His pelican case stunk? I tend to leave my kayaking gear out on the deck to dry after using it. If I'm in stinky water, I wash it off - otherwise I let sunlight naturally deoderize it a bit. IF you leave stuff in a dark place and it doesn't dry out rapidly, it does end up starting to smell.

None of my pelican cases stink. OR any of my drybags.

Here's the drypak cases:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...1.93_13&fsc=-1

Yes. Basically all of the waterproof cameras are more expensive for shittier cameras because they are waterproof. They make compromises with small lenses that don't extend out. That being said, I can make my optio w60 take a gorgeous picture. I haven't played with the w90, but I know the w60 & the w80 have a tendency to overexpose the highlights, so if you shift the metering in the camera to take a picture at -.7, it takes a much better picture than what it does at what the camera considers a normal exposure. Probably most of the pics I've posted on here are from the w60 while kayaking and I can link to my picasa albums if you want.

I have a couple friends with the older olympuses waterproof cameras ( a year or two old models) and their cameras suck from what I've seen. Maybe it's the photographer and not the actual camera. But the olympuses typically score behind the pentaxes in the photography site camera reviews. The fujis are usually behind the olympuses. And the canon and the panasonic tie for better than the pentaxes - but the canon has its stupid shape and not a very wide angle lens. I tend not to zoom much while kayaking, so having a wide angle lens on the camera is great. If you want to take pics of cool birds that you see, it's an exercise in frustration. When I have my dslr with me, I keep my 70-320 mm lens with it for that purpose.


I have actually killed a camera with salt water while kayaking - so it's basically something I don't risk at all anymore. I will curse my w60 when it's not as good of a camera as my dslr when I'm out on the water - but it can take a nice picture and I absolutely do not have to worry about it. I put it in my bento box while cyling (I've had it bounce out and skitter across the road when I hit a pothole and it works fine after that impact)... and I take it with me skiing. And doing all of that without having to worry about my camera is priceless

It's always tempting when you start kayaking to just buy a big 40 liter drybag or two - but if you ever start camping with your kayak, it's a heck of a lot easier to have a bunch of smaller drybags. I use a lot of 5, 10, 15, and 20 liter drybags - smaller bags pack easier into the compartments. A half filled 40 liter drybag still takes up a lot of space 'cause of all that extra plastics.