Amateur affordable underwater camera choices in 2011 and beyond...

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if you are looking for simple as you do not dive that often and wants some snap shots. look at an intova. Well under your top budget. And if it flood, you do not loose the camera for your whole trip by having a dive and topside camera.

IC12 Intova IC12 12.0MP Underwater Digital Camera, 3x Optical Zoom, 4x Digital Zoom and 2.36" TFT LCD, 180 Foot Depth Rating

I think if you flood the case underwater the camera will be toast. I have not read anything saying the camera itself is waterproof.

I have thought about getting one of the cameras rated to 15 feet or so and sticking it in a case. Just extra insurance if it ever floods.

But I am looking into getting an IC12 for my trip to Curacao in July. For the price it seems tempting.
 
Yes if it floods all camera are toast. I have an older intova The IC6 and the case is really nice with double rings. I have it for diving only, and a topside camera. Since UW photography is not my big thing, and I really only go for snap shots. It works fine for my needs. The top side is where I really pay attention to my photography and use dslr and EVIL camera for max image quality for my photos. Personally I would not dive my hi price dslr. Just a personally thing, as UW photo is not big on my to do thing when diving.

The 15ft camera will not survive a 40ft dive. While I really like the olympus tough camera's they are not design to survive scuba depth only snorkle.
 
I know a 15ft camera would die down deep by itself.

But if it was in a water proof case that half flooded I figured that the camera would have a better chance of survival than just a regular camera. Now if you had a total case failure and it saw the full pressure at depth, that would also be bad.

Just a thought since I have had friends kill their cameras with a partial flood of their waterproof cases and normal cameras.
 
Yeah, I had call olympus about their tough. And if the case has a complete flood, it still would not survive at 40ft. but a minor leak it might. And you are not going to coming up fast enough with safety stops to save the camera form depth. But that will make the system 600 dollars. 300 for the tough 8010 and then 300 for a case. I just do not really focus on UW photos to justified that cost.

But when I do go diving I am on holiday for 14 days. So I may only dive for 6 hours out of the whole trip. So I have a top side system and an UW system to be safe. I shoot way more topside on holiday then UW photos.
 
That is true it would drive up the cost. One of the reasons why I don't have a camera yet, but also why the Intova looks good.

Thanks for the info.
 
I just got a Ikelite housing for $230 good to depths past recreational limits - 200 feet

Kodak Playsport Zx3 on Amazon.com for $119 not bad it is 1080P but I use 720P 60 format for consistent video imaging.

That is pretty reasonable to get started in underwater video production.

It comes with consumer editing software and conversion software by Media Impression.

I like it and I am using my existing Ikelite lights to shoot with.

Just a thought, without video lights you are into underwater shooting for less than $400.

What's stopping you...........GO DIVIN'
 
I have used the Intova IC 12 underwater for both video and photos and would not buy one. I would buy another GoPro before I bought one of them. For the price I would by nothing but the GoPro HD with flat lens and LCD.

Here is a link to my videos shot with mine:

GoPro in Quarry

GoPro in Caves and Quarry

Just remember these have been down sized from Gig's to Meg's to upload to YouTube. Some are uploaded in HD and some are not. It just takes too long to upload the HD files for me.
 
It does not get any cheaper than this "Snap Sights UW Camera" I have had mine to 105' takes decent pictures is reloadable film type. $20.00
 
It does not get any cheaper than this "Snap Sights UW Camera" I have had mine to 105' takes decent pictures is reloadable film type. $20.00

Until you go to develope it and find out all the pictures suck. My mom got me a cheap underwater film camera and I never really got any good pictures. It did seem to work better in very clear water on vacation, but Southern California does not have a lot of that. And even the good pictures were not very good. Either the flash was way to bright or things were out of focus if you were not in the sweet zone.

But I could also just suck at taking pictures:D

So I figure with digital it is much cheaper to hit the delete buton over the long run.
 

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