The best rugged cameras for adventurous photographers

Whether you’re tackling a hike through the mountains or a surf on the ocean, rugged cameras are built to capture it all. They’re perfect for the toughest of environments, with waterproof, shockproof, and freeze-proof designs that make them the ultimate adventure companion. We found some of the most durable cameras on the market, which promise to shoot vibrant pictures and withstand intense exploration.

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Capture all the beauty of the sea without worrying about camera damage. The Olympus is waterproof, with five underwater shooting modes including underwater microscope and underwater white balance modes. The camera shoots footage in crisp 4K HD and is designed to work down to 50 feet of water. It’s also perfect for other tough photography adventures, with anti-fog, freeze-proof, and shockproof features.

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This compact camera is no lightweight. It’s waterproof down to 65 feet, freeze-proof to 14-degrees-Fahrenheit, and shockproof for falls reaching 5.7 feet. You’ll enjoy an anti-reflective LCD monitor, perfect for any lighting challenges, and a 5x optical zoom lens. Quickly and easily transfer your pictures to your smartphone with the free FujiFilm Camera Remote app.

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Dive deep underwater with the Nikon Coolpix camera, and you’ll still be able to shoot full HD videos complete with surround sound. The “underwater face framing” setting automatically detects and focuses on faces, while the “add clarity underwater” feature ensures your images come out crystal clear. Enjoy VR image stabilization, which helps keep pictures sharp, even if your adventure is a little on the rocky side.

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Whether you’re diving deep into the depths of the ocean or exploring a dark forest, the Panasonic Lumix will adjust accordingly, utilizing the Torch Light feature to cast a glow on your subject. The small but mighty camera is waterproof down to 26 feet, shockproof to 5 feet, and freeze-proof to 14-degrees-Fahrenheit. Its camera lens senses and corrects blurring, so you can feel bring it along on bumpy journeys. There’s also 220MB of built-in memory that kicks in when the camera’s SD card is full.