USVI-On-Line

There is a review of the 790SW in USA Today in the money section today. It performed well for Edward C. Baig. He liked its toughness and waterproof performance. He also said he put it into an ice bucket for a minute with no ill effect. That can be important when we drop the camera into a painkiller.

His complaint was that there is no optical viewfinder. You have to frame the shot with the LCD screen which can be hard ro see in bright sunlight. Bright sunlight is what we are all hoping for when we get to STJ. He also complained about their proprietary memory card and and the lag time between pushing the shutter and capturing the picture. The battery is supposed to last for up to 200 photos. He said that his lasted half that long and takes 5 hours to charge.

JIM

I have the 790SW and used it in STJ this past November for the first time. These are my thoughts:

I took it everywhere (including snorkeling) with no problems at all!

I had no issues with the fact that it didn't have a view finders. I was able to see the screen at all times with the anti-glare they have on it. I also have a Sony that does not have a view finder and cannot see the screen in sunlight. This is one of the reasons I purchased the Olympus.

The memory card thing does stink. I have several memory cards for other brands of camera's but still had to purchase another just for this camera.

As for the shutter speed, I really didn't have an issue with that. Maybe I am just slow:shock:

Last but not least the battery. I didn't have any issues with this but I bought an extra battery. I kept one in the camera and one on the charger. I switched them out every day so I was sure to never run out of power!

I really like my 790SW and would have no problems recommending it to anyone. I actually bought my 17 yr. old one for Christmas. She destroys every camera she gets because she carries it in her purse. Needless to say it gets dropped, kicked, and who the heck knows what else. The Olympus is vertially destroy proof. Perfect for a teen on the go with a camera feddish

XOXO
Bug

Thanks for the heads up on that review. BJ's Wholesale sells this camera at $289, which is slightly less than I've seen elsewhere. I've been trying to find some underwater photos from the this camera to compare with others that I'm reading about.

I have some Marcia. I don't have them loaded up but I can if you want to see some!

I am very happy with the camera.

XOXO
Bug

Is there a huge difference in the 790SW & the 770SW? Any overriding reason to buy one above the other? Just beginning to look at these & would love any opinions between these....thanks! (or is something else available like these that is better?)

Thanks so much Bug. That would be great if you have the time. I've spent the better part of the last two days reading reviews on underwater cameras. We don't dive but snorkle quite a bit and I am debating the "waterproof" vs. "specifically for underwater" options. It's really the underwater quality of photo I am concerned with because I have a good camera for land and I will bring that to the beach with me anyway. I don't want to go the underwater casing route because of the cost and my fears that I'll ruin it.

Did you use a photo program to counter the blue effect? Did the camera come with that?

These were taken with a 720 you will still need to clean them up with some type of photo software

I bought my 190SW on our last trip to STT/STJ and was very satisfied with it. I did not notice any shutter lag as described in the review mentioned above. It actually has a faster shutter speed than my previous 5mp Kodak I replaced. Underwater, I did notice it was tough to see the screen with the sun at precisely the wrong angle. It did create a glare on the LCD screen. Although I did not perceive this as a problem as all you need to do is move the camera slightly or move yourself slightly. That only happened a couple times.

Yes, you do need to still do some basic editing on the photos to remove some of the green hues that underwater shots produce. The Olympus software is really simple to use and adjust the color level and it just takes a couple seconds to do each photo.

I have to disagree on the battery issue. I took well over 100 shots in my first use after a full charge and it still lasted through my second day of usage for probably close to another 100 shots. Granted, most of these shots were flash free.

A couple nice features about the 790 that I noticed are:

1. The underwater macro mode. It takes amazing underwater close up photos. Like 1'-5' range. Beyond that it takes good underwater shots, but not amazing. It is a drastic improvement over throw away underwaters though.
2. The coated lense that sheds almost 100% of the water when you take it above the waters surface. Warm fresh water and soapy hands take care of any spots left behind. And no need to dry the lense so no worries about scratching it.
3. The candlelight mode which is awesome for taking pictures of Christmas lights. Virtually no blur at all like some other cameras that you have to use the night mode for these type of shots.

One tip is to buy the floating wrist band. The camera will indeed sink if you accidently let go of it underwater. The strap is cheap insurance against this happening and destroying your camera.

Overall I would buy this camera again in a heartbeat. I liked it so much it is now my only camera as I have sold my other "land" koday camera on ebay

DELETED

You may appreciate this post also...
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... ght=camera

I bought my 790 for $249 on line in November. I know you can do much better than $298 - keep looking! BTW, I used it for the first time on New Years Eve in Key West. Worked great!

we have the 770, we bought it while on ST John...we had decided not to get one but changed our mind once we got there. Made a special trip over to CA to get one prolly over paid but I would do it again just to have it there while we snorkeled. The shutter lag drives me batty at times but over all worth it.

So far, it looks pretty good. I was concerned about the non-standard memory card, but then I noticed how cheap memory cards have gotten since I bought my last one about four years ago. Initial charging of the battery took less than three hours, I haven't used it enough to say how long a charge will last. "Shutter lag" can be a problem, but it seems to be due (as with most cameras) to auto-focus. If you're shooting a stationary subject, you can push the button down halfway, which focuses and sets the exposure, and then push it the rest of the way down when you're ready, and the lag is negligible.

One surprise for me was that the manual recommends that the waterproof packing and seals be replaced annually by a service center. They say that this is the case with any waterproof camera or camera housing, but it's the first I ever heard of it.