Best Underwater Compact Camera - Picture Quality

[scubadada]

The Canon G7X has a single button WB correction, makes a big difference in my ambient light shots

 

[They call me Tater]

Very nice pictures dada.
But I fall in the TG 4 camp for snorkeling. Why double ( or more) the price to include a housing for snorkeling pictures.

 

[Rocketman3]

I have the TG4
Here are my observations:
It takes very good outdoor scenic pictures.
Inside pictures are very below average.
Underwater are ok pictures.
Underwater macro are ??? Haven't taken many. Topside macro are good.
It is an easy camera to use underwater.
I take it on all my dives... It takes great pictures before/after my dives. And if the DM says the MOD is 50' or less I take it diving.

I do like it very much - it is small enough to take hiking and backpacking for me and has been many places.

 

[dhaas]

People who love the Olympus TG models for being waterproof on their own have a point. Until one day those little seals in tiny spots fail to be waterproof So housing it does give you a bit of extra protection.

That said the Olympus TG-4 sensor is a 1 / 2.3" (look up the techno-babble) and even a Canon G16 with its 1 / 1.7" and the newer 1" sensor compacts from Canon (G9X, G5X, G7X and G7X Mark II) plus Sony RX100 series have greater dynamic range and detail. If you want to make prints bigger than say 8 X 10 you'll definitely see a difference unless maybe just shooting macro.

The last photo below are three 14 X 24 prints I made for my daughter of Venice I shot with a Canon G7X and they look spectacular. I've shot a lot of compact cameras in the last decade alongside SLRs and the latest 1" sensor jump is a BIG advantage ESPECIALLY underwater.

I now own the Canon G7X Mark II but the original G7X is still a super value with the same sensor and lens. I'm confident I could go bigger print wise or make one of those coffee table books with files from any of the 1" sensor models.

As the previous poster said the ONE TOUCH white balance with or without a color correction filter is fantastic (Canon G16 and G7X especially.) I have got better results using a Red filter (tropical water) and custom white balancing.

YMMV.........

David Haas
Haas Photography Inc.
www.haasimages.com

 

[Skeptic14]

That said the Olympus TG-4 sensor is a 1 / 2.3" (look up the techno-babble) and even a Canon G16 1 / 1.7" and newer 1" sensor compacts from Canon (G9X, G5X, G7X and G7X Mark II) plus Sony RX100 series have greater dynamic range and detail. If you want to make prints bigger than say 8 X 10 you'll definitely see a difference unless maybe just shooting macro.

Definitely the biggest downside of the tg-4 is the tiny sensor.

Nice pictures!

 

[fish80]

I have been using the tg4 for snorkeling, very convenient size and picture quality is good imo. I shoot in aperture priority mode f2.0 rather than the underwater modes. With a bit of white balance in post you have good pictures. For diving I am going to buy a rx100 mII as suggested in a post above. ;-)

 

[JESretriever]

Thank you so much everyone for your input. I have explored the suggestions (G7x and RX100) and I love the sound of them, but once I factor in waterproof housing it takes them upto £700ish+. Which is around £300 more than what I wanted to spend. A problem I've encountered is that the cameras that are waterproof out of the box (much preferred) do not take excellent photos; a lot of mixed reviews for the TG 4. So basically if I want excellent image quality I have to invest in underwater housing for an SLR?
Thank you.

 

[Skeptic14]

Thank you so much everyone for your input. I have explored the suggestions (G7x and RX100) and I love the sound of them, but once I factor in waterproof housing it takes them upto £700ish+. Which is around £300 more than what I wanted to spend. A problem I've encountered is that the cameras that are waterproof out of the box (much preferred) do not take excellent photos; a lot of mixed reviews for the TG 4. So basically if I want excellent image quality I have to invest in underwater housing for an SLR?
Thank you.

The quality of a photo is determined by more than the camera. A couple of us have pointed out, and I would reiterate, that if you've never done UW photography before the limitation of how good your pictures look isn't going to be the camera.

Ocean Art 2016|Underwater Photography Guide

If you look through winners from previous years of the linked photo contest you will see that individuals using the tg-2,3,4 have placed in the compact categories. Are you going to be able to reproduce those shots immediately?

However, if you value picture quality potential as much as it appears than yes, you'll have to invest more money on an rx-100 or other compact with a 1" sensor and of course a housing for it. Those aren't SLRs, which are vastly more expensive than even the "high end" compacts...

 

[stuartv]

Thank you so much everyone for your input. I have explored the suggestions (G7x and RX100) and I love the sound of them, but once I factor in waterproof housing it takes them upto £700ish+. Which is around £300 more than what I wanted to spend. A problem I've encountered is that the cameras that are waterproof out of the box (much preferred) do not take excellent photos; a lot of mixed reviews for the TG 4. So basically if I want excellent image quality I have to invest in underwater housing for an SLR?
Thank you.

Not sure what housing is factored in that 700 pound price. But, over here, the Meikon housing is only about USD$250 and they seem to be fine. Mine is working fine and the other folks I've read that have them seem to have no trouble with them.

The older RX100 Mk II was still available last time I checked, for about half the cost of the newest version of the RX100. Here, you could get a RX100 Mk II and a Meikon housing for it for about USD$750, total.

 

[Nealk]

Thank you so much everyone for your input. I have explored the suggestions (G7x and RX100) and I love the sound of them, but once I factor in waterproof housing it takes them upto £700ish+. Which is around £300 more than what I wanted to spend. A problem I've encountered is that the cameras that are waterproof out of the box (much preferred) do not take excellent photos; a lot of mixed reviews for the TG 4. So basically if I want excellent image quality I have to invest in underwater housing for an SLR?
Thank you.

I can tell you that I have the Olympus TG-4 and I could not love it more. It is simple, easy to use, waterproof without the case, you can buy a floating strap and an extra battery for just a few dollars. I would spring for a bit of a larger SD card, I personally use a Gobe 32 Gb card (which is actually waterproof regardless of camera, so it will survive even if the camera floods, and it is fast enough to keep up with the video recordings). You can probably find one for 20-30$, and take both pictures and videos at the highest possible resolution without filling it up on an entire day or two of diving/snorkeling. I am a very amateur photographer, and if you are willing to look, these are a few images I was able to capture:

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

Itried to show you a large range, from salt to fresh, from underwater to on land, even at night and super macro with grains of salt. If you have any questions, please let me know. A note: the saltwater macro ones in the middle were not taken in the ocean, but rather in a large fish tank maintained in the marine lab that I work in.