WATERPROOF / UNDERWATER camera reviews - Sony TX10 and Panasonic TS3 (a/k/a FT3)

[rockbock]

First, some background on what I was looking for: I’m a casual photographer. I wanted a waterproof camera which would produce high-quality photos in all settings (indoor, outdoor, and underwater). My intention was to completely replace my 7.2MP Sony DSC-W7, which I LOVE. I wanted to add the underwater feature without compromising on other features. I did not want to spend more than about $400 for everything (camera, two 8GB memory cards (Class 10), two extra batteries with charger, and float strap). This left me with about $340 max to spend on the camera itself. I do NOT know a lot about photography. Terms like “ISO” and “white balance” are foreign to me. I like to use pre-programmed scene modes and auto features. I enjoy digital scrapbooking and I frequently zoom and crop. It takes a very high quality photo to crop out/enlarge a small figure without too much distortion.

I began my search online and spent about 6 hours researching the cameras in my price range. The cameras I focused on most were the Canon D10, Sony TX10, Panasonic TS3 (sometimes referred to as FT3), Olympus TG-810, Olympus Tough 8010, Fujifilm XP30, and Pentax WG-1.

I eliminated most of these options rather quickly based on their reviews, overall ratings, and the quality of photos that I reviewed. I narrowed my focus to the Canon D10, the Sony TX10, and the Panasonic TS3.

I wanted to love the Canon D10, since it seems to be the overwhelming fan favorite, but I ultimately decided that it wasn’t going to be a good fit for me. The price of the D10 is similar to the Sony and the Panasonic, but it’s a 2.5 year old model which doesn’t have HD video. The photo quality seemed about equivalent to the other two, so I decided to only focus on the two models with HD video.

I would have been completely sold on the Sony, since I’ve used only Sony cameras most of my adult life and I’ve never been disappointed in one; however, there were some notable deficiencies which most reviewers found with this model (detailed below), so I was a bit hesitant to take the plunge. The Sony was also priced near the top of my budget ($329), whereas the Panasonic was only $275 at Amazon.com. The Panasonic reviews seemed to all be very positive, with the only significantly commonly-noted problem being lower quality indoor photos. However, all of the indoor, outdoor, and underwater photos that I reviewed online looked very good.

I decided to take a chance on the Panasonic TS3 and I really, really, wanted to fall in love with it. I ordered it from Amazon and they delivered it the next day. I wasn’t blown away by this camera. The outdoor photos were good. The video was very good. The underwater photos (taken in my large fish tank) were very good. The indoor photos were POOR. I decided to order the Sony TX10, hoping that I’d see better results. I ordered it from Amazon at 9pm that night and it was delivered at 1:00pm the next day (gotta love Amazon!). The photo quality of the Sony camera is outstanding. I’ll be keeping the Sony TX10!!! For some people, however, the Panasonic might be the better choice.

First, I’ll provide my overall recommendations, then I’ll add in all of the detail:

BUY THE SONY TX10 IF:

You value the quality of the photos/video above all else.

You like touch screen devices.

You don’t plan to dive lower than 16 feet.

You don’t care if you can’t adjust your settings (other than zoom) underwater.

You want a VERY small camera.

You always use a wrist strap.

BUY THE PANASONIC TS3 IF:

You can live with grainy indoor photos.

You don’t typically enlarge your photos to 100% (because they will be distorted).

You want a camera with GPS.

You plan to dive deeper than 16 feet.

You want a larger (but not too big) camera.

You’re looking for a less expensive option.

NOW FOR MY DETAILED COMMENTS ON BOTH MODELS:

PRICE – The Sony is +/- $50 more expensive than the Panasonic.

SIZE – The Sony is significantly smaller and lighter than the Panasonic. I don’t think one is better than the other, per se. It’s a matter of personal preference. The Sony will fit in most pockets. The Panasonic probably wouldn’t.

RUGGEDNESS – Both cameras are rated very well in this area. I haven’t “tested” them, but it seems like the Panasonic is built a bit tougher and would be less likely to get destroyed in a fall. Rather than test this feature, I’m going to just trust the experts that either one will hold up well if dropped.

GRIP – The material that the Sony camera is coated with is kind of slick and more difficult to keep a grip on. The wrist strap is a must with the Sony camera. The Panasonic is easier to hold without feeling like you might drop it.

LENS PLACEMENT – Both cameras are thin and I’m finding it very hard to keep my fingers out of the photos. This is a matter of retraining for me, but I’ll get used to it. I’ve never had a problem with any other camera, but it’s the same for both of these models.

LENS COVER – The Sony comes with a lens cover. The Panasonic does not. I have mixed feelings about this. The Sony is a bit more protected with the cover, but it also makes it harder to dry the camera when it’s wet. It required opening and closing the cover a few times to get all of the water out.

LOCKING – The Sony doesn’t have a double-lock feature on its covers, but the buttons are recessed, so I don’t think there will be any problems with accidentally opening them when around water. The Panasonic has a nice double-lock feature.

LCD – The LCD on the Sony is similar to that of an iPod/iPhone. It is not recessed. The LCD on the Panasonic is slightly recessed (like most cameras). I think it might be a bit easier to scratch the LCD on the Sony, but that’s just a guess. The quality of the images on the LCD is better on the Sony, but it isn’t bad on the Panasonic.

WATERPROOF – The Sony is only waterproof to 16 feet. The Panasonic is waterproof to 40 feet. Scuba divers might not want to consider the Sony camera if they are planning to dive deep.

INTERFACE – The Sony is almost entirely touch screen. The only buttons on the camera are the On/Off, Photo Trigger, Movie Trigger, and Zoom. The touch screen menus are very user-friendly and somewhat customizable. You can set it to show as many or as few icons on the home screen as you want. The Panasonic uses a standard menu setup and does not have a touch screen. I didn’t like the placement of some of the buttons, but it was probably because I am very accustomed to the setup on my old Sony camera, so I found myself frequently clicking in the wrong place. I think I could have gotten used to the buttons on the Panasonic pretty quickly though.

MAJOR SONY FLAW – DEALBREAKER FOR MANY – The touch screen interface turns off when the camera is submerged in water. You need to set your modes before you enter the water, because all you can do once the camera is submerged is zoom in/out. Not a big deal for snorkelers or people who are just playing around in a pool, but this could be very inconvenient for scuba divers.

ZOOM – When shooting photos and video, but cameras have a decent, user-friendly optical zoom. The Panasonic cannot zoom in underwater mode, but the Sony can. During playback, the Sony has several zoom options. You can zoom using the manual control or the touch screen. It is a “smooth” zoom, where you can stop at any point during the zoom to review your photos. There is also a touch screen feature where you can zoom in “choppy” increments by touching the screen quickly. The playback zoom on the Panasonic was one of its most frustrating features IMO. The only way you can zoom during playback is at 2x, 4x, 6x, or 8x. There is no way to “smoothly” zoom in on the photo and stop where you want.

FLASH – The flash on the Sony is good and it is reliable when placed in “auto” mode. The flash is one of the most annoying features on the Panasonic. I like to do things the easy way, so I usually just set the flash to auto. That doesn’t work with the Panasonic. It flashes almost every single time, even when outdoors in bright daylight. The only way I could take a decent photo with the Panasonic was if I set the flash manually.

PHOTO QUALITY – The Sony is a 16.2 MP camera. The Panasonic is 12.1 MP. My old Sony camera (which takes BRILLIANT crisp photos in any setting is 7.2 MP. This is a perfect example of how more MPs doesn’t necessarily equate to better photo quality! The Sony TX10 takes incredible quality photos in any setting (including indoors, outdoors, low light, dark w/ flash, underwater, etc.). I used full optical zoom on several photos, then zoomed in as far as I could during playback and there was almost no distortion at all. The colors in the Sony photos were very natural and lifelike. The photos from the Panasonic TS3 were acceptable, but not impressive. The outdoor and underwater photos were acceptable, and even impressive if you didn’t zoom in to 100%. Once you started to zoom on playback, however, the photos looked a bit grainy. The indoor photos taken with the TS3 were generally unimpressive. In good indoor lighting, the photos looked great until I zoomed in during playback. In low-light or darkness (w/flash), the photos were grainy and unimpressive. The colors on the Panasonic photos were acceptable, but slightly less brilliant than the Sony.

VIDEO QUALITY – Both cameras produced good, high-quality video, but the Sony video was more impressive. From what I’ve read in other reviews, the Sony underwater video is far superior to that of the Panasonic; however, I haven’t tested this feature yet.

3D – Both cameras can film in 3D, but I haven’t been able to test this feature since I don’t own a 3D television for playback.

PANORAMA – The Sony offers AMAZING panorama photos, even underwater. They are as easy as just moving your camera from left to right. The camera does the rest for you. This feature alone is a huge advantage to this camera IMO.

GPS – The Panasonic has built-in GPS. This is a neat feature, but it isn’t always reliable. It is slow to find the location and it isn’t always completely accurate. There is a new firmware update which might help it, but I didn’t download it since I’m not keeping this camera.

SPEED – The speed on both cameras is acceptable, but not outstanding. Both are a little slow to fire in burst mode and both are slow during some of the “processing” modes (I don’t know enough about cameras to know why some settings “process” and others just record the photo instantly). Both are a little slow during playback, delete, zoom, etc. Honestly, I’m used to a faster camera, but neither of these cameras is so slow that it would cause me to return them.

MACRO – This function is clearly better on the Sony. I could only achieve high-quality up-close photos on the Panasonic if I was outside in bright daytime conditions.

Here’s a recent VERY DETAILED review of several waterproof camera models. Be sure to check out all of the “Chapters” at the bottom, since the page I’m linking you to is just the first page of the review! The Canon D10 is not reviewed since it’s such an old model, but from everything I’ve read that model is also a good choice if you don’t care about taking video. http://www.lenstip.com/128.1-article-Underwater_cameras_test_2011_Introduction.html

That’s all I can think of for now, but I’ll edit later if I come up with anything else!

[pierces]

Thorough and well-written.

 

Well done!

 

Dave

[MDSue]

Thanks for the great comparison and review. I want to purchase an underwater camera next spring and was considering the Sony. I haven't seen one sold locally to check out.

[Pushka]

I have the Sony TX5 touch camera and recently took it to Vanuatu where we snorkel. I am thoroughly impressed with it. The movie function worked brilliantly and produced incredibly crisp video. Excellent underwater shots too with great colour.

 

I bought it from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033VMM3G

[rockbock]

It's odd that the TX5 is priced the same as the TX10, since it's one model lower.

[Buffettfan 225]

I began my search online and spent about 6 hours researching the cameras in my price range. The cameras I focused on most were the Canon D10, Sony TX10, Panasonic TS3 (sometimes referred to as FT3), Olympus TG-810, Olympus Tough 8010, Fujifilm XP30, and Pentax WG-1.

 

I eliminated most of these options rather quickly based on their reviews, overall ratings, and the quality of photos that I reviewed. I narrowed my focus to the Canon D10, the Sony TX10, and the Panasonic TS3.

Thank you,thank you for taking the time to write the detailed review. I usually analyze things before purchasing and this is perfect. I am a long member on CC for cruising, but this is my first time to photo boards. Your review was right on spot for what I wanted. I also so want to love the Canon-but it is more bulky and too many "it leaked, or lens error" reports for my liking. Before I read your review my only other consideration was the Panasonic.

Were you able to see the LCD screen outside easily? Anyone who can comment on viewing underwater or adjusting settings so photos aren't as "blue" for snorkeling I would appreciate. I have until spring cruise to finally pull the purchase trigger.

[gersus]

ZOOM – When shooting photos and video, but cameras have a decent, user-friendly optical zoom. The Panasonic cannot zoom in underwater mode, but the Sony can. During playback, the Sony has several zoom options. You can zoom using the manual control or the touch screen. It is a “smooth” zoom, where you can stop at any point during the zoom to review your photos. There is also a touch screen feature where you can zoom in “choppy” increments by touching the screen quickly. The playback zoom on the Panasonic was one of its most frustrating features IMO. The only way you can zoom during playback is at 2x, 4x, 6x, or 8x. There is no way to “smoothly” zoom in on the photo and stop where you want.

 

 

I thought for sure the Panasonic zoomed in underwater mode so I grabbed mine and tried it. It does zoom in underwater mode. I tried beach/snorkeling and underwater mode just to be sure and the zoom function worked fine in both.

[rockbock]

Were you able to see the LCD screen outside easily? Anyone who can comment on viewing underwater or adjusting settings so photos aren't as "blue" for snorkeling I would appreciate. I have until spring cruise to finally pull the purchase trigger.

 

Despite what I read about both cameras in other reviews, I was able to see the LCD easily in bright sunlight with both cameras. I had the LCD brightness turned up to high. I did NOT test the LCD in bright sunlight at a beach or on a lake though, and it's possible it would be harder to see in a setting with glare from the water.

 

I don't know too much about the "blue" issue, but that's something that I think could be easily corrected by running your photos through an auto-correct in a photo editing program.

 

Overall, on a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give the Sony a 4 and the Panasonic a 2. However, I could very easily see somebody with different priorities giving the Panasonic a 4 and the Sony a 2. It really comes down to where you'll be taking photos and what you ultimately intend to do with the photos. If I were a deep-water scuba diver, I would not be as happy with the Sony. If I didn't need photos which looked clear at 100% zoom, I'd be less disappointed in the Panasonic. I also wouldn't mind the Panasonic if I intended to only use the camera for outdoor photos. And the Panasonic indoor photos were certainly good enough to print in a 5x7 size, and some even at 8x10. They just weren't comparable to the Sony.

[rockbock]

I thought for sure the Panasonic zoomed in underwater mode so I grabbed mine and tried it. It does zoom in underwater mode. I tried beach/snorkeling and underwater mode just to be sure and the zoom function worked fine in both.

 

Thanks. I stand corrected. I actually didn't test this feature, but I had read in several reviews that the Panasonic couldn't zoom underwater when it was in video recording mode.

[gersus]

Thanks. I stand corrected. I actually didn't test this feature, but I had read in several reviews that the Panasonic couldn't zoom underwater when it was in video recording mode.

 

I thought this was your review, not a review of other reviews?

 

There are so many variables, preferences, and levels of knowledge in photography I think it's hard to say one for sure better than another. There are several cameras in this category that will perform adequately for the intended purpose. I used an array of reviews to make my decision. I thought dpreview was especially helpful.

[ginjer2911]

Thanks so much for the wonderful review. I am looking at buying the Sony TX10. I had a Panasonic underwater,"rugged" camera that I bought a couple of years ago and I HATED it. All of my pictures would look good on the display, but when I looked at them on the computer..lots of noise (grainy). I have a DSLR that I use quite a bit so I know it was more the camera than my computer. And less than a year after I bought this camera the lens cover shattered. I truly wanted to like this camera; I really thought it would be my go to camera, but just could not like the pictures that it took.

[Jade13]

I am happy with the Fuji FX20. Was under $200.00 with extra battery, case, and float strap. The pictures are fine and it is my back ups back up camera. It is very easy to use in the water.

[rockbock]

I wanted to update my review for everybody. I've been using the Sony TX10 for a couple of months now and I LOVE it. I had my first opportunity to take "real" underwater photos (as opposed to sticking it in my fish tank) with it on my cruise last week. I couldn't be happier with its performance. The indoor photos, even in low light, are extremely clear and have almost no noise (graininess). The outdoor and underwater photos are spectacular. I did NOT experience any inconvenience by not being able to change the settings while using the camera underwater. Honestly, the ONLY setting I ever wanted to use underwater was the zoom, which worked perfectly as low as 10-12 feet (I didn't have an opportunity to test it any deeper than that).

 

I absolutely loved using the panorama mode to take photos of beautiful scenery. I used this mode a lot at the Cozumel beaches and at the San Gervasio ruins. The nice thing about the panorama photo is that it can be viewed/printed as a photo and it can also be played as a 360 degree HD video.

 

I'm going to post photos now, taken in different lighting situations. I'll post mostly beach/underwater photos, since that's what most of you are more interested in viewing, but I'll throw in a few indoor/low-light shots, just so you can see that they come out ok. I'm not sure if the panorama photos will post, since they have odd dimensions, but I'll try.

 

I had some trouble yesterday with several photos rotating after I post them. I apologize in advance if this happens again.

[rockbock]

** UNDERWATER PHOTOS **

[rockbock]

[rockbock]

[rockbock]

PHOTOS TAKEN IN "BEACH MODE"

[rockbock]

[rockbock]

PHOTOS TAKEN USING "INTELLIGENT AUTO" MODE WITH GOOD LIGHTING

[rockbock]

PANORAMA PHOTOS

[rockbock]

PHOTOS TAKEN USING FULL OPTICAL ZOOM (AND ALMOST NO LOSS OF CLARITY)

(The first one is a photo of the ship clearing the Tampa Bridge by only 6 feet)

[rockbock]

PHOTOS TAKEN IN VERY LITTLE OR NO LIGHT

(They aren't perfect, but not so bad either)

[Buffettfan 225]

Now that's a camera testimonial! The underwater colors were nice and clear -and lack the typical blue tint. Convinced me for sure.

RE: Sony TX10 Can you tell me, I assume you were snorkeling? and can you see the view screen outdoors easily, and underwater?

p.s. love your dress outfit and necklace to match.

[rockbock]

Now that's a camera testimonial! The underwater colors were nice and clear -and lack the typical blue tint. Convinced me for sure.

RE: Sony TX10 Can you tell me, I assume you were snorkeling? and can you see the view screen outdoors easily, and underwater?

p.s. love your dress outfit and necklace to match.

 

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, the photos were taken while snorkeling. The underwater photos were all taken in Grand Cayman. The beach, pool, and ruins shots were taken in Cozumel.

 

The screen was very easy to see under all conditions, including underwater and direct sun. It's actually the best screen I've ever had on a camera. And please understand, I am NOT a photographer. I know absolutely nothing about cameras and I only use auto settings (or pre-set "scenes").

 

Some, but not all, of the underwater photos were "autocorrected." Most of them looked great right off the camera, but a few of them looked slightly washed out on the computer screen. As soon as I clicked "autocorrect" they looked exactly the way they looked when I was in the water.

 

There are definitely a few things about this camera which make it not the best choice for some people (see review in first post), but NONE of those things have proven to be inconvenient for me. I'm a very satisfied customer.

[Buffettfan 225]

Thanks!

 

 

The screen was very easy to see under all conditions, including underwater and direct sun. It's actually the best screen I've ever had on a camera. And please understand, I am NOT a photographer. I know absolutely nothing about cameras and I only use auto settings (or pre-set "scenes").

 

Some, but not all, of the underwater photos were "autocorrected." Most of them looked great right off the camera, but a few of them looked slightly washed out on the computer screen. As soon as I clicked "autocorrect" they looked exactly the way they looked when I was in the water.

 

There are definitely a few things about this camera which make it not the best choice for some people (see review in first post), but NONE of those things have proven to be inconvenient for me. I'm a very satisfied customer.

Thanks for quick reply. What computer software program did you use to auto-correct? sometimes the one I have makes it too dark or icky.

Yep...very technical there :) So really appreciated an "amatuer" typical casual cruisers review. It really helped to see variety of shots and convinced me it can be a cruise worthy purchase.