- Lumix TS2
- Olympus Tough 8000
- Canon A95
I purchased the TS2 because of a TS1 I owned awhile back and sorely missed. I originally bought it as a rainproof pocket camera for use during a 45 day train trip around the U.S.during the late fall and early winter of 2009. This time around I wanted a "proper" camera for hiking that was pocketable and tough enough to withstand the elements and some abuse. I couldn't find a used TS1 in good condition so I got a TS2 instead.
The Oly was the camera that got beat out by the TS1 back in the aforementioned day. Unlike the TS1 it's crushproof to 220 lbs. As much as I wanted to keep the Oly it's IQ wasn't as good as the TS1 so I returned it. If I could have afforded both at the time I would have kept the Oly as well. I liked it's form factor better than the TS1 and, now, the TS2. Although not as sharp when compared to the TS1 or TS2, the Oly's color saturation is a bit more accurate and, overall, images are good enough to preserve the kind moments for which it was designed to capture. The Oly takes pictures in places where other cameras shouldn't go (including the TS2) and, for snapshots, they look just fine.
The A95 was a camera I had become a bit nostalgic for and my original one was long kaput but I still have all the accessories including an underwater housing. It was cheap to get used so I did. I now suspect, however, that most of these are so old that they will all have problems of one sort or another. One other thing that it had going for it beyond being cheap as chips was a full manual control setting. However, since it doesn't work on
any setting due to a bad sensor, I wasted $25. I least I cured myself of any nostalgia for it.
It was interesting for me to make some comparisons and I appreciate folks who indulged me and offered their opinions. The A95 is getting binned but I will still keep an eye out for a good CCD pocket camera from back in the day that can be had cheap. As for the other two, unlike 10 years ago, I can afford to keep both so I will.
Those last two landscape pictures I posted have been edited in GIMP with only one step each. I adjusted the exposure of one and applied unsharp mask to the other. I consider both usable for intended purposes but the TS2 is the better image overall.