Camera Search & Rescue

As you know I have a waterfall addiction. As with most addictions, things have progressed. First, it started with just looking at the popular ones; then it progressed to hiking into the middle of nowhere to find off-the-beaten path waterfalls that few people see. Finally, it’s moved to rappelling down waterfalls to gain access to places that literally only a handful of people see a year.

As you might guess this means fairly specialized gear for getting into these areas, and tough gear for taking photos. For the photo department I’ve opted for the Olympus Tough TG-5. This camera is supposed to be waterproof and can take a beating — both of which happen on a regular basis.

A little while ago I lost my camera while in a raging creek with my buddies. The case somehow popped open as I was climbing over some logs in the middle of the creek at the base of a waterfall. I noticed the case was open so we looked around. Unfortunately, there was so much white water and everyone was freezing from dunking their heads and hands in the water searching that we had to give up the search. I couldn’t decide which was more upsetting, losing the camera or losing all the images from that day.

First glimpse of the strap. Did you see it? Near the end of the video on the right after the leaf.

A week later — after the water levels had dropped and the creek calmed down — a buddy and I went back to look for the camera. I figured it was a long shot but worth the effort before purchasing a replacement camera. After hiking upstream for a while, we got to the spot where I thought I had lost it. We searched with our hands and tried looking through the water but couldn’t see much due to the bubbles from the waterfalls and all the leaves in the water. Eventually, I dunked my cell phone in the water to shoot video below all the bubbles. This actually provided much better visibility and kept me from having to stick my head in cold water again and again. After a long search, I caught a glimpse of the red strap. I wasn’t sure I was right so I showed it to my buddy and he couldn’t believe I caught enough of a glimpse of the strap to identify it. Even after I knew the general location it took several tries to actually grab the camera with my hand.

So stoked!!

Once I got the camera home, I opened up the cover for the battery and SD card and everything seemed totally dry inside. I knew it was waterproof, but it had been on the bottom of a creek in heavy flow for a week so I was stoked. I hesitated to turn it on — wanting to just to make sure things were dry — so I pulled the images off the card. The next morning when I turned the camera on it worked just fine. Like nothing had ever happened! The battery was still fully charged, despite the temperature of the water being about 40 degrees for all that time. I'm still shocked that I actually found the camera and even more impressed that it still works. I have to say that the Olympus TG Tough lives up to its marketing hype: That's one tough camera.

Below are some of the shots from that day. You can see why I said there was a little white water.

If you want to see some of my other canyoneering shots, most taken with the Olympus Tough TG-5 check out my canyoneering page.