Panasonic HM-TA20, Bar Style Multimedia Camera

• Goes anywhere- underwater (or the bath and fishtank if you too have toddlers), no casing needed. Drop it - no worries!
• Pics are not high res - dont go expecting works of art for the wall - this is about a mobile camera that can go ANYWHERE. The touch screen isnt very sensitive so needs encouragement, but this is to ensure it is waterproof without need for a casing.

Overall: Well, 2 weeks of testing on the lil Panasonic TA20 are complete. The 2-year-old has dropped it, submersed it, bounced it and general treated it as a rubber ball, and whilst we have a couple of little scratches, it couldn't be cracked! Then, I gave it to hubby. He strapped it to a helicopter (RC, not a big one lol) and put it through its paces. Bouncy landings, one crash, and lots of spinning later, it's still intact. We have failed....... We killed a canon cam, and a Sony compact went the way of the bin after a bouncy heli landing, but like an Energizer bunny - the Panasonic TA 20 goes on and on. The idea of the TA20 is to offer an alternative to a phone camera - better quality output in a tough, go anywhere unit. Like phone cams, inside pics are grainy and blocky. Using the light helps on close up stuff, but at further than 1 metre don't expect a work of art. Outside, it is good, especially close up and normal click and shoot distances. Again, longer distances (10m and above, start to get quite dodgy). Zoom is good at close and mid distances too, but again, long distance is blocky. Depth through picture looks passable. It does have a touchscreen, don't be gentle with it - needs a bit of pressure due to design to withstand water. And the view is only half the screen space so that the mode buttons can be incorporated, but it is simple, which I loved, as did my toddler. The BEST feature is definitely the waterproof case. No need to add a cover, just make sure everything is locked down and chuck it in! Lots of fun for the kids (little and big) with fish tanks, baths, ponds, the ocean etc - can see lots of science projects on video! Pics are good and using the in-built light is great. Generally I found the video output better quality than photos in comparison to similar compact cameras. Overall, this is not a camera to give you super high quality pics, but that isn't why you would buy it...... this is the camera that will survive anything and allow you to record what's happening whilst you try to survive...... video that hungry shark approaching, walking under a waterfall, see your fish tank from the inside, record your visit to a coral reef. And you don't need to worry about the kids stealing and destroying your camera - tell 'em to do their worst, then sit back and have a frozen daiquiri and watch the fun!