For outdoor adventures, the camera that you are going to bring along should be compact and durable. A compact camera is easy to handle and won’t be a significant additional weight. Meanwhile, the crucial attribute for the durability factor is an environmentally sealed body. Since you are taking shots outdoor, you should prepare for different weather conditions that can come up at any time. There are two popular digital cameras on the market that offer both compactness and durability, Canon PowerShot D30 and Olympus TG 860. Which one should you choose?
Design
Canon PowerShot D30 is coming with a trendy and functional body design. There are two dotted rubber surfaces placed on the gripping area to ensure solid, non-slip handling. It has button and dial control, but the display screen is fixed. It is slightly smaller and lighter than Olympus TG 860, but the differences are marginal. It is shockproof to 2 m and waterproof to 25 m. (See also: Canon PowerShot D30 vs. Nikon Coolpix AW120)
On the other hand, Olympus TG 860 also boasts an extremely rugged body. It is also shockproof to 7 ft (slightly over 2 m), waterproof to 15 m, freeze proof to 14 degrees F, and crushproof to 220 lb. However, it has no rubber grips like Canon PowerShot D30. But the advantage of Olympus TG 860 is that it comes with an articulating display screen, allowing you to shoot from difficult angles easily and take selfie shots.
Features
Both models offer up to 5x optical zoom, and their lenses both have been equipped with optical image stabilization, allowing you to get clear and sharp images despite the conditions. Both models also have built-in flash. Canon PowerShot D30 has no wireless connectivity, whereas Olympus TG 860 has built-in Wi-Fi that enables easy file sharing as well as remote control via your smartphone.
However, Canon PowerShot D30 is only armed with a 12 MP BSI CMOS sensor, with 3200 maximum ISO and 1/1600s maximum shutter speed. On the other hand, Olympus TG 860 is coming with a 16 MP CMOS sensor, 6400 maximum ISO, and 1/2000s maximum shutter speed. Hence, we can expect more flexible performance and better image quality from the Olympus camera.
Still, Canon PowerShot D30 is not without an advantage. If you think that manual focusing is an important feature, then the Canon camera can give it to you. Olympus TG 860 has no manual focus mode.
Conclusion
In general, Olympus TG 860 is the better choice due to the better performance and wireless connectivity. But you can choose Canon PowerShot D30 is you prefer to have the manual focus mode.
