Longevity of powder coating

[Chris Wells]

I got my new HD1 last Friday afternoon, and I've been carrying it with me ever since. It sits in my jacket pocket; no other devices are in there.

What I've noticed is that
1) The powder coating wears through easily. I already have one spot that is whiter than the rest.
2) The unit is prone to scratches and nicks.

I have to be honest; these blemishes don't concern me in the least. But for those of you that like to have your cameras looking fresh and new, you might want to make sure you are using the case it came with.

Cheers.

[Rafael del Campo Garcia]

I carry it on my pocket too, but i have it inside a sun glasses textile pouch. I think it´s a good system cause protects the camera from scratches and the Sanyo case is too big to carry on.

[Graham Jones]

Yeah, how to carry it around?

It's an important issue, because one should carry it around at all times.

As a strict rule I use the supplied Xacti soft case, and my waterproof jacket.

So far the above method hasn't yielded any scuffs or scratches - although it's impact and rain that I am more concerned about.

[Chris Taylor]

All I need is for it to get popular enough for someone like say SENA to make a nice for fitting leather belt case for it :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

[Peter Solmssen]

For carrying just the camera, I use a very small leather case I bought at Ritz Camera some time ago to carry a PDA (!). To carry the camera plus external mike, wide angle adapter (not Sanyo), extra battery and chip, I use another nice leather case from Ritz that was just on sale for US$11.99. Both cases fit nicely on a belt.

[David Kennett]

I have a Case Logic DC34 that I have used for small Casio camera. It's just a hair too small for the HD1. I liked it because it would fit in my pocket, and feels like soft leather - no big ribs at the corners. I bought it at CompUSA some time back, but I haven't seen any Case Logic stuff there since.

I just got the slightly larger DC44 from the Case Logic web site. It is the same soft material, but will not quite fit in my pocket. It works very well on my belt though, and the extra compartment works fine for an extra battery and cards.

I bought a Joby Gorillapod from B&H, and have experimented with it a little. No real world experience yet though. It supports the HD1, but is a little springy. The remote also fits inside the DC44, and my plan is to use it to help the stability problem. The Gorillapod fits nicely in my pocket, so I'm anxious to see how much I can use it.

[Daniel Kissel]

I am not sure that there is any powder coating on the HD1. Powder coating usually is done on metal parts as plastic would melt under the high processing temperatures.

The Sanyo is mostly made out of plastic with spray paint (except the aluminumm heatsink underneath the OLED screen). That is prone to wear as well as chemicals, so care is required.

The hardness of normal paint is not sufficient to survive in a "pocket environment" for too long (after all, paint is nothing more than liquified plastic with pigments).

The whiter spot is most likely the color of the base plastic shining through.

Putting it into a case is one option, although it bulks up the camera. I wish a company would make a silicone skin as they are available for cell phones.

There you get the best of both worlds...

Originally Posted by Chris Wells

I got my new HD1 last Friday afternoon, and I've been carrying it with me ever since. It sits in my jacket pocket; no other devices are in there.

What I've noticed is that
1) The powder coating wears through easily. I already have one spot that is whiter than the rest.
2) The unit is prone to scratches and nicks.

I have to be honest; these blemishes don't concern me in the least. But for those of you that like to have your cameras looking fresh and new, you might want to make sure you are using the case it came with.

Cheers.