Which one should I get?
I want: better quality (Mps?) than my iPhone; inexpensive; durable; video; small....
I would recommend the Pentax Optio. All of our crews are outfitted with one and we have had superb results.
Buy the lens and take whatever camera it is attached to. Optical zoom range would be high on my list of qualifications. With optical zoom you don't need to blow up small portions of the image, for which you would need huge megapixels. For surveyors, close focus range is also important to take pictures of monument caps, benchmark disks, etc.
Nikon AW100
strap will hang from neck
something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HW73SO/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
cheap enough to not worry about damage or loss
takes AA batteries so no recharge issues (new batteries can be had anywhere, world wide)
flash card so no cables to eff with and capacity is unlimited
view finder so ambient light is no issue
pictures are high quality
mine is with me 24/7, has been bounced numerous times in the 1.5 years I have had it, your mileage will vary
I have a distant ancestor of the A1200, an A20 that I bought in 2001. I keep it in the truck. It no longer zooms -- almost any zoom causes the image to wash out completely -- but it's otherwise been very reliable. Images are only 2 megapixel, but that's fine for most jobsite photos. Like the A1200, it's powered by AA batteries, which I also use in my DC50 data collector, so I always have some AA rechargeables with me.
I have an Olympus tough. Waterproof and 10 megapixels. It has capability to take close ups and good pics in low light conditions.
I just got an Olympus Tough TG-1 with GPS. While the camera takes good pictures, the GPS is pathetic. In a wide open field, the GPS coordinates were sometimes correct, but half of them were off by more than 250 feet even though the camera indicated it had a good fix.
I tried it on 4 different projects, and I had the same problem. I do the same thing with another GPS camera and the GPS camera on my I-phone, and they are good.
This Olympus TG-1 is NOT SOMETHING I CAN RECOMMEND. I had initially thought it was perfect for what I needed, but it is POS in my opinion.
How accurate is the onboard GPS
ARe you getting decent positions for your shots from the onboard GPS?
GoPro or Swann Action cam?
Anyone use either of those? Seeing this post today and the one the other day where someone mentioned taking videos on topo projects, I'm just wondering if anyone is using one of these as a 'survey' camera? Very lacking in zoom capabilities but high quality video for everthing else. Just wondering..