Cameras?

During last Thursday's Great Fish Roundup, August 12th Edition, I ran into the downfall of using an iPhone for photos: wet fingertips don't do diddly on a touchscreen, and when you've taken a dunking, there's no spot to dry your hands.

I'm not in the mood to put $450 into an Olympus TG6.  Are there waterproof/waterresistant cameras less demanding on my wallet that you'd recommend?

If not for me, please do it for surf12foot.  I'm his designated chronicler.

Maybe keep phone in a Ziploc with a dry paper towel?

I'm thinking of many solutions.  I guess it depends on what you want as an end result.  Would you be happy with a photo from your iphone or do you want a new camera?

If the quality from your phone is good enough just bring along a microfiber towel to dry hands and phone to make your touch screen functional.  Alternatively is using siri to snap the pic an option?  With my Samsung I can take a photo with the touchscreen, a physical button, or voice command.

If you do want a new camera, does it need a zoom?  How about good video quality?  The DJI osmo action and Ricoh WG70 are two I'd consider if you're looking to spend less than the TG6. 

I carry both a waterproof camera and a smartphone when kayaking.  The camera works fine when my hands are wet, but as Tinker pointed out, smartphones don't  In addition, In cold weather I wear heavy duty nitrile gloves over polypro glove liners, which is a cheap kind of dry gloves, and the rubber gloves don't work on a smartphone either wet or dry.  There is an easy solution to that problem.  For a couple of bucks I bought a package of four pens, each of which has a rubber tip designed for use on touch screens.  I took the top off one of the pens and duct taped it to a short length of thin shock cord, which I clip into a pocket in my PFD.  This reliably operates my smart phone, regardless of how wet my hands or my gloves are.

Those pens are also nice for clicking on websites or keyboards which have real small spots you need to click on.  I keep a couple of those pens scattered around the house for use when using finicky little screens on my smartphone.

The second picture below shows another thing I recommend: I leash my smartphone to a retractor which is attached to my PFD.  The cord which goes through the attachment point on the phone is 600 pound Spectra.

What do you need a camera for?

Fish are always bigger if you use hand gestures rather than a stinking photo that would prove it smaller.

Like driving, pay attention to what you are doing and savor the moment. Don't worry about snagging that perfect picture to post on FaceSnapInstaTwit.

Just enjoy the day on the water and tell the story with your words.

I would suggest a GoPro that captures the whole day I don't post half the good stuff I capture on mine but have several good memories that are just waiting to go back and be watched anytime by family or friends.

Wow!  Look at all the great replies!

snopro, I'm satisfied with photos from the iPhone - and that's as far as mobile phones can get.  I'd like to have a "backup" camera with a real button to press in case I ever again decide a brisk swim in the ocean is the way to start the morning.

INSAYN, I'm not much of a picture-taker, but, since I decided to enter AOTY this year, I need to be able to take pictures of anything point-worthy I might accidentally catch.  As far as I know, the judges won't take my word for what I caught and how big it was - and what a sad commentary on the state of the world that is.  Certainly any picture makes a fish smaller than hand gestures, but I've found that photographing them on measuring board makes them less than half as big as they really were.

pmmpete, I carry two microfiber cloths.  After last Thursday, I'll start carrying them in a Ziplock bag.

T Coastal, I had a GoPro.  It had a hissy fit after being dunked and refused to acknowledge it's been turned on.  Trying to get it do something - anything - it locked itself into time lapse mode.  It is currently enroute to GoPro to be replaced.


So... what I should have said is: I'm looking for a reasonably affordable, compact, waterproof camera to take pictures of fish lounging on a Hawg Trough - and the occasional big fish someone else might catch.  I'd like it to be able to capture images at least as sharp as those from an iPhone 7.

Touchscreens need not apply.

And thank you all for your wonderful, thought-provoking advice.  I appreciate it.

You might already know this, but despite the wet obnoxious finger/screen issue, if you can at least get your phone into camera mode, you can take a photo without having to push the camera button.  Usually one of the exterior buttons (model dependent) will take a photo, so you don't have to touch the screen. 

EDIT:  Just used the side button on the iPhone 12 to trigger Siri, which I asked to "take photo"...that turned on the camera without touching the screen.  I then pushed the volume up button and that snapped the pic.  So completely touchscreen free.  FWIW

Good to know.  Thank you.

You might already know this, but despite the wet obnoxious finger/screen issue, if you can at least get your phone into camera mode, you can take a photo without having to push the camera button.  Usually one of the exterior buttons (model dependent) will take a photo, so you don't have to touch the screen. 

EDIT:  Just used the side button on the iPhone 12 to trigger Siri, which I asked to "take photo"...that turned on the camera without touching the screen.  I then pushed the volume up button and that snapped the pic.  So completely touchscreen free.  FWIW

You might already know this, but despite the wet obnoxious finger/screen issue, if you can at least get your phone into camera mode, you can take a photo without having to push the camera button.  Usually one of the exterior buttons (model dependent) will take a photo, so you don't have to touch the screen. 

EDIT:  Just used the side button on the iPhone 12 to trigger Siri, which I asked to "take photo"...that turned on the camera without touching the screen.  I then pushed the volume up button and that snapped the pic.  So completely touchscreen free.  FWIW

Except for zooming in and out.

You might already know this, but despite the wet obnoxious finger/screen issue, if you can at least get your phone into camera mode, you can take a photo without having to push the camera button.  Usually one of the exterior buttons (model dependent) will take a photo, so you don't have to touch the screen. 

EDIT:  Just used the side button on the iPhone 12 to trigger Siri, which I asked to "take photo"...that turned on the camera without touching the screen.  I then pushed the volume up button and that snapped the pic.  So completely touchscreen free.  FWIW

Came here to say that ^^. Also, if you hold down the volume up/down button it will record a video.

I keep my phone, wallet and keys in a little Pelican box in the hatch. It's good to know I have a back up gps and comms should they be needed, but I don't like fiddling with my phone until I'm back on terra firma.

I've had a Nikon COOLPIX AW100 for about 8 years now (released in 2011). I keep it on a retractor and it fits well in the PFD pocket. 16mp sensor, 5x optical zoom, waterproof to 33' and 1080p video. It takes a beating and it's plenty good for taking grip-and-grins of your pals, scenery or wildlife encounters.

I don't know if you can locate any NOS, but you could probably find one on ebay with a seller that accepts returns to see if it's functioning properly and would suit your needs.

Thank you.  Someone I know uses a Nikon Coolpix (I don't know what model) and it seems to take really nice snapshots.  I'll see what I can find NOS. 

I keep my phone, wallet and keys in a little Pelican box in the hatch. It's good to know I have a back up gps and comms should they be needed, but I don't like fiddling with my phone until I'm back on terra firma.

I've had a Nikon COOLPIX AW100 for about 8 years now (released in 2011). I keep it on a retractor and it fits well in the PFD pocket. 16mp sensor, 5x optical zoom, waterproof to 33' and 1080p video. It takes a beating and it's plenty good for taking grip-and-grins of your pals, scenery or wildlife encounters.

I don't know if you can locate any NOS, but you could probably find one on ebay with a seller that accepts returns to see if it's functioning properly and would suit your needs.