I came to comment because we had the exact same camera. My fiance and I took it on vacation and it worked perfectly the first two uses, but unfortunately got water damage during the third use. You do have to be incredibly careful with it if using underwater and this does seem to be the case with many waterproof cameras.

I wish I could find the links but after looking up the problem to see if it happened to anyone else, it seems to be a common issue that it leaks easily which will be interpreted as the consumer’s fault if sent back to Panasonic (just as you’ve pointed out, they will cover it if it there was a fault with the camera itself).

A tip that I picked up after reading about issues with ‘waterproof’ cameras such as this is it’s recommended to buy a camera with a heavy duty waterproof case if underwater photography is important to you – which I now definitely agree with! (I ended up selling it for parts on Ebay for $20 :S).

This is in no way meant to be negative or against Panasonic – just giving another perspective on my experience with the camera. I would still definitely buy a non-waterproof camera from them!

Lex – thank you! We really love the rugged, waterproof cameras that are out right now. It’s just so nice to have a camera that you can take in the water, and that’s tough enough to take a few knocks, but that takes decent photos.

Terry,
Thanks so much. Honestly, for a tech nerd like me it was a great excuse to play with a camera.

Brian,
I started looking into these cameras because they’re waterproof, but I love being able to pass the camera to my seven or three year old and not be terrified they’re going to accidentally drop it and smash it. We really wanted a camera that does 1080p, and it seems like a bit of a race between this Panasonic, the Nikon Coolpix AW100 and the Canon D20.

Kenin,
I absolutely love having a waterproof as well – it’s so nice not to be completely paranoid my camera’s going to be ruined when we’re beside the ocean!

I was really pretty impressed with all of the decent waterproof cameras out there these days. Sometimes it just comes down to how comfortable you feel with the camera, and the Panasonic was pretty nice to use, I have to say.