How did you escape from the island?
TELL ME!!!

I think the only real solution is getting that whole "rugged means tolerant to my carelessness" out of our heads. Big hulking straps will probably be annoying, and people will probably lose them once they unclip them anyway.

ive used a plenty disposable water proof cameras. while snowboarding, and even off the cost in ausi, but i have never lost one, i just used the cheap strap, and when i was swimming i attached it to my watch by sending it through its own strap...just be more careful?
btw the pictures on those cameras come out great, and if you buy the cameras in a case they aren't too badly priced either

Did you check Jason Chen's pants.
That would be the first place I'd check.

Seriously, I'd use a surf board leash. Shorten it, crimp it, and use it on my arm or a belt. The cord is durable, bright, and water proof. That is if I didn't see this little gizmo [store.sanyousa.com] .

There's this. I considered it when searching for a rugged camera before settling on the Olympus w790. I returned it after I decided the trade-off in quality wasn't worth it.

Or you could use a case. I got great photos and video with a Canon SD400 and an underwater case - and it floats! Not quite as svelte, but still not huge.

Charlie White reviewed this on [gizmodo.com] found at [www.thinkgeek.com] .

You might also think about personal interns. They could keep track of your gear for you. And if they messed up, nothing would give as much satisfaction as sending self paid interns into shark infested depths to look for your camera- as they test the latest chum suit.

@itchytooth: I think I have the same case that I use for a SD1000. Nice that it floats... The lanyard over the wrist thing sucks when you swim, but if you tie it somewhere else, you can miss a good shot. I still suck at underwater pictures though...(hint hint) Any suggestions for light profile/ISO/flash settings are welcome.

I think you might be missing an idea here. Perhaps, you should cultivate the short bus look. Nobody screws with a person that always wears a helmet. You are less likely to get robbed, laid (though I think you have it covered), and you could likely get away with a great deal more lewdness. There are cameras that can help you cultivate this sense safety and style. Here are few from Gizmodo's past: [gizmodo.com] and [gizmodo.com] , and one yet to be looked at [www.helmetcamera.com] .

With a look like this - [cache.gizmodo.com] - can you go wrong.

@johnnyabnormal: I don't remember having to mess with settings much, but I was in a fantastically ideal setting with clear blue water and bright coral and fish. Just go at the brightest time of day. Flash usually just highlights the particles in front of your lens.

I can, however, recommend against going below the rated depth. My girlfriend swam about a foot too deep and a tiny bit of water got in and ruined the camera.

good advice! I just want the companies to design something strap-wise that'll help us out, though. Know what I mean?

It always amazes me what companies decide to cut costs on. Chincy lanyards, adaptors, cables and gender converters are generally substandard.

Once in a while I am surprised when I find the opposite. At my work casters, tangled cords and unintended trips seem to ruin reference sets from time to time. I was just unboxing some headphones for the studio and I was surprised at few things. One brand of headphones I bought now has a replaceable cables. Brilliant! Another brand now has a cloth covered cable (which is stronger and resists chafing when tangled in a caster). Both came with good quality adaptors. Again Brilliant! The additions mustn't have cost much, and leave me with at least the memory of the product having some added value.

As the old saying goes, "Why give it away when you can sell it?"

Still have my W10. I love that camera, it's awsome when i don't want to have to worry about my dslr. I do have to admit, the strap is a little chincy(sp?). I bought a little lowepro case for it with a little bit better strap for my outdoor activities, so far so good.

Yeah, I've lost a Pentax W10 also. Was on a fishing trip and in fighting a large fish the butt of the rod knocked my camera out of my pocket and into the sea.

I replaced it with a W30 and now always have it on a leash attached to something that won't sink.

Well, they *could* permanently attach these cameras to beach-ball sized buoys, and you'd be all set using the camera at see: knocking it off the boat or dropping it while swimming wouldn't be a problem.

However, taking that same camera on the ski slopes, beach-ball sized buoy permanently attached and all, you'd end up with other problems to deal with.

You've got a good point though...at the very least, they should offer easy attachment points so you could attach your own buoys/industrial-strength straps/sandbags as your activities might call for.

-but then how would they sell you another one if you're still holding on to the first one??

forearm-mounted strap that unlocks at the push of a button. trust me, nothing says rugged outdoorsman more than a forearm-mounted anything.

You could try to take more care. Not zipping up a pocket with a camera in it? Really? I say if your that careless just try to come up with something yourself. You could probably use some old shoe laces to attach it to yourself. Or perhaps rivet it on to your ear, that will help you remember to take care, and teach you a lesson in being careful with your toys.

Hey Blam, why not get one of those freshman-college neck lariats with the clip at the end, and clip that to your camera's lariat? Or tie a knot?

The lord of the sea, Poseidon, thanks you for your toxic plastic and metal sacrifice to the ocean gods.

I bought one of these for my W10 and am still using it on the W30 which replaced it.
[www.prostrap.com]

@DeadWriter: Sad to say the GoPro wristcam just doesn't work that well. Image quality is marginal, nothing compared to even a low-quality compact. And the battery life is really poor (try changing batteries while under water!). Plus the lack of an LCD to verify photos is a drawback. So when I'm taking surf photos I still stick to my old 4MP Canon Elph with a waterproof housing -- the photos and movies are amazingly better than the GoPro. Lately I've used shoelaces to construct my own safety strap, just in case. Doesn't seem that hard to rig up something if you're worried about losing your camera.

@johnnyabnormal: To make underwater pics look better, go in Photoshop and remove the color cast ([www.wikivideo.it]), and you'll be amazed at how much better those underwater pics will look.

The Olympus SW series offers everything on your wish list of accessories!
"...neck lanyards, neoprene arm bands, or even orange buoys that can keep the cams from sinking during water adventures."

@Brian Lam
:

I spent 2 weeks on Oahu in 1994 but I stayed in the military resort (sister and brother-in-law were stationed at the base). Best vacation I ever had - it only cost me $40 USD a night for a private cottage right off of the beach. Screw Waikiki and Honolulu!

Sucks about your camera though...

So true! lost my Olympus SW720 snowboarding back mountain in Vermont. Decided to let go of the camera to use my hand for what I thought was more important at the time; saving my face. Went back with a metal detector to look for it with now luck. I Still have the underwater case which doesn't work on the newer models which means I'm forced to buy the older one again to save the case investment! I don't know what attachment would've saved the camera in my situation though. Maybe some kind of Audio beacon or something...

Or a strap would do I guess...

If no one ever lost their digital camera at sea, we would never discover the ironic bliss of their last moments after removing their camera from the belly of a shark, "Open Water" style.

@liquidsoapdispenser: I've had some pretty good results in Photoshop CS3 using levels and hue/saturation. Thanks for the link, I'll check it. More than anything, I want to make sure nothing blurs when I shoot underwater. Adjusting ISO is so tricky when you're underwater since you have to look at a tiny screen through a waterproof case!

@frigg: Did you know shark fin soup is causing sharks to become endangered species? I only found out this year. Supposedly it's a huge market. They catch the sharks, cut off the fins and dump the (still alive) shark back in the ocean. Pretty messed up, if you ask me.

Still got my little W10. It takes really good underwater pics and is a great backup for places I don't want to take my DSLR.

If I ever lose my 1030SW, I'll cry. That camera is hands down one of the best waterproof/shockproof point and shoots out there.

Go into any scuba store and they'll have a rack full of lanyards. Retractors, clip offs, unclip-to-expand, break aways, and more.

The only thing you want to be careful of is making sure your camera is less important than you. This means that if the thing on the lanyard is caught, you can disconnect or break it and get to the surface.