From: Donald Mackie <Donald_Mackie@med.umich.edu>
Subject: Harsh Environments (was Re: NIKONOS IV5 etc etc)
Organization: UM Anesthesiology
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X-XXDate: Mon, 26 Apr 93 11:41:41 GMT

In article <1993Apr26.043914.8618@leland.Stanford.EDU> Brett Glass,
glass@leland.Stanford.EDU writes:
>This posting reminded me about a long-standing question I've had.
Does it
>pay to consider an underwater camera for pictures taken on land but
in
>harsh environments (e.g. rain, snow, heat, cold, mud, dust)? Or are
the
>lenses, etc. all "tuned" for the refractive index of water?
>
I have had a Nikon L35AW since 1988. Unfortunately it is no longer
made. It is a P & S sealed to resist water to a depth of 12 feet. It
is not really an underwater camera but it has been great in wet and
dusty conditions. It takes AA batteries (hooray). It has the solid,
heavy feel of old-style Nikons and has taken all the abuse I have
been able to give it. This includes a lot of water (rain, river and
sea), desert and beach sand as well as being used as a weapon
against a mugger. Shouting and swinging the camera by the strap
didn't scare the mugger away, hitting him with the flying camera
did. This is my, "never be without a camera" camera. The current
water-resistant (Sport Touch I think is the name) model is nothing
like as solid or well sealed.

Don Mackie - his opinions
