Any recommendations for inexpensive starter camera?

[JBreezy]

Hello,

I'm interested in getting a inexpensive dive camera mostly for stills, some occasional video. Mainly just to document vacation time. I have virtually no real photography experience, so a lack of features won't really bother me, though depending on how I like shooting underwater, I could see myself getting interested in the future. For now, I'm looking at spending approximately $100, until I can see if it's my cup of tea and/or I want to get into U/W photography to the point where I need an upgrade.

I've been looking around at GoPro knock-offs. Namely SJCam and Akaso. There are so many models of both! I feel like it would take forever to go through the specs on all of the different models. Anyone have any experience with any of these? (If it helps, really not interested in 4k, I don't have anything that could display it).

Also saw someone selling a Sealife DC1200 on craigslist in my area w/ digital pro flask, case, extra battery, and SD card for $250. I have been hearing good things about these cameras, however it's quite a bit more than I was thinking about spending. Given what I'm looking for, should I consider this? I'm really just wanting a point and shoot to start out, but I've read the quality is far superior on many of the Sealife cameras...

Forgive my ignorance here. I'm not familiar at all with camera specs.
Any input would be appreciated!

 

[Barmaglot]

I would suggest taking the basic underwater photography course (with a rental camera) from your dive operator before you commit to buying anything. Underwater photography presents a unique set of challenges, and having an instructor guide you through the basics can be tremendously helpful in figuring out where do you want to progress with it, if at all.

 

[chillyinCanada]

My recommendation is that you do another 50 dives and then take Barmaglot's advice. It won't matter how good (or not) a camera you have if you haven't mastered your buoyancy.
Take this time to see with your eyes and not your viewfinder. But you can still pretend you're setting up a shot when something strikes you (sort of like in air guitar, hehehe).

Seriously, work on your bouyancy first! Become a ninja diver that can spot the critters like an old hand. Then and only then, take the course with the rental camera. I believe you will enjoy both your diving and photography, if you set it up right.

 

[oly5050user]

Get a bunch of dives in before using camera. When you are ready for camera then figure out what you want the images for. I have to tell you that your budget of $100. Is not getting you very far. Do not waste your money for anything that cheap as you most likely would not pleased with results. A uw photo course is a good idea but will cost more than $100 and you will still need to buy a camera. Will also need a strobe or video light, bracket handle, etc. more realistic budget should be closer to a bare minimum of $800-$1200. If not serious just rent what is available at what ever resort you stay at. I up graded a small bit last year , went inexpensive as I am semi retired and a poor scuba instructor and spent around $3,100. All comes down to what you want to do with images and level of acceptable quality you need.

 

[Lorenzoid]

My recommendation is that you do another 50 dives and then take Barmaglot's advice. It won't matter how good (or not) a camera you have if you haven't mastered your buoyancy.
Take this time to see with your eyes and not your viewfinder. But you can still pretend you're setting up a shot when something strikes you (sort of like in air guitar, hehehe).

Seriously, work on your bouyancy first! Become a ninja diver that can spot the critters like an old hand. Then and only then, take the course with the rental camera. I believe you will enjoy both your diving and photography, if you set it up right.

I'll add that getting buoyancy and control dialed in before taking up photography is not only to help one hold that camera steady and pointed at the subject while composing the shot, but also because it's common to dive in groups, and sometimes a diver has to be patient around others. There may be several people who want to take a picture of something, and not everyone can crowd around it at the same time. So a photographer may need to patiently hover behind someone else, waiting his turn, then ease his way in to the subject, take the shot, and ease his way back out, without disturbing the subject, without kicking anyone or anything else, without stirring up the bottom, and so forth. To me, that was the hard part to master: fine control over movement, not just buoyancy. Learning how to do a back-kick so that I could ease myself out in reverse without turning around made all the difference.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

I'd take a different tack answering your question. You've got a few dives in, and hopefully already mastered buoyancy control.

I used to use more expensive gear (old Nikonos 5 back in the day of film, and others). However, there ends up being a lot of extra junk to haul on vacation. The little GoPros my students were shooting with worked out just fine for vacation snapshots. As a friend once advised me, the most important piece of camera equipment is what's behind the camera.

That said, a good light source will be your friend. If you're shooting close up, a cheap add on light built for GoPros will likely do the trick. But at distance, you'll need a pretty expensive light. And big.

There are tradeoffs between how much gear you want to lug with you and quality. There are really nice setups out there, but cost aside they tend to require bigger pelican boxes, etc., to haul them on the airplane, boat, or whatever.

No specific recommendation, but think about size as well as quality and price if you intend to travel with it.

A good course can help you learn. But so can a good book. Where it seems like you're at with it, I'd start with a used UW Photography book at Amazon, spend a bit more to get a camera and light source, and try it out. If after fooling around with it for a bit you find you want to learn more and upgrade the gear, take the course (tips from a pro really help you improve) and buy the latest and greatest technology.

 

[jgttrey]

Good advice about buoyancy skills, etc. I would recommend taking a basic class on UW photography. If that doesn't appeal, then at least read one of the good books on the subject by Alex Mustard or Martin Edge. You will learn more about how to take a good underwater shot doing that than you would spending a year trying to figure it out on your own, no matter what camera you go with -- and, those resources will help you make a better choice. I honestly think that if you already have some background in photography, the books will teach you more than the class.

To the original question, if video (particularly just sort of documenting your dive) was your primary interest, then starting with GoPro is, IMHO, a no brainer. You can get a used one, sell it if you don't like it without taking a bath on it, and there is a huge ecosystem of accessories. Also, there are relatively inexpensive underwater lights that work for close-in (Light & Motion Sidekick, for example).

But, you said you are interested primarily in stills. A GoPro is not a good choice there, again IMHO. Small sensor, tons of noise and very little control over settings. It'll do fine in shallow water with good vis and lots of light, but beyond that I do not think you will be happy with the quality of the stills. There is also no path to upgrade your stills - no ability to fire an offboard strobe. A flood light might help, but ultimately it is no substitute for a strobe. You'd be starting over with a new setup if you decide you like the activity.

Light is everything underwater. Our eyes adjust very effectively even when the ambient light decreases by orders of magnitude. We barely notice it, but it makes a huge impact on photography because sensors are not as adaptable as our eyes. Not only are the reds filtered out, but overall light levels drop with depth very quickly to the point that still images become noisy or blurry without supplemental light, and are also so color-shifted that it is beyond the ability to correct in post. In most situations, even in clear water with lots of light, once you get beyond about 40', if you don't have external light sources to color correct and help you get proper exposure, it will be very difficult to get high quality images, particularly if you're starting with a small sensor. Conversely, I have some great stills, even on a GoPro, in clear bright conditions when depth is <30'.

As for gear, one option is a high quality housing for a phone. Kraken makes one for $300 that is outstanding and is not phone-specific. Much better stills than a GoPro.

Do you have any point & shoot type cameras laying around? You can often pick up a used housing, particularly a poly-carbonate one from Ikelite or Fantasea, for a reasonable price. For example, my wife already had a Canon G16 and I stumbled on a Fantasea FG-16 housing for $165, shipped, on eBay. It works great and is 1000x better at stills than a GoPro. I can add strobes, etc., if I want, and it is a backup to my own mirrorless rig.

Either way, be realistic about what can be accomplished with any rig. In anything but shallow water, high quality UW still photography pretty much requires strobes, which are expensive and impose other requirements on the setup - trays, arms, a camera/housing with the ability to trigger offboard strobes, etc. However, there is tons of great stuff you can do in shallow water without strobes as long as you become familiar with some of the basics about UW photography, particularly the effect of the water column (depth and distance to subject) on colors, and some of the basics of effective composition underwater.

 

[MN Scuba Angler]

I would recommend using the camera on your mobile phone. I use an old iPhone 6 in a Watershot housing. I think it works pretty good. It's not the best video quality, but it does the job at low price point of about $100-$150. Here's a video I captured using it while diving a lake in Minnesota.

 

[Sean Walberg]

I have the Asako 7000. I bought it to take when I got certified. Another adult on the same trip bought a GoPro. His videos were much better which is probably because of the red filter (diving was about 30' during the day in fairly clear water), though I finally figured out how to clean it up in post.

It is definitely a cheap camera. On my first dive with it, it locked up as soon as I hit the water (though worked fine on successive dives) It also does these pain in the butt things like chop the videos up into separate files.

If I were doing it again I don't think I'd have bought it.

 

[JBreezy]

I've been lurking around here long enough to know that I should have seen that coming (regarding more dives first), and you're not wrong . Especially since I just bought my first set of gear, so the next few times I go out (next weekend! It's almost here) at least will be focusing on weighting, trim, etc. And I'm getting better every time I go out, but know that buoyancy could definitely improve. That's part of the reason I was looking at a cheap action camera-style knockoff, really, so that I wasn't too focused on all of the different elements that you can/need to adjust on more complicated cameras and could focus on my basic skills. Either way, my focus will definitely be on skills improvement with my local diving this spring/summer and reconsider looking into this

Is the photography course (PADI) pretty extensive? How detailed does it get? I may consider this once I'm comfortable in my new set up. Think I'm also going to look into the books mentioned above. Good point on stills from action camera types, @jgttrey. Definitely something to consider as well. Told you I'm a complete newb to this!

I think at this point my problem is I don't know enough to know what I want. I'll have to do some more reading and try to figure that out. Maybe try to borrow a camera from someone after a while (no one I know uses anything remotely fancy). Can't promise I won't do some e-window shopping though! Thanks for the input from all angles.