels, 5X internal optical zoom and waterproofing up to just under two metres.