They do have their limitations. FOG. The evapourative cooling of water on the outside, and the camera's mechanism heats up a little creates fog on the camera lens real easy. I surf in cold water, fogging might not be an issue in warmers water. There are humidity sachets you can put in to varying success. You really need to understand the menu of it when your out of the water......the camera may turn itself off at the critical time of filming. Dont set the camera up in the car since you are packing the cars humid air into the housing.
What is strange is that it will not fog during scuba diving. i think the squeezing of the housing with depth keeps the moisture suspended in the air inside the camera. Also there would be no evapourative cooling on the outside fully submersed. It is still a great buy but spend time to tackle the hard to follow menu. And what every you do....keep the camera in the housing at all times down the beach.
The fish eye view can be an advantage and a disadvantage. Underwater shots look great. If you are NOT in a deep barrel, the camera will make wave look kinda small and ordinary. Even if the wave is really steep the camera doesnt really pick it up. So if you are poor at barrel riding... and you want a go pro...you will be dissappointed. I think that a mate on the beach with a great optical zoom cam corder is a better option overall.
FOGGING in cold conditions may be stopped if go pro tried some thicker housing to insulate the temperature differences between the outside and inside of the camera. Go Pro Dessicators are a bit of an afterthought.
Have fun!
