So, long story short...I'm pretty rough on my electronics. They take a lot of abuse and I use them a LOT. My new blackberry is already looking pretty beat up but it's always in my pocket pretty much wherever I go. The camera I purchased three years ago is no exception to this rule. It goes everywhere with me. It's been dropped, tossed, sat on (I keep it in my back pobket), abused, etc, etc. It takes a beating and keeps on going. Well, this past weekend proved to be its final one. I went ATVing, had the camera in one front pocket and the blackberry in another. We were in a swamp and I had to get off the wheeler to "wade" it across a fairly deep ditch. I was thinking "ok, this can't be much above my knees. WRONG, I got off and started to float the wheeler across (yes, they do float when you're careful) and all of a sudden I find the water up to my chest. I got the wheeler pulled up to shore and got back on, started to drive off then thought "wait a minute, my camera was in my pocket and I was just in some really deep water, CRAP!".

Pretty much...it's dead. The good news is it lasted me three years and it was on it's last leg anyways. I had missing screws and whatnot, it was literally falling apart at the seams but I didn't want to get a new one until it died completely.

After much debate I ended up ordering a Casio Exilim EX-Z80. It's a mid-grade ultra compact camera. I paid $160 for it and another $20 or so for a 4GB SD card. Hopefully it will prove to be as durable and reliable as the Z1 was.



Here's what she looks like. I hope I made the right decision. I was also looking at the EX-S10 because it's even thinner but the extra $50 was just a tad bit too much to justify when the reviews for image quality seemed to suggest that it was worse than the EX-Z80. I also looked at a Canon Powershot SD750 but I'm not too fond of the design and it's a bit thicker than I'd like, though it does have a bit better image quality from the reviews I've seen. I must say, the size, style, and video features were among the tipping points for me on the EX-Z80.



R.I.P. Fugifilm Finepix Z1. You had a good run.

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You need one of these. I have one and it is great.

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1314

Actually they have a newer model. I swear there is a new one every time I look. This one is good for 33 feet underwater, a 6 1/2 foot drop, and is crush proof(new).

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1363

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i have the version that came out before this and it works great mine was 300.00 in 2006

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Decent looking cam.

My Kodak Z650 crapped out on me. I guess having it around my neck on the motorcycle and snowmobile all the time really isn't good for it after all.

I need to buy a new one. At the moment I use my girlfriends cheaper Kodak to take regular pics. It can't take as good as pictures as my Z series did.. I will be buying a Z series again or something else

I want a canon 300d digital slr.

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looks like a good camera! I have the Olympus Fe-280, i love the thing to death!

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