Olympus 1030sw: Early Thoughts

Here at www.paddlesurf.net we're not quite big time enough to get expensive digital cameras sent to us for review. So I'm going to have to be a little restrained in my testing of this camera because, after all, I shelled out my own bucks for it. Which kind of sucks because I would've liked to film myself dropping the Oly a couple of times onto a concrete floor- it'd be fun if it wasn't my camera. Here are some first thoughts:

The Olympus 1030sw just feels good. First of all, the thing is pretty darn heavy. It kind of feels like a little metal brick. That's not a bad thing- it feels solid. Strong. Supposedly I could sit on the thing and not smash it- that's good because I could see myself doing that sometime.

Actually, it'd probably get smashed by my big, white, marine-grade (that just means it's white and more expensive), Igloo cooler. Or I'd forget it in the bottom of my daypack and jam a sandy, wet, wetsuit on top of it and then put the cooler on it. I think you get it, I abuse stuff. The camera feels like it could take it.

I'm a fan of the amount of metal used in its construction. How many times have you reached for some gadget and been kind of let down by how "plasticy" it felt? There's a lot of good, old fashioned, metal in this camera. In fact the only parts that were obviously plastic were the waterproof doors covering the battery and cable compartments and the big screen on the back of the camera. Speaking of the screen, it seems to me that if something's going to get messed up in the rough conditions this camera will be subjected to, it's the screen. It'll probably be a good idea to buy some kind of protective cover for the screen.



As far as photos go, I like it better than the X-acti. There's all kinds of controls and options that you can monkey around with. To be honest, I haven't done too much of my homework as far as what I need to do to take really bitchin' pictures (check out this guy's blog- he uses an earlier version of the 1030sw and get's unbelievable images). I've been messing with the "Scenes" settings for taking photos indoors and for sunsets and photos around the fire- it's been fun and for my purposes seems to work well. Favorite photography feature so far? The rapid fire mode- you can set the camera to fire off bursts of photos for as long as you hold the shutter button down- can't wait to use it to capture some lip schwackin' action.

All photos in the last two posts were taken with the Oly- check 'em out and let me know what you think about them. I'm still learning about this camera but so far- I like it. It feels really tough and the pictures have come out fine for me so far.

Dora's Tube Ride and Me: Almost Scammed!

Anybody remember "Surfers: The Movie?" If not, I don't blame you. The film came out 18 years ago; try to remember what you were doing in 1990. I was a junior at UCSB, living with five guys in a two bedroom one bath apartment, eating burritos, surfing Sands and, oh yeah, working on a degree in Aquatic Biology. I don't remember much about the movie but there was one scene I'll never forget. It was Dora's interview. I remember thinking, "What a freak". At the time I thought he just came across as an arrogant ass- but I never forgot his part. It's funny because I think about that scene now and then and the more I travel through this world the more I think I understand what he was saying- at least a little.

Anybody else remember Dora's little vignette? The part of it that's seared onto my brain is his analogy of life and tube riding. He starts talking (and as he's talking he's standing there hand jiving and mind surfing through the dredging pop up sections of his consciousness) about how in life, you're just flying down the line and, if I remember correctly, "shit's coming at you man and your just weaving and ducking and it's all starting to suck up and- whooosh- shit's flying over your head, but you just keep charging....". Everytime I navigate through some bullshit day I think of that bit from Surfers: the Movie. Man, Dora may have been the ultimate con man/genius-savant but, I swear, I think he was on to something.

Here's my tube ride: We all know I'm looking for a new camera. I finally decided on the Olympus 1030sw and even ordered it for the unbelievable low price of $269! I should've known nothing could be that good; shoot, everybody else was selling them for $350 at least. But, 86th Street Camera and Video promised me that I'd have it in a couple of days (Your Satisfaction Guaranteed!). It was only a couple of hours after blogging about my order that I received my first reader comment, something to the effect of, "Those guys have a lot of complaints about them!". It was enough of a seed of doubt to get me Googling (type in: 86th Street complaints and see what you get). Can you feel the section starting to stand up in front of you? That blue little bump's gone all steely gray and it's getting vertical, and very thick. Get ready, you know what's coming next!

What a nightmare! The complaints against these guys were all the same, they were masters of the bait and switch. There were so many similar stories of sleaziness that I couldn't believe they could all be legitimate. So I let it ride. I didn't cancel the charge to my card. I decided to ride it out even if it was looking like a nasty closeout. I'd picked my line and I thought it might make a good story if it got nasty. Secretly, I was holding out the hope that I might get spit out the other end with a great camera at an excellent price. I thought it might get a little dicey back there with the foam ball licking at my tail block but I'd fought my way through nastier situations how bad could it be?

Nope. I took it in the back of the head. I got lipped. Axed. Hatcheted.

Check back to see if I get pile driven into the reef or squeak out the doggy door.

New Camera Ordered: Thanks for all the help!

We've got a great little community here! I'd like to say thanks to all who responded to my plea for camera information especially Gary at Srfnff, PonoBill of Kenalu, Chad of Chad Industries, Brewer over at BlueLine and Denis- who's a pro- thanks for all the good information.

I decided to go with the Olympus 1030sw- I ordered one a couple of days ago for $260 and spent another forty bucks or so on xD cards- a pretty good price I thought. I chose the Oly because I need a camera with the nuts to hang out with me. I'm tough on equipment (by the way PonoBill gives a great description of dropping his Oly, fumbling for it in the air and in the bobble shooting it across the room twenty or so feet- kind of the polar opposite of Franco Harris' amazing ball scoop- thanks for that Bill). This summer the camera will experience the sweaty cantina's of southern Baja, the heat of Bend, the grit of a northern Baja campsite and the waxy depths of my surf trunk wax pocket- if it's going to hang out with me it's got to go the distance. I'm sick of not trusting my camera gear- let's hope the Oly is up to the test.

If you've got any experience or secrets to share about shooting with this platform please send them my way- I'll post them up here. I'm a total amateur when it comes to this stuff so no piece of information will be too basic for me. Especially video mode- can't wait to try this thing out.

Camera Grom's Cut: As you know Grom shoots the video and edits his own cut- here's what he put together (rumor has it he's closing in on the dough for his new digital SLR- stoked!):