It Never Rains in Manchester

It Never Rains in Manchester

That can't be right. Can it? Well we might think it could be looking at the images I have shot with the Pentax W90 waterproof/dustproof/crush proof/freeze proof compact camera. All these bright, sunny pictures, or perhaps when it's raining I look out, think I don't think so, and wait for the sun to break out again. Come to think of it, it never rains on holiday either, so I must be on to something. What is certain is that I got on very well with this camera, I clearly liked it and shot masses of images whilst I had it from 2010 to 2014. Even then it was not done, as I gave it to Granddaughter Amelia and she still has it in use.

To be fair, the W90 did prove itself in some wet situations, even if I chickened out. The most notable was the Dishwasher Incident. I put the camera on interval timer, with the flash activated, and then popped it into the dishwasher to happily shoot at 10 second intervals. This was a cold water rinse cycle with no abrasive detergent, but even so:


However, a word of caution. I have found these cameras to be totally waterproof, as have several friends, but at least one was not so lucky and managed to find two leaky examples. Once water gets inside the camera will be as vulnerable as any other, so the seals should be carefully kept clean and cards and batteries should not be changed unless the camera is totally dry. There is also a depth limit (currently 45 feet) and a time limit of 2 hours for submersion.

However, there are also plenty of other subjects for a rugged carry-anywhere camera, so let's have a look.