If you caught this week’s show, you may have heard… I’m about to drive across the country, from California to South Carolina! And this is no “cannonball run”… I’ll be taking it slow, stopping wherever and whenever I like to make photos, sleeping and eating wherever looks appealing!

The Route

I’ll leave Saturday evening just to get across Los Angeles, then Sunday morning, head to Phoenix, Arizona. I’ll actually be spending two nights there as I have childhood friends to visit in the city, then on Tuesday continuing on towards White Sands, New Mexico. Next, north towards Santa Fe, New Mexico, and then straight east along Hwy 40.

Do you have any favorite photography spots on (or reasonably off) that route? A restaurant or roadside café I simply can’t miss? A fabulous mom-and-pop motel that you swore you’d send business their way again? Or maybe you yourself live there, and want to meet up for a coffee, a meal, a photo walk, or heck, get a group, and even an impromptu Aperture session?

Here’s my route… this map is 100% editable by you, so jump on in and pin something cool on the map! Or just drop me an email if you prefer.

The route I'll take… click to edit the map yourself!

Photo Gear

So what fun photography gear will be accompanying me on this journey? Ooh, I’m so glad you asked…

I’ll carry and shoot with my Canon 1Ds Mk III and 5D Mk II of course, but I have something else a bit fun on this trip. First off, I’m working on a new eBook on “getting the most out of your Canon camera” (working title) and our friends at BorrowLenses.com have loaned me a Canon 40D and kit lens to work with. I figure I should be writing about a more common camera than the 1Ds in this eBook Also, they’re letting me play with the new Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L Mark II lens, which should be perfect for the landscapes I’ll be slipping past.

But I couldn’t stop at digital… I also just bought, at Samy’s, a $30 120 Lomo! Plastic body and lens, on big ol’ 120 film. Man this is gonna be fun. I can’t wait to see what I get out of this thing.

I’ll geo-log the entire trip so every photo has nice and tidy coordinates attached to it, and I’m even shooting a time lapse with a windshield-mounted point-and-shoot camera. Not sure if that’ll be interesting or useful, but what the heck, why not!

Somewhere in Colorado… a state I *won't* be visiting on this trip, unfortunately!

Be a part of this journey! Edit the map or introduce yourself along the way… and I’ll see you on the open road! You’re invited to follow the adventure for daily updates over on my personal blog, Confessions a Travel Junkie.

This week on TWiP, our hosts are either coming back from or going on adventures, the Ansel Adams Mystery is solved, dSLRs swing and tilt, and special guest Chris Marquardt joins us live to talk backup.

Hosts: Frederick Van Johnson, Steve Simon, Ron Brinkmann, Joseph Linaschke, and special guest Chris Marquardt

Most of the TWiP regulars this week are either returning from an adventure or are heading out on one. Steve is headed to Hawaii for the Maui Photo Festival from August 25th – 29th. Ron just got back from Venezuela and shares some of his experiences over there. Keep an eye on the TWiP site to see some of Ron’s photos or head over to his website at www.digitalcomposting.com. Inspired by Chris and Beth Fenwick’s recent road trip down Route 66 which was featured on TWiP #156, Joseph is hitting the road and traveling from California to South Carolina along Highway 40. Tune into his site at www.confessionsofatraveljunkie.com for updates on Joseph’s trip.

NEWS & DISCUSSION

Ansel Adams Negatives Found at a Garage Sale – Yeah, They’re Fake
Earlier this week, a news story broke claiming that some glass plate negatives purchased a garage sale in Pasadena, were purported to be the works of Ansel Adams and valued at somewhere around $200 million dollars. Just days later it was revealed that the negatives are not the work of Ansel Adams and were in fact taken by somebody’s Uncle Earle.

Sinar Creates Adapter to Mount DSLRs as Digital Backs
Sinar has come out with an adapter which will allow Nikon and Canon owners to use their DSLRs as digital backs and connect to a variety of medium format and view camera accessories.

BACKUP DISCUSSION WITH CHRIS MARQUARDT

Chris who hosts Tips from the Top Floor, recently returned to Germany after a trip to the United States and has potentially lost all his photos from the trip. Chris joins the show live via Skype to talk about his current situation and what steps he is taking to try and recover his photos. Basically, while he was visiting the US for a workshop, Chris had loaded up all of his images on his MacBook Pro without having another backup and when he returned home, his MacBook would no longer boot for him. He currently has the laptop drive hooked up to a Mac Pro and is using Disk Warrior to try and recover the disk.

Steve asked Chris if he could go back in time, what would he do. The obvious thing would be to backup to an external hard disk but unfortunately Chris just didn’t have that extra disk with him. On Ron’s recent trip, he accidentally formatted his 16 GB card and didn’t have a laptop with him so he set the card aside and didn’t use it again until he got home and was able to use recovery software to recover the images from the card.

LISTENER Q&A

QUESTION #1: Lisa Solonyko has questions regarding model releases in relation to her on the go projects: If publishing a photobook through a publisher or vanity press, do I need model releases for any people/animals/property shown in the images? For the sake of clarity, Steve Simon has published many books similar to what I have [shot] on the go. Would Steve have required model releases for the people/property shown in “Heroines & Heroes”, “Empty Skys”, or “Healing Waters”?

Steve: I have never got a model release from anybody and I’ve never been sued. My commercial publishers have never insisted on it however the law is always moving. It’s always best if you have model releases. If the book is going to be artistic, journalistic, or documentary in nature then you normally won’t need a model release.

QUESTION #2: Oliver Sholder wants to know: I’m at the beach using a Canon T2i and a 50mm and 28-135mm mostly. When I walk outside my lenses totally fog up! It’s insane and I’ve never had this problem before. I usually wipe off the fog with my shirt. Also what about the filters? Can they fog up instead of my lens? Can this fog damage the lenses like my 18-55 or 50mm 1.8? They are not water sealed. What should I do?

Joseph: This is happening due to the humidity outside so he must be in a more humid area. The only thing you can do is wait. By wiping it you are risking scratching something. Don’t try switching lenses or chances are that moisture can get on the sensor. You’ll run into the same thing if you are shooting out in the snow and moving into a heated area. Steve adds that if you wrap your camera in an air tight plastic bag, the condensation will form on the inside of the bag rather than on the camera so the time you’ll have to wait will be decreased. You can also check out the Nikon Fog Eliminator cloths.

QUESTION #3: Ender78 asks: I live in Toronto and would like to attend a week (or so) long photography workshop in Utah and/or Arizona sometime before the end of this year.  Can you guys recommend any colleagues that might do workshops in the area? Would you also provide guidelines on how to pick a seminar/workshop, and what are the questions to ask a tour operator to help ensure a good experience?

I don’t have any specific answers for Ender. I think we should throw it open to the TWiP audience to see if they know of anyone who does tours there. Rich Legg who lives in Utah has expressed an interest in doing a TWiP workshop so that may happen. Steve recommends finding a photographer in the area who you like that does workshops and then check out the comments section on their website.

PICKS OF THE WEEK

• Joseph – Holga 120N “Medium format fixed focus camera with lens” from Samy’s Camera
• Ron – iconicphotos.wordpress.com
• Steve – Nikon Fog Eliminator
• Frederick – Photoshop World, Sept 1-3 Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Vegas

PHOTO MISSION

Each week we will challenge you photographically so be sure to visit the forums, share your photo, receive recognition on the show, and maybe even win a prize.

Last week’s winner of the Dreams mission was Daniel P. Dunn also known as the Full Metal Photographer for his photo ‘Welcome to My Nightmare’.

This week’s mission, should you choose to accept it, is “Diffuse“.

TWiP iPHONE APPLICATION

TWiP now has it’s very own iPhone application. It’s the best way to keep up with TWiP on your iPhone. Head on over the iTunes store to download the new TWiP application.

WRAP UP

Be sure to join our Flickr group and our Facebook group.

Frederick Van Johnson – www.frederickvan.com or www.twitter.com/frederickvan

Steve Simon – www.stevesimonphoto.com or www.twitter.com/stevesimon

Ron Brinkmann – www.digitalcomposting.com or www.twitter.com/ronbrinkmann

Joseph Linaschke – www.apertureexpert.com or www.twitter.com/travel_junkie or www.confessionsofatraveljunkie.com

Chris Marquardt – www.chrismarquardt.com or www.twitter.com/chrismarquardt

CREDITS

TWiP is brought to you by SquareSpace – the fast and easy way to publish a high-quality web site or blog. For a free trial and 10% off your new account, go to – Squarespace.com/twip, offer code TWiP.

Show notes by Bruce Clarke at www.momentsindigital.com or www.twitter.com/bruceclarke

Producer: Suzanne Llewellyn

Bandwidth provided by Cachefly. Intro Music by Scott Cannizzaro

On this episode of TWiP, Vampire model goes for True Blood, The Queen goes Flickr, and fun with lasers.

Hosts: Frederick Van Johnson, Joseph Linaschke, and Nicole Young

NEWS & DISCUSSION

Vampire Weekend Album Cover Model Sues Band, Photographer for $2 Million
The woman featured on the cover of Vampire Weekend’s best-selling 2010 album “Contra” has filed a lawsuit against the band, its record label, and the photographer who provided the photograph, claiming that a model release for the photo was forged and her image was used for commercial purposes without her consent. She is seeking more than $2 million in damages.

The group talks about model releases and when they use them.

Queen’s Photos Go Online at Flickr – Not the British Rock Band. HRM’s Photographs – Current and Historical Selections
ABC News – Buckingham Palace says it has launched an account with online photo management site Flickr.

The British Monarchy Website Flickr account streams both up-to-the-minute images of royal engagements and archive photographs from the royal collection.

The launch is timed to coincide with the summer opening of Buckingham Palace, as the site highlights photographs specially commissioned for the palace’s exhibition “The Queen’s Year,” which opens on July 27.

The Flickr account also features historic photographs from current Royal Collection exhibitions at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle and on loan to museums and galleries around the UK. They include masterpieces of early British photography collected by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Lasers Can Damage Your Canon HDSLR Camera’s CMOS Sensor
Lasers used in a light show have damaged a Canon EOS 5D Mark II CMOS sensor.
Video Links: How to Break Your 5D In a Second and Laser Light Kills Canon 5D

LISTENER QUESTIONS

Question 1: Nico Mabaso has a question about zoom speedlights: I am using pro-glass with my D300, therefore I should have a 1.5 crop factor with the lens. The question is, my speedlight has a zoom function to zoom in to match the the focal length of the lens (SB 600). When the flash fires, does it take into consideration the crop factor or must I adjust to manual zoom on the flash itself to compensate for the focal length?

Joseph: Short answer is yes, it does (on Canon) and since Nikon is generally considered more advanced for speedlight technology, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say yes, it does. I’ll also talk about getting the flash off camera though or bouncing it ’cause then the zoom doesn’t relate to the lens and you’ll get much better pictures.

Question 2: From Thomas Flight: Whenever I hear people talking about panos, most recommend Photoshop’s Photostich feature. I don’t own Photoshop, I’ve gotten along without it so far (I use the Gimp), because it’s so darn expensive. Is there some good panorama software out there other than Photoshop?

Nicole: Photoshop Elements will merge panos and it’s less than $100. From what I’ve seen it does the same quality job as Photoshop.   Photoshop Elements will do most things an photographer needs without having to purchase the more expensive Photoshop.

Question 3: Adam Blindsleve wants to know: It might just be me – but I’m not able to find a straight RSS-feed of TWiP. I don’t use iTunes (I have recently changed from an iPhone to a HTC Desire, so I use Google Listen as my Podcast-client), and I am not able to find a feed where I can subscribe to the episodes.

Frederick: Go to http://www.pixelcorps.tv/this_week_in_photography

PICKS OF THE WEEK

• Frederick:  Jeffrey Friedl’s JPEG settings LightRoom plugin (free)
• Joseph: Lexar Pro UDMA FW800 CF card reader. $85 (fast and stackable)
• Nicole – Paul C. Buff (Alien Bees and White Lightning studio lights/gear)

PHOTO MISSION

Last week’s photo mission was “Dirt.”

This week’s winner:  csgaraglino, “Dude is Really Tiny (D.I.R.T)”
Honable mention to Digital Iris: “Getting the Dirt”

This week’s photo mission is “Dreams.”

Enter enter the photo mission contest by going to http://www.thisweekinphoto.com/forum

WRAP UP

Follow us on www.twitter.com/ThisWeekInPhoto

Join the Flickr critique group. You can also join our Facebook group.

Frederick Van Johnson – www.frederickvan.com or www.twitter.com/frederickvan

Alex Lindsay – http://www.pixelcorps.com or www.twitter.com/AlexLindsay

Joseph Linaschke – http://www.photojoseph.com.com or www.apertureexpert.com

Nicole Young – http://nicolesyblog.com or www.twitter.com/Nicolesy

CREDITS

TWiP is brought to you by SquareSpace – the fast and easy way to publish a high-quality web site or blog. For a free trial and 10% off your new account, go to – Squarespace.com/twip, offer code TWiP.

Show notes by Tom Newman at www.fogviewphotos.com or www.twitter.com/fogview

Producer: Suzanne Llewellyn

Bandwidth provided by Cachefly. Intro Music by Scott Cannizzaro

On this episode of TWiP, a Franken iPhone camera emerges, we discuss the role presets play in photography, and Skynet comes to point and shoot cameras.

Hosts: Frederick Van Johnson, Steve Simon, Aaron Mahler, and Joseph Linaschke

Frankencamera for the iPhone
Someone has developed a prototype of a special mount for the iPhone that will allow you to attach a dSLR lens to your iPhone. The group discuss the usefulness of such a thing and whether or not something like this will take off and become popular.

Presets: A Starting Point or Training Wheels?
This week, Frederick, Aaron, Joseph, and Steve discuss the role of presets in photography. Frederick raises the question of whether presets are just a springboard to creating images or are they diluting the fact that you’re supposed to craft an image from the ground up? Joseph feels that presets can be large time savers to help speed up production but ideally they should be used as starting points or else everyone’s photographs start to look the same.

Do you use presets as the end game or as a starting point when working on your photos? Be sure to visit the forums to discuss this topic with other TWiP listeners.

Sony Unveils Cyber-Shot DSC-WX5, DSC-TX9 and DSC-T99 Digital Cameras
Sony is releasing a series of new P&S cameras with many great features that are creeping into the dSLR space. New features include things like increasing dynamic range by shooting multiple photos and merging them in camera, 3D sweeping panoramas, background focus blur, etc. What will this mean for the future of photography?

LISTENER Q&A

Question 1: Morten Scheel says: I love making panoramas but I haven’t found a great solution for sharing them online. What do you guys recommend in terms of file format and online hosting? Any nugget of wisdom you can share on creating panoramas would be much appreciated.

Aaron: Take a look at gigapan.org which is the hosting site and creator for the Gigapan device. The panos that you create do not need to originate with their hardware or software. If you have a blog or other site then you could look at QuickTime VRs.

Question 2: David from Sheffield writes: Way back you did an episode on Ron Brinkmann’s bag. Any chance of doing something similar with yourselves or your guests? It would be interesting to see what pro’s consider essential – and how much can be fitted into a carry on!

Frederick: Yes, we do plan on doing more videos in the future now that we have launched the new website so stay tuned for further updates.

Question 3: Vintagepremoon says: I bought a 50D about 3 months ago and the other day I was shooting some sample product shots using the live function and the camera completely froze up. I turned it off and back on same thing. It randomly fired twice each time firing the flash. I was in manual mode in a cool environment although I had been shooting for 2 hrs at that point. Camera did not feel hot. I finally pulled the battery and let the camera sit for 30 min. Installed the battery again and it was fine. Have any of you 50D guys experienced this issue?

Joseph: I have seen a similar issue with the 5D Mark II when shooting tethered or in Live View. The sensor is likely heating and the camera is shutting down to protect itself. Steve hasn’t been shooting in Live View much but likes the Zacuto and Hoodman products.

PICKS OF THE WEEK

• Joseph: Black Rapid RS 5 camera strap & the Camera Slingers dual strap for times when you’re carrying two bodies
• Aaron: Gigapan Epic Pro
• Steve: New York Times blog called ‘Lens’ and one of Steve’s former students has a project featured called The Urban Cave
• Frederick: Understanding Photoshop CS5: The Essential Techniques for Imaging Professionals from Richard Harrington

PHOTO MISSION
We are reviving the weekly photo mission. Each week we will challenge you photographically so be sure to visit the forums, share your photo, receive recognition on the show, and maybe even win a prize. This week’s mission is “Dirt”.

TWiP iPHONE APPLICATION

TWiP now has it’s very own iPhone application. It’s the best way to keep up with TWiP on your iPhone. Head on over the iTunes store to download the new TWiP application.

WRAP UP

Be sure to join our Flickr group and our Facebook group.

Frederick Van Johnson – www.frederickvan.com or www.twitter.com/frederickvan

Steve Simon – www.stevesimonphoto.com or www.twitter.com/stevesimon

Aaron Mahler – www.halfpress.com or www.twitter.com/halfpress

Joseph Linaschke – www.apertureexpert.com or www.twitter.com/travel_junkie or www.photojoseph.com

CREDITS

TWiP is sponsored by Audible.com, the leading provider in spoken word entertainment. Audible has over 75,000 titles to choose from to be downloaded and played back anywhere. Visit Audiblepodcast.com/twip for a free audiobook of your choice. This week’s pick from Aaron is Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen.

Show notes by Bruce Clarke at www.momentsindigital.com or www.twitter.com/bruceclarke

Producer: Suzanne Llewellyn

Bandwidth provided by Cachefly. Intro Music by Scott Cannizzaro

What a wild year this has been so far!

And the fun is just beginning! Somehow I got lucky and was asked to give a talk at OpenCamp. I’ll be talking about a subject I love… and no, it’s not Photography! It’ll be on Social Media — I hope you’ll come hang out.

But here’s where it gets better; John Pozadzides and Cali Lewis called me up last week with a request. (Note that I’ve learned over the years to always sit down when someone calls you up and says “are you sitting down?”). Well, they asked me if I’d be up for jumping out of a plane while at OpenCamp (with a parachute of course).

Before they could go any further I interrupted with a “YES!”.

But then the kicker came… I’ll be jumping with the United States Army’s Golden Knights Exhibition Jump team! Along with some other folks.

Say what?! But it gets even BETTER! The magnanimous John P. is arranging things so that I’ll be able to not only photograph the jump, but also grab a rare interview with the team for TWiP! So if you have any questions you’d like me to ask, leave them in the post comments.

I’m excited to be talking at the amazing OpenCamp event, and of course jumping out of a plane. But I’m even more excited to be talking about social media along side the likes of John P., Cali Lewis, Trey Ratcliff, Chris Pirillo, and others!

What is OpenCamp? Check it out here.

When we started broadcasting from the TWiT Cottage, Leo LaPorte (host of TWiT) had two wide open days in the weekly schedule – Monday and Friday. Everything else was jam packed. He graciously let us use the open time to do TWiP live from the studio (which also allowed me to learn the video and audio mixing… MUCH harder than it looks).

As TWiT grew, the space we were “squatting on” became increasingly valuable. However, Leo didn’t ask us to move… he’s too nice to do that. However, I could see that working “around” us was getting more and more difficult for TWiT. So we simply offered to clear the time slots for his regular shows.

So what’s next?

We’re currently working on some new things that will allow us to return to streaming live in the near future… though I think it will likely be audio-only (just because it’s easier for us to manage). We’re VERY excited about the live audience and your involvement so stay tuned! We should have something up and running in the next month or so!

We are very appreciative of the many opportunities Leo and TWiT have provided our shows over the years. We really wouldn’t be where we are without the partnership.

FYI: We’d love to hear your thoughts on this, please sound off in forums!

Join the forum discussion on this post

Canon’s Wonder Camera Concept. Using a Superphone to shoot Supermodels? And BP’s continued media black-out.

Hosts: Frederick Van Johnson, Alex Lindsay, and Catherine Hall

NEWS & DISCUSSION

Photog Detained By Cops and BP Security Guard in Texas

BoingBoing – Xeni Jardin – A freelance photographer who was taking pictures of a BP refinery in Texas was detained by a BP security official, local police and a man claiming to be with the Department of Homeland Security, according to nonprofit news org ProPublica. The photographer was working on a story about multiple large toxic releases at the BP refinery which happened just before the big Gulf oil blowout.

Canon Wonder Camera Concept Uses Video to Take Photos

Canon at the Shanghai World Expo has shown a rare camera concept that outlines its plans for the future. Only called the Wonder Camera so far, it would completely drop the notion of separating stills and video. An extremely high-speed focus would always keep the shot in focus and, along with large amounts of storage, would provide static images simply by picking one of the video frames.

A Professional Fashion Shoot With an iPhone 3GS

When photographer Lee Morris posted images of a professional model from this set on his site, some of his readers claimed they were the best photos he’d had ever taken.

The joke? They were taken on an iPhone 3GS (not even iPhone 4!) to silence those who, week after week, complained that their cameras weren’t nice enough to take pretty pictures.

The vimeo video clip is about 10 minutes long, but it’s a fun watch all the same. Not only will you discover Morris’ secrets behind the shots (a beautiful model, retouch artist, plenty of lighting—that’s the most important part — and a strip of Velcro to mount the 3GS to a tripod) but you can enjoy a possibly staged but still funny moment when the photoshoot is interrupted by a phone call.

Adding a Carl Zeiss SLR Lens to Your iPhone 4 – Is This for Real?

The Unofficial Apple Weblog – If the 5x digital zoom on the iPhone 4′s 5 MP digital camera doesn’t make your heart pound with joy, maybe you should dig out some of those lenses from the SLR film camera that you’re not using anymore and use ‘em with your iPhone.

Starting with a Manfrotto Model 797 Modopocket tripod, the rest of the rig appears to be some sort of clamp holding the lens and (on the camera side) a T-mount adapter. I’d be willing to venture that there’s some sort of lens in the T-mount so that our friend, the iPhone, doesn’t have to squint to see through that nice Carl Zeiss lens.

LISTENER QUESTIONS

Question #1:

From Alejandro Rossano: I have a question regarding focus points, I usually only use the middle focus point to focus and then recompose. Is there a difference between focusing and then recomposing and selecting the focus point to mark where your subject is?

Catherine: I highly suggest moving your focus point screen around. So you get in the habit when you are shooting things that are moving. Sometimes you may have to recompose because the focus points are not over the entire screen. Just get use to it (moving the focus point around).

Alex adds that if your are shooting a short depth of field focusing and moving the camera a few inches could throw the subject out of focus.

Question #2:

From Rick Moore: I really like the tap focus on the iPhone and also tap exposure. So when do you guys think we’re going to get these features on SLRS?

Frederick: I would like it to! Recalls when Ron Brinkmann had an artist rendering on his blog of an iPhone on the back of a SLR body. Alex adds that the important part of the camera is the sensor and lens and he would love to see an iPhone as the interface since it has more power than the processors in existing DSLRs. That would also open source the UI development too.

Question #3:

From Mark Lane: I’ve been using Digital Photo Professional to edit my RAW photos, but did not understand until recently that when I edit them, it is not saved within the CR2 file but rather in the DPP library. I’m now wanting to purchase Lightroom, but would first like to know how to move my files from DPP into Lightroom keeping the enhancements I’ve made and not having to export them as Tiffs. Any ideas as to how to do this?

Alex: I don’t think it’s possible. Frederick says Mark should check to see if the software can export in Adobe’s DNG file format.

PICKS OF THE WEEK

Frederick – www.ThisWeekInPhoto.com/tour
Alex – Panasonic Lumix GH1
Catherine – D1000 Air Electronic Flash by Profoto (about $3,500 USD for a kit)

WRAP UP
Follow us on www.twitter.com/ThisWeekInPhoto

Join the Flickr critique group. You can also join our Facebook group.

Frederick Van Johnson – www.frederickvan.com or www.twitter.com/frederickvan

Alex Lindsay www.pixelcorps.com or www.twitter.com/AlexLindsay

Catherine Hall www.catherinehall.net.com or www.twitter.com/catherine_hall

CREDITS

TWiP is brought to you by SquareSpace – the fast and easy way to publish a high-quality web site or blog. For a free trial and 10% off your new account, go to – Squarespace.com/twip, offer code TWiP.

Show notes by Tom Newman at www.fogviewphotos.com or www.twitter.com/fogview

Bandwidth provided by Cachefly. Intro Music by Scott Cannizzaro

This release of the updated TWiP experience is only the beginning. There are many exciting things on our roadmap for the months ahead.

Please explore the site, comment on posts (old or new), and be sure to participate in the forum area.

Join the forum discussion on this post

So, let this be incentive to grab what ever gear you might own, and get out there and shoot.

What do YOU think about this iPhone photo-shoot? Think you’ll be replacing your DSLR with a camera phone soon? Sound-off in the comments.

Join the forum discussion on this post

I’ve always bought those disposable film cameras for any photogenic water-related activities, because it’s better than nothing, but for this trip I really wanted to take it to the next level. Plus, I figured a shockproof, waterproof, kid-proof camera was just what I needed to give to my eight-year old daughter.

Which Camera to Buy?

I did a fair amount of research, and came to the conclusion that the camera to buy was the Canon PowerShot D10 ($329.99 retail; $272.95 on amazon.com). The second closest was the Fujifilm FinePix XP10 which is more than $100 cheaper, but the overall impression I got from my hunting was that the Canon was worth the extra money. The D10 even looks a lot more durable, and frankly, in the hands of an 8-year old (well, at least MY 8-year old), durability is key.

Let’s See Some Pictures!

Let’s talk about shooting near water first. The simple fact that you can carry a camera to places like tide pools or the swimming pool, and not have to worry about it getting wet, is fantastic. You’ll get shots that you’ve never made before, even if you don’t actually go underwater! (Click any one of these photos to see them larger on Flickr.)

Tide pools are great fun with this camera. You can get close and hold the camera steady, and being just a few inches underwater, the colors aren't completely out of whack. Canon PowerShot D10 Review

The simple fact that you can have the camera *near* the water is awesome. No worries about splashes or drops.

I can’t stress enough how much fun it is having a camera that you don’t have to worry about getting wet. It really does open up a whole new world of possibilities!

How About Underwater?

Underwater in tide pools, swimming pools or out in the deep blue sea, the camera performed well. You do have to be aware of putting into underwater mode to keep your colors true if you’re going to go underwater more than an inch or two (more about that later), but assuming you’ve got that part right, the results can be quite fun. Here’s a few samples; info about each shot in the captions.

The camera can't help it if there's a lot of sand floating around in the water. So no matter what camera you have, if there's stuff floating in the water, it's going to reduce image quality dramatically.

The swimming pool is a REALLY fun place to play with the camera as well!

Some of the biggest fish in the ocean have amazing colors on them! Nice clear sunny day here, and look at how much brighter everything is.

In clearer water, it does really well. Although with the water moving us around as much as it did, it's simply hard to hold steady enough to get a good shot. We never did a boat-snorkeling tour, so all of these are just off-shore—meaning we have a lot of waves to contend with.

Is It Any Good as a “Normal” Camera?

A camera like this (especially at this price) better be good for more than just playing underwater. And this little point-and-shoot doesn’t disappoint. Now keep in mind, this is not a critical test environment review here. These are snaps from a family vacation (many of which my kid took), so take it for what it’s worth. I haven’t put the camera on a scope (nor do I intend to), and I’m not checking sharpness of magazine print on a macro shot—I’m simply looking at the photos we got and evaluating them for being photos that I’m happy with for putting online, adding to a family photo book, and maybe making small prints for my parents. I’m not selling these as stock, printing them as billboards, or comparing this to my 1Ds Mk III!

So that said? Here we go… some good, fun, above-water shots, all made with this little PowerShot D10.

It even does great out of water! The camera is a little on the big side to just drop in your pocket, but the quality looks great.

In full-auto mode, it switches between modes nicely. Here you can see that it went into Macro mode and did quite a good job.

One problem you'll enconter is water (or sunscreen) on the lens. Once you've gone underwater, it's nearly impossible to clean the lens properly until it's dry. This is an extreme shot (clearly big drops of water right on the lens), but many shots were smeared due to water, sand and oily sunscreen.

Any Complaints?

Not many, to be honest. Overall it’s very easy to use, and the auto-mode works very well. However, there is one point that I find quite silly and sadly think it’s something Canon can’t update in firmware (maybe some clever engineer can figure out a way though).

The full-auto mode does a great job of switching between portrait (it has face and even blink detection), landscape, backlit, etc. modes. Really good job. But there’s one mode that it doesn’t switch to automatically, which frankly, seems silly. And that’s the underwater mode.

Why do you need an underwater mode, to begin with? Because as soon as you go underwater, the color of light changes. You lose the red spectrum first, so when you put it in underwater mode, all the reds get super-enhanced. Which looks GREAT for underwater shots. But since it won’t go there automatically (and really… the camera doesn’t know it’s underwater? What, no sensor to tell it that it is?), if you forget to switch, all your photos are overly blue and flat.

So OK, you gotta remember to switch it. Fine. So now you’re in underwater mode, and you’re snorkeling (this isn’t a dive camera, it only goes to 10m/33ft… it’s a snorkeling camera), and you pop up above water to take a picture of your kid, the scenery, whatever. Now your photos are overly red, like this.

If you forget to take the camera out of underwater mode, all the shots will be overly-red. It's one of the few complaints I have about this camera, that it doesn't switch into underwater mode automatically.

So you have to remember to switch it back and forth. Which isn’t ideal, but not the end of the world, either. I actually had to dig to find a photo that was red like the one above; I must have gotten good at switching, and my daughter probably never took out-of-water pictures while in the water.

How Did it Hold Up?

So after nearly two weeks of use in tide pools, swimming pools, snorkeling and the back seat of the car, how did this camera last? As I mentioned on TWiP recently, if any company out there wants to put their product through five years of abuse in just a few weeks, send your product to my daughter to test. She dropped it, slipped and fell on lava rocks with it, dragged it across the ocean floor, buried it in sand, and frankly did who-knows-what-else to this thing—’cause it’s a mess. Check out these photos of the body in its current two-week old condition. Wow!

After two weeks of abuse by an 8-year old girl, the thing looks trashed but works just fine!

Even with the button area really mashed up, the buttons all work fine and don't stick.

Most impressive is that the lens didn't get scratched. The glass is well recessed, so even though there's no built-in lens cap, it seems to be reasonably well protected.

You can attach accessories to any one of four points on the camera. This is the standard wrist strap that it comes with, and while I wanted to buy the floating strap (but it was out of stock), I realized it's unnecessary. This strap cinches down on your wrist quite easily so you can't accidentally drop the camera to the bottom of the ocean. Great!

But you know what—it’s working great. No leaks (kinda important), all the buttons still work, and something I’m impressed with—the lens isn’t scratched at all. I was a bit concerned about that since there’s no cover for it, but it’s pretty far recessed and it managed to stay unscathed.

Final Thoughts?

Would I recommend this camera to anyone going snorkeling, river-rafting, or who has a butter-fingered child? You betcha. The images look great, it’s durable as advertised, and probably most importantly—my kid loved using it. And no matter how great a camera is, if no one wants to use it, then what’s the point?

-Joseph @ApertureExpert