i need a camera for underwater photography, and i narrow down my choices to olympus 1030 sw and pentax w60. does any own these two cameras? how is the waterproof function of these 2 camera? should i purchase warranty in case it gets water leaking?

HI,

I have the Olympus 770sw and find it to be very waterproof (It's rated for 10 meters, as opposed to 10 feet). There's a review out there somewhere on the web that takes it down to well past it's rating and found it still kind of works. It's still waterproof to 50-something feet, but the increased pressure causes the zoom to be activated all the time. I've taken mine down to about 20 feet and it works really well. It's no SLR, but I think the pictures turn out pretty well. The ISO sensitivity isn't so great, but it's not a problem unless you're in a pool. That's where you start getting weird looks when the flash goes off underwater.

I had the olympus 850sw. It was ok until it leaked in the middle of one snorkeling session. I hadn't hit it on anything, and it was no more than a couple of feet deep. I had always (including that episode) carefully checked the seals before submersion.

While it worked ok, it wasn't great in the image quality dept.

What I'm doing now is using a Canon G9 and a waterproof housing. Far better quality images and video. Lots more bucks, of course.

Concerning an extended warranty-- I doubt you'll find one that covers submersion.

Oajlu - could you give us a few more details? How deep do you plan to go, what kind of situation (snorkeling, diving, river rafting, canyoneering, etc)?