Review; Sony Waterproof Camera DSC-TX5

After two years of use it's about time to give a full list of what's good and not so good about this camera. Before getting started it's worth noting that this camera gets a lot of use. Pretty much every weekend it gets a ritual dip into the ocean - a giant acid bath for all things metal - and it's also been skiing. It lives an active and harsh life but gets taken care off. Instructions on cleaning have been carefully followed. No, really, they have.

The Great

• Images are fantastic; super crisp, very fast at taking photos. The burst mode is ideal for taking action with the high burst setting clocking in at 10 frames a second (of full res pictures no less). Like many cameras it also has a panorama feature that does a really great job of dealing with whatever you throw at it. It sometimes struggles a little with clouds and you can get some strange artefacts (when scanning upwards rather than left to right).
• Easy Zoom; very easy to use, even in the water with a handy toggle on the top of the camera.
• Camera control; different white balances, smile detection shutter, three metering modes (including touch to meter), manual ISO adjustment, three focus settings (including touch to focus) etc. etc. Or you can put it into 'Easy' mode and it works it all out for you.
• Touch screen for quick changes; it takes a little bit of getting used to as it needs pressure rather being capacitive. You're a bright human though so it'll only take a minute or two to get over this.
• Quick start; simply slide down the front cover. In about a second and you're ready for your first picture.
• 1080p HD video; I often use this over bringing a bulkier camcorder. I have a Sony HDR-HC7 camcorder, another catchy name, and the Sony compact often gives a much richer image. If you've watched any of the recent videos posted on this site video from this camera features highly. In a rough ratio of 30:50:20 (Sony compact; Sony camcorder; Canon EOS 5D).
• Minimal water droplets; water doesn't really gather on the lens like other underwater automatics so you don't need to worry too much about water droplets blurring images.
• Really small; much smaller than your palm so you can easily carry it with you everywhere (pushed up the sleeve of your wetsuit, in the pocket of your board shorts...it's light and unobtrusive enough to go anywhere). I don't know how much it weighs. Not much. Less than a bar of wax so you're not going to really notice it when you cutback.
• Smart sealing system; on first look the seal closure, a small switch on the bottom, looks a bit flimsy and a worry. Though it's very smart; sat flush on the bottom of the camera and with a spring on the inside placing constant upward pressure on the seal means it's very hard to accidentally open it whilst in the water. This got a full test in a 5ft shorebreak last year and it passed without issue. You'd really have to try (I suggest you don't).

The Not so Good


Overall durability is not perfect.

• Front panel erosion; the coloration on the front panel of the camera lasted about three weeks. It used to be the same slate grey as the rest of the camera but it's now a silver flash on the front. For the shar paranoid this does make it look a little like a fish darting in the water (it'd probably only attract a small one). You'll probably get over this though whilst it was going through this moulting phase the bits got everywhere. On the lens, in the car, in the bathroom. They turned up in the most random places. It was a relief when it was over.

• LCD screen; this suffered a similar fate after a short time with a squashed patch on the bottom corner that looks like the upper and lower panels of  the touchscreen have squashed together. You can just about see it in the picture. It's also not a big deal though it does question the overall durability. Touchscreen still works mind so perhaps this is just the pedant coming out.

• Some seal degradation; after one year of use it is starting to look a bit battered and despite cleaning it religiously after every use the seal is starting to stiffen (this is normal) but there's also a significant build up of salts on the inside of the seal so some water, although a tiny amount, is getting inside each time. Not enough to cause damage but enough to create a build up of salts over time.
• Sand is the enemy; this is a bit of a nuisance. If you are prone to worry then this might send you over the edge. The sliding front cover does protect the lens. Though when you take it into an ocean churned up to equal parts water and sand, the re-constituted shell and rock/coral mix can creep in behind the sliding cover. With every open and close it makes a horrible grating noise and makes you wonder at the damage it must be doing. This has happened several times but so far there's no damage to the lens. The position of the lens, at the top of the sliding cover, and the gap between the cover and the lens means it'd be quite unlikely to scratch the lens but it would be possible. Something to consider for design iteration #2.

Overall

This is a fantastic camera. You'd be hard pushed to find something that has as many high quality features in such a small body size. The durability lets it down a little but it has been through its paces over the past two years and will certainly last another two before it starts to get questionable. It's not enough for me to not consider buying another one when this one eventually gives up.

Other brands have better durability but the huge downside is that this comes with bulk. This is fine if you have space though it limits your options to stow it somewhere on you without getting in the way. If you're not planning on dropping the camera on a rock then you probably don't need the level of near indestructibility they offer.

If you've got any questions let me know.