water proof!?

I just got my Optio W30.
 Is there any additional steps you take to ensure the corrosion is kept to a minimum?
 Lots of little contacts down in there with the battery and card!
 Any advice is greatly appreciated, like to keep it for a while.

I think it'll keep pretty well as long as you keep the battery door closed and locked. I know quite a few people who've been using it for a while and haven't complained about any problems there.

Z

It never hurts to rinse the camera off once you get it home, even if it doesn't get fully submerged while you're using it.

1) Make sure the battery door is latched and locked
2) Don't drop it!
3) Put some key floats on the strap because the camera doesn't.

I went through two of them before I figured out these simple rules
I ended up with the Olympus equivalent as it is shockproof and water-proof. I think I like the Pentax better. The basic auto focus seems to be a lot better. Rinsing in fresh water (with the battery door latched and locked) is a really good idea too.

Thanks guys,
No corrosion-x or nuthin.Too easy.
I'll be posting pics soon!

FFTW

You like the Pentax one better eh?  I was looking at the Olympus 770, which I think is the same as yours, but a little more waterproof.  The reviews I was finding weren't very helpful in helping me decide between the two. 

Any other Pros/Cons between these options?  Any other water proof camera (or video) that any one would recommend?

I would like to learn more from Jeff in QCI about his goggle cam.  I look forward to seeing some video from his summer...FATTIES I'm sure

-Jesse

Jesse,

I talked with Zee a bit about this on the water and he thought it might be the CCD (feel free to chime in Zee). But I have had much better results (pictures) with the Pentax than the Olympus. In the basic auto focus mode, the pictures of in the Pentax generally were better focused and seemed to use the available light better. I'm sure I can tweak the aperture and exposure time to improve the Olympus, but the basic "point and click" is not as good.  The movie mode seemed more choppy as well. I also liked the SD cards over the XD cards just because the SD's are more common (cheap).

All that said, I broke 2 Pentax's. The first fell out of my pocket onto concrete. It groaned at bit and sounded like the lens was trying to move, but could'nt. Splash one. I priced repairs and it was more than I paid for it. (Zee, however, found someone in Portland, who fixed his reasonably)
The second I treated much more carefully in terms of drops and shocks. But I dipped it in a tide pool and noticed that the battery door was not latched and it took pictures for a few moments, then croaked. Splash two.

 Don't get me wrong, the water proof aspect works great. I had the first down to 20' and it was fine. But you have to make sure it's closed properly.

I got the Olympus because it is shockproof and waterproof to 10'. But if I was buying a new one (all mine are Ebayed) I'd get the Pentax.

Thank you very much FFTW!

Here's a decent review of the WP20 and 720SW, which are the models one step before the current models.  Most of the comments are probably still true for the latest models.

http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3552/underwater-camera-shootout.html

I have an older W10 and am mostly happy with it.  Sometimes it doesn't focus right though.  But when it does, it takes great pics.  Still trying to figure out the focus modes though ...

-Allen