Underwater camera advice

[braidsrx]

Hello everyone.....my wife and I travel to the caribbean/Mexico 1-2 times a year. We have been looking into investing some entry level $$ on a decent digital underwater camera (those plastic 1 time use jobs just aren't cutting it anymore). Any suggestions/advice? looking to stay in the 200-300 dollar range. Thanks for any input in advance!

[siikik]

Divers Direct has an Olympus package for $280... OLYMPUS FE-360 CAMERA BUNDLE Underwater housing

I was thinking about it myself but need to recover from Christmas. I went to the Orlando store (before it closed) and played with the camera (out of the housing) to see what it was like, and it's a typical slimline camera with good features. For underwater, it is supposed to have two different modes, plus I found that you could set some features to manual like my DSLR.

My hesitation was actually the type of memory card. I'd rather not have to get yet another type for my arsenal. :P


Ken

[BDAfreediver]

If you already have a digital camera you might want to see if there is already a housing for it either through the company or ikelite.

Otherwise like Siikik suggested you can always find a bundle where you can get the camera and housing included. The Olympus housings tend to be quite compact compared to the ikelite even though they have been getting better...

good luck

[spoolin01]

You have an abundance of options even for inexpensive rigs. I won't recommend a specific setup because I'm not up on the latest, but both Canon and Olympus make small, inexpensive housings for most of their cameras, and have for some time. There are other housing makers as well, but other than Ikelite - who make excellent but heavier/bulkier/pricier offerings - I don't follow them. For shallow tropical pics you don't need an external strobe, but might like to have a red filter (like URPro and others) to help balance colors below 15 ft. My advice also would be to pick one of the point and shoot cameras that has a relatively wide angle and fast lens (small F-stop number at the widest zoom setting). Also get one that permits manual control of aperture and shutter speed, as well as the typical auto exposure mode. You don't need anything above the standard 3X optical zoom, telephoto is useless under water. Get one with a big LCD monitor. A lot of folks like RAW shooting format capability, for the power it affords in fixing up the pictures on your computer afterwards, but there are few inexpensive cameras that take RAW format. It's certainly not necessary to get good pics. Also, I think it used to be more economical to stick with cameras that could use alkaline or NiMH AA batteries, but the proprietary batteries seem to be very good now, and not expensive esp. if you don't buy the camera-branded make (you can often get higher capacity in the aftermarket batteries too). In my case I most like my 7MP Canon S-70, which takes RAW format, has an inexpensive proprietary battery, inexpensive case, and the controls and menus are laid out well for my simple use. I can get two dives @ 100+ pics each dive on a single battery. I bought everything used, except some of the batteries, and have no regrets. Not recommending this one as optimal (shutter lag is probably slower than most these days and the LCD is small), but as an example, you could buy the camera and case for $250 or less on eBay. There are numerous other excellent condition used rigs in that price range.

[driftwood]

Hello everyone.....my wife and I travel to the caribbean/Mexico 1-2 times a year. We have been looking into investing some entry level $$ on a decent digital underwater camera (those plastic 1 time use jobs just aren't cutting it anymore). Any suggestions/advice? looking to stay in the 200-300 dollar range. Thanks for any input in advance!

First, welcome to scubaboard!

If you are just going to use the camera for snorkeling you will not need a strobe to balance the loss of 'red' you get when you dive deeper.

You might want to look at the Olympus 770sw and the 1030sw. Both camera take very good pictures and they are rated waterproof to 33'. There have been posts that they will handle 66' but that is pushing the limit. No housings to worry about and both will fit in a shirt pocket. Right now the 770sw's are going for less then $200 on Ebay and the 1030sw's are about $350 retail.

I think that they are the best snorkeling cameras on the market today. Just remember to always turn the flash off when using them underwater. If you use the flash the only thing you will illuminate is all the little stuff in the water between your subject and lens, backscatter. Also, since both cameras are negatively buoyant, make sure you use the lanyard or better still get a floating strap.

[braidsrx]

WOW thank you everyone for the advice and input!! Time to go do some research... I like the idea of no housing=no worries and may lean that way. The help is greatly appreciated!

[driftwood]

WOW thank you everyone for the advice and input!! Time to go do some research... I like the idea of no housing=no worries and may lean that way. The help is greatly appreciated!

The site for research on digital cameras is Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ. BTW, no housing=no worries is not quite right. You still have to worry about the seals for the battery, memory card and connection ports. Just like a camera with a housing if they leak, you are in trouble.

[llqwyd]

if you want best pictures for cheap price, Intova IC500 (5Megapixel). easy to use and CHEAP ($125). includes camera and housing. digital. what more do you need? check out these pictures (nearly all taken with Intova) -

Snorkel Kauai Hawaii - The Turtle Tour Private Snorkel Tour