Waterproof Digital Camera
The joke that opened this post, that a waterproof camera might be a security feature for clumsy travellers, has been overtaken by events in the best way: your phone is now waterproof, and it is the camera most people should use in the rain.
What changed. Nearly every current phone is rated IP67 or IP68, meaning it survives being dropped in a puddle or rained on for an afternoon. That removed the main reason ordinary travellers bought a rugged compact.
Where a dedicated waterproof camera still wins:
- Actual submersion. Phone ratings cover fresh water, briefly, at shallow depth, and they degrade as the seals age. A tough compact rated to 15 metres is designed for snorkelling; a phone is not.
- Salt water and sand, which kill phones and are what a tough camera is built for.
- Cold and gloves, where physical buttons beat a touchscreen that will not respond.
- Not risking the phone, which is the honest reason most people buy one: the camera is replaceable and the phone holds your boarding pass, your bank and your maps.
If you want one, the tough-compact category still exists, with OM System's Tough line the best known. Image quality is behind a modern phone in good light and ahead of nothing; you are buying the housing, not the sensor.
The cheaper answer for most trips: a plain roll-top dry bag, or a floating waterproof pouch for a boat. A few pounds, works for phone and camera, and it also keeps your passport dry.
Whatever you use, rinse it in fresh water after the sea. Salt left to dry is what seizes buttons and ruins seals, on any camera at any price.
Part of the guide to cameras and photography.