[Stickler]

This probably has been discussed before I'm sure but not seeing anything really new here (post a link if I've missed it)

Traveling very soon and need to do something quickly (will probably be limited to what I can get locally)
Traveling to New Zealand and Fiji and looking for something waterproof (beachstuff/light snorkeling/kayaking)to bring along with my Pentax DSLR gear (K10D, K-5 15,50,55-300)
Trying to figure out what might be best addition to my DSLR for this trip with my wife, which is going to be a lot about the photography.

Options on the table thus far:
Action Go pro type Camera
rugged/waterproof Point and shoot.
iPhone5 waterproof housing

Anyone have experience here to be able to help?
This is intended to be a fairly spontaneous "impulse buy" primarily for social sharing (not shooting 4K film trailers) so preferably recommendation that are more frugal are helpful.

What differentiating factors should I be considering?

[mrNewt]

What is your budget and actual needs!?

Usually the action cams don't come with a screen unless you buy it at extra cost... or use your phone (if they have the app) to control the camera and view your pictures/movies.
For action cam cameras, prices can go quite high once you add all the extra.

Point and shoot cameras do come with a screen and most of them are capable of video as well. And prices can be considerably lower than an action cam.

If you plan to use the action cam for future stuff, that might be a nice investment. If is a once thing only... probably might not be a good buy.

If you are happy with the videos and pictures out of your phone, and the wateproof case is cheap enough, maybe that is just fine as well.

[LFLee]

This probably has been discussed before I'm sure but not seeing anything really new here (post a link if I've missed it)

Traveling very soon and need to do something quickly (will probably be limited to what I can get locally)
Traveling to New Zealand and Fiji and looking for something waterproof (beachstuff/light snorkeling/kayaking)to bring along with my Pentax DSLR gear (K10D, K-5 15,50,55-300)
Trying to figure out what might be best addition to my DSLR for this trip with my wife, which is going to be a lot about the photography.

Options on the table thus far:
Action Go pro type Camera
rugged/waterproof Point and shoot.
iPhone5 waterproof housing

Anyone have experience here to be able to help?
This is intended to be a fairly spontaneous "impulse buy" primarily for social sharing (not shooting 4K film trailers) so preferably recommendation that are more frugal are helpful.

What differentiating factors should I be considering?

I have been thinking this myself for travel purpose (underwater activity). One thing to understand is: action cam image quality will never be as good as DSLR (and those awesome shots in action cam ads, they are all edited heavily). Once you realize this, you can have fun with action cam.

Few years ago I settle on GoPro Hero2, it has pretty bad high iso shot, bad corner sharpness, bad underwater (the casing causing blurry image and low iso doesn't help) performance, and the worse menu interface you will find in any camera (only two buttons to navigate all the settings!). But! my wife and I have fun capturing some funky images with it on our trip to Key West the other day...





and thing like throwing the camera up in the air...(after countless tries though as the max burst mode on Hero2 is only 2 image/sec, now they improved to 30 image/sec in Hero4)


Not the best images, but.... fun (maybe only to myself... )

The latest version, Hero4 (Black and Silver version), have since improved on image sharpness, corner sharpness (change the casing design), and improve a lot on high iso, and most importantly, they now allow you certain control over iso, etc. And the Silver version even have touch screen LCD back integrated with the camera (Black version is the 'high end' version that gave 4K vid, but due to heating, they can't put a LCD on it)! this really make your live easy with changing settings. My GoPro Hero2 sucks, but I would like to "upgrade" it to Hero4 at some point to give it another shot, for it provide some images you wouldn't get with DSLR.

p.s. the accessories that you need for this little things will add up and you end up carry quite somethings with the GoPro. I would think the Ricoh 360 will give you some fun images as well.

[misomosi]

Not the best images, but.... fun (maybe only to myself... )

Offtopic @LFLee: I hate fisheye perspective UNLESS taken like you and your wife did - you can feel the fun out of them! Awesome idea in the third one

[Stickler]

I have been thinking this myself for travel purpose (underwater activity). One thing to understand is: action cam image quality will never be as good as DSLR (and those awesome shots in action cam ads, they are all edited heavily). Once you realize this, you can have fun with action cam.

Few years ago I settle on GoPro Hero2, it has pretty bad high iso shot, bad corner sharpness, bad underwater (the casing causing blurry image and low iso doesn't help) performance, and the worse menu interface you will find in any camera (only two buttons to navigate all the settings!). But! my wife and I have fun capturing some funky images with it on our trip to Key West the other day...





and thing like throwing the camera up in the air...(after countless tries though as the max burst mode on Hero2 is only 2 image/sec, now they improved to 30 image/sec in Hero4)


Not the best images, but.... fun (maybe only to myself... )

The latest version, Hero4 (Black and Silver version), have since improved on image sharpness, corner sharpness (change the casing design), and improve a lot on high iso, and most importantly, they now allow you certain control over iso, etc. And the Silver version even have touch screen LCD back integrated with the camera (Black version is the 'high end' version that gave 4K vid, but due to heating, they can't put a LCD on it)! this really make your live easy with changing settings. My GoPro Hero2 sucks, but I would like to "upgrade" it to Hero4 at some point to give it another shot, for it provide some images you wouldn't get with DSLR.

p.s. the accessories that you need for this little things will add up and you end up carry quite somethings with the GoPro. I would think the Ricoh 360 will give you some fun images as well.

Thanks @LFLee ! this is good to know. (Great shots) I'm liking the versatility and "fun" option of this type cam. your "2" seems to be good enough from the shots shared. Fisheye can get old, but as a supplemental cam I like what it can do. I'm totally newb in this territory, what are the "must have" accessories? it looks like you have some sort of stick (monopod works?) and imagine floating thing would be good as well.

[LFLee]

Thanks @LFLee ! this is good to know. (Great shots) I'm liking the versatility and "fun" option of this type cam. your "2" seems to be good enough from the shots shared. Fisheye can get old, but as a supplemental cam I like what it can do. I'm totally newb in this territory, what are the "must have" accessories? it looks like you have some sort of stick (monopod works?) and imagine floating thing would be good as well.

For non-action folks like me, GoPro can only be use as a fun cam instead of action cam.

Yeah, I purchase the "Motor-sport" accessory with Hero2 (but they do away that with Hero4, wanting you to spend more on accessories..). But the first two were captured using a typical "selfie stick" for P&S camera, but to use GoPro with the selfie stick, you need a "Tripod Mount Adapter" for the GoPro housing (the camera itself didn't have a tripod mount. They can be have from the evilbay quite cheap (along with other fancy accessory) but if you don't have the time to wait, there is a OEM tripod mount as well.

I also purchase a small table top tripod (Pedco UltraPod II Lightweight Camera Tripod) to use for time-lapse, or leave it somewhere to take some pics... like while you having picnic or something, again, need the tripod mount adapter.

There is a "Floating back" to buy if you afraid you drop it and the GoPro sink to the bottom of the sea, but it make the camera a little bulkier. The "suction cup" to buy if you want to fix it in your car window.

Finally, you will no doubt need extra batteries (those off brand are fine), the camera consume power like crazy.

Again, these add up and no doubt take spaces in your camera bag, and from my experience, I only use them occasionally (while carrying them all the time). Don't expect great pics from them but occasionally you get fun pic.

A bad example: underwater manatee pic.


was so excited with the chance to encounter manatee in one of the spring, and get to swim with them, but most pics are blurry (low shutter speed + low iso and bad casing design). This is the only decent one. I want to throw the Hero2 away when I open the pics in PC. But Hero4 have improved a lot and you have some control over settings.

another thing to consider, a Dicapac for DSLR if you want better images underwater: Amazon.com : Dicapac USA Inc. WP-S10 Waterproof Case for Compact Digital Cameras (Dark Brown) : Underwater Camera Housings : Camera & Photo

edit: .... and a bit of caution with GoPro, explained in this funny video:

You Tube

You Tube

[JohnX]

As you're on a Pentax site, why not look at the WG-M1, or the WG-3, 4 or 30 variants?

I use a Garmin Virb Elite. It is WR to about 1m for 30 minutes out of the box, but you can get a Dive Case that makes it good to 50m. Range of brackets and clips for helmets, bikes, boards, car and you! Apps allow remote control and monitoring. Similar form factor to the WG-M1 (which is based on the Kodak SP-1 I believe).

Take a look here for (unfortunately far from comprehensive) Kodak vs. Pentax vs. Garmin specs. Compare Kodak SP1 vs Ricoh WG-M1 vs Garmin VIRB Elite | B&H

[crewl1]

I use a Pentax for everything else but our waterproof camera is a Fuji like this
Fujifilm FinePix XP70 Digital Camera (Blue) 16409284 B&H Photo

We have the prior version before WiFi was added. It has gone with us on countless trips and performs well in snorkeling, rain, sand, pool, etc.
Low light video is not its sweet spot, but for everything else it works well.

[Kath]

Though not exactly "budget" at about $400, I have the GoPro 4 Silver. I chose Silver over black for: 1-price is less (by $100); 2- I don't need to shoot in 4K; 3-biggest reason is the integral LCD on the back so you can see what you're shooting. This thing is made to take abuse and can go anywhere. BTW, with regard to the wide angle, the GoPro4 has three image choices, ultra-wide, wide, and normal, so you no longer have to have that fisheye look. It takes perfectly good normal high res videos, straight to the computer screen without any processing, if you like. I looked at everything before buying and this one offered me the most. But, I do a lot of kayaking and the occasional snorkeling trip, so wanted as easy and small a setup I could get for the money I had. Good luck in your search!

[Stickler]

Though not exactly "budget" at about $400, I have the GoPro 4 Silver. I chose Silver over black for: 1-price is less (by $100); 2- I don't need to shoot in 4K; 3-biggest reason is the integral LCD on the back so you can see what you're shooting. This thing is made to take abuse and can go anywhere. BTW, with regard to the wide angle, the GoPro4 has three image choices, ultra-wide, wide, and normal, so you no longer have to have that fisheye look. It takes perfectly good normal high res videos, straight to the computer screen without any processing, if you like. I looked at everything before buying and this one offered me the most. But, I do a lot of kayaking and the occasional snorkeling trip, so wanted as easy and small a setup I could get for the money I had. Good luck in your search!

As I understand 3 and beyond can use a smart phone for a display when desired right? right now I'm leaning toward something in 3 range (~$199) basically to get connectivity in there since this will mostly be for social stuff and will want that assuming it works without hicups.

---------- Post added 01-26-15 at 01:13 PM ----------

As you're on a Pentax site, why not look at the WG-M1, or the WG-3, 4 or 30 variants?

I use a Garmin Virb Elite. It is WR to about 1m for 30 minutes out of the box, but you can get a Dive Case that makes it good to 50m. Range of brackets and clips for helmets, bikes, boards, car and you! Apps allow remote control and monitoring. Similar form factor to the WG-M1 (which is based on the Kodak SP-1 I believe).

Take a look here for (unfortunately far from comprehensive) Kodak vs. Pentax vs. Garmin specs. Compare Kodak SP1 vs Ricoh WG-M1 vs Garmin VIRB Elite | B&H

I may end up with Pentax (I'm a general fan), though, it'll really boil down to what's on hand and in my range, I'm mostly trying o figure out what is differentiating factors/opportunities/headaches associated with the form factors action cam vs underwater P&S, not locked into a specific brand. but figured that pentax DSLR folks would be the best place to know where I'm coming from.

[dyoon153]

If OP's fine with Chinese-knock-off, SJCAM's SJ4000 is GoPro alternative that's being well received, and very affordable (non-wifi - 79.99 at B&H, wifi version - 119).
My understanding is that performance, lens quality (flare control) lack behind the original GoPros, but still performs admirably for its price. With extra money you can buy selfie sticks, mounts or whatnot to make it easier to utilize. I think it's worth a look...

[johnmflores]

Also check out Nikon AW1. 1" sensor. Interchangeable lenses.