Do you think it's worth it to purchase a waterproof camera?

[Kryssa]

We have started to do scuba diving. I have bought my DH an underwater camera for valentines day. I hope he likes it.

 

Which one did you get? We dive and I use a $250 camera in a housing good at least 130'

[roothy123]

Attached are a few photos I took last month with a Walgreen's underwater disposable camera. I'll admit, they're not great (the turtles came out the best, the water with the stingrays was really murky because of everyone shuffling)

 

Wow! I love the turtles! Those are great. I went out and bought an $11 disposable camera before I heard that most of you find them pretty disappointing. However, I guess if nothing else, maybe I can use them on the beach, or are they total miserable for that, as I assume there's quite a housing around the camera!

[Chakuna]

I had the canon d10....it took decent pics and video's. But, I sold it and picked up a gopro for them same price. Search gopro (underwater) on you tube and you will see why i switched.

[KPGirl]

Mkey D I totally disagree, I make scrapbooks of all my trips and love looking at all my fish pictures.

 

I plan on getting a canon D10 for christmas from hubby ( hope he agrees)

 

Mitsy those firework pics are amazing , wow !!!!

[KPGirl]

Mitsu , you take the best pictures. Maybe you could follow me on vacation and be the official vacation photographer ??

[mitsugirly]

Mitsu , you take the best pictures. Maybe you could follow me on vacation and be the official vacation photographer ??

 

Sure, you pay, I'm there. :D I offered to take pictures for everyone on our roll call back in 2010 (several of us are VERY close and talk every day still) but they declined telling me to "enjoy my vacation"...but taking pictures is something I enjoy. ;)

[Archaegeo]

I just got the lifeproof case for my iphone 4s.

 

If you have one, you can see how well it takes underwater video/pictures, its pretty nice.

 

Rated to 6.6 ft, will go deeper, but 6.6 ft rating perfect for snorkeling.

[MJC]

I love my D10, and the fact that it is slightly bulkier makes it easy for me to handle under water. We also have a Nikon Coolpix and we never use it now (hate those little tiny buttons), we always choose the D10 instead. When not on vaca we take it in our boat, in the pool at my parent's house, or anywhere we might be banging around to save wear and tear on our good cameras.

 

The other advantage is that since our other cameras (we each have one) are Canon they all share the same menu system and icons, making switching between them much easier.

[broli4000]

I love taking photos, but I don't want to have to try and set up every shot while stuff is moving. The other big issue is that the dicipack cases seem to work well, they are essentially a zip top bag and I know I would constantly be paying attention to my expensive camera to make sure it didn't get ruined.

 

In order to not have to worry about anything and take amazing video, I'm personally buying an HD camcorder and a true waterproof case. Its definitely more expensive that way (http://www.ikelite.com/web_two/jvc_fm1.html - $260, plus the camera cost), but I get a camera that does extremely well by itself for the rest of the trip and a case that can go down to depths of 200 feet. Between this cruise, hopefully other cruises and any pool I'll ever go to, I'll get my money out of this set up and get some of the best shots of anyone on the ship.

 

This is what you get when running with the setup I linked...

[broli4000]

Oh yeah, those underwater cameras... half of the time they seem to let water in when in the pool. How crappy would it be to spend $200 on a camera for your cruise only to have it not work the first time you get it wet? No warranty can put you back on your trip to take the photos you would have taken had the camera worked.

 

Just too risky to put my faith in any all-in-one underwater camera

[Buffettfan 225]

I was thinking about this too, but then I thought we could use it if it was raining outside, take it on water excursions (without worrying about it getting wet), to the beach (hopefully it will not get "clogged" with sand)... we do travel a lot so I'm hoping it'll be more versatile than my original thinking of an "underwater camera" only?

 

I have been reading online reviews and people say it can damage (water leaks, etc) so I'm looking for a place that offers a service protection plan. Amazon has the best pricing but I'd have to pay for a separate protection plan but I know nothing about it and how much it covers...

I have great success and best pricing I could find for SquareTrade Warranty -

usually you can do a search for promo code or coupon and get 20-30% of quoted rate. If purchase through Amazon can order plan throught them. If purchase say Best Buy or Ebay go to Square Trade website. What is nice is there is a plan that also offer for an small extra fee that covers "accidents -spills/water etc." Canon D10 would be $44 for two years if pay full price for plan.

[mitsugirly]

Just wondering...do sea turtles bite? They are the one animal that I haven't ran into yet when snorkeling and hope to see some day. :D

[BlessedBeingMom]

We bought an Intova CP-9 camera for our trip and while it did the job we wanted to, I cannot recommend it.

By the way Mitsugirly, we brought the fruit loops & then left them in the locker accidentally. No fish came very close to us. It was still a neat experience, but nowhere near as exciting as yours seemed to be. ;)

Here is my review I posted to amazon:

This camera has several drawbacks that cause me to be unable to recommend it to anyone else. First of all, the frame counter resets to PICT0001.jpg each time the card is emptied via downloading pics to computer. Additionally, these pics will often show the thumbnails of a previous picture, which is really frustrating because it caused me to accidentally delete six pictures because I thought they were duplicates.

Next, there is no date on the pictures & no way to set the date on the camera. Every picture is listed as being modified on 01/01/2009. If you don't empty your camera frequently, you may no idea when your pics where taken.

Finally, this camera eats batteries. On the camera meter, full is 4 bars. Camera will be showing 3 bars (which you'd think is still mostly full) and yet be dead after only one more picture (if you're lucky to get that one last picture in).

The quality of the snorkeling pictures is poor, albeit possibly decent for the price, but not much better than pics I've seen taken from disposable waterproof cameras. We had no problems with water getting into the camera or the case fogging, but we've owned similar cases in the past & still had the grease for the O-ring as well as some defogging drops which we used.

FYI we used this camera on a dolphin encounter excursion and a snorkeling trip in Cozumel.

[mitsugirly]

We bought an Intova CP-9 camera for our trip and while it did the job we wanted to, I cannot recommend it.

By the way Mitsugirly, we brought the fruit loops & then left them in the locker accidentally. No fish came very close to us. It was still a neat experience, but nowhere near as exciting as yours seemed to be. ;)

Here is my review I posted to amazon:

 

Aww, so sorry your camera didn't work out. I love my Canon D10 so much that we have purchased another one for our upcoming cruise in 2 weeks. :D I hope to be able to get some more good pictures.

[middlehaitch]

We bought the fujifilm fine pix for our Caribbean cruise (Christmas 2010 $159-179) and were very pleased with the results both in and out of the water.

We also got the accessory kit with a gel housing (good if you are scrambling around rocks etc) and float strap.

I tested it in the bath pre cruise..no leaks... and it proved to be waterproof in the ocean too.

I like it so much it has become the point and shoot that lives in my handbag.

It is slightly bigger than the palm sized point and shoots available but not overly chunky. It is going to the Panama Canal with me in April :).

 

http://www.fujifilm.ca/products/digital_cameras/xp/finepix_xp20/index.html

 

Cheers, h.

[centralcalicruzer]

Just wondering...do sea turtles bite? They are the one animal that I haven't ran into yet when snorkeling and hope to see some day. :D

 

No, they mostly just ignore you. When we snorkeled with them in Barbados, the guides fed them something - squid or something like that, I'm not really sure - and they came up and ate from their hands. The ones I have seen in Hawaii are a different breed and they are very protected, again they mostly just swam past and you were not allowed to interfere in any way.

[mitsugirly]

No, they mostly just ignore you. When we snorkeled with them in Barbados, the guides fed them something - squid or something like that, I'm not really sure - and they came up and ate from their hands. The ones I have seen in Hawaii are a different breed and they are very protected, again they mostly just swam past and you were not allowed to interfere in any way.

 

Thanks....hoping I run into some soon! :D

[satxdiver]

Just wondering...do sea turtles bite? They are the one animal that I haven't ran into yet when snorkeling and hope to see some day. :D

 

I have dived with sea turtles many times and find them very interesting. They do not bite or at least I know of none biting. It is best to observe them from a small distance and not interfere with them. In many places it is illegal to feed, touch or harass the sea life. Just observe them in their native habitat and enjoy.

[donaldsc]

We are contemplating buying this Canon D10 waterproof camera- seems to get really solid reviews and I've seen the pictures from people's blog when they use it underwater- so clear and pretty.

 

We're not avid snorkelers, and most likely won't use it all the time. From what I've read, it's a great camera both for land and sea. We do already have a great Canon point and shoot, and a Nikon D60 SLR. Having another point & shoot camera wouldn't be a bad thing as it's much easier traveling with a portable one and it seems like DH and I are constantly wanting to use the camera and take pictures simultaneously.

 

We don't foresee another water trip for a few more years (maybe in 2015 when we go to Honduras or Costa Rica), but I guess we could use it for land pictures?

 

Thus- do you think we should purchase this D10? Or, just save our money?

 

Canon D10: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-D10-Waterproof-Stabilized/dp/B001SER460/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327449184&sr=8-1

 

Inexpensive underwater camera are a proof that if you try to do all things, you will have something that may do everything but none of them well.

 

As long as you do not go too deep, they work as underwater cameras but not as well as a good camera in an underwater case. However, taking good underwater pictures is an art that most of us will never do well.

 

On land most of the reviews indicate that they are not as good as normal P&S camera although they are obviously good when you want to take pictures in the rain or snow. I guess that they would also be good on the beach as you do not have to worry about sand.

 

What I would do if you feel that you need a 2nd small camera is just get another P&S.

 

DON

[fireo492]

I started with a waterproof camera and now have purchased a camera mask. They are about $100 and they work great. You have a button on the side of the mask and you push it to turn the camera on and off. Every where you look is what you get on the video. You can also set it to take stills. The quality of the video is excellent. When you get back to the room you can download the memory card right to your lap top. If you plan to cruise and snorkel or dive in the future, it is well worth the money.

[cocontom]

If you just want to try one out, Buy.com has a $40 camera and underwater housing. It's a 5mp camera and the processing speed is slow. It's a good alternative to a disposable camera, and cheap enough to keep the expectations low. I would not get the non-housing waterproof version which is $60-70ish I think- if sometimes the seals go on the $400 cameras, do you really want to mess with a $60 version? Also, if you get it, get good batteries- the ones it comes with are junk. I don't know whether it's a camera or battery thing, but AA/AAAs in cameras always seem to die suddenly and unexpectedly. I think we got about 80 pics out of the Kirkland batteries, and still had a charge when we got cold and hungry and got out of the water.

 

Here are a few from the camera- they are color corrected (auto corrected by Picasa) but not cropped.

 

 

[cransplash]

If you just want to try one out, Buy.com has a $40 camera and underwater housing. It's a 5mp camera and the processing speed is slow. It's a good alternative to a disposable camera, and cheap enough to keep the expectations low. I would not get the non-housing waterproof version which is $60-70ish I think- if sometimes the seals go on the $400 cameras, do you really want to mess with a $60 version? Also, if you get it, get good batteries- the ones it comes with are junk. I don't know whether it's a camera or battery thing, but AA/AAAs in cameras always seem to die suddenly and unexpectedly. I think we got about 80 pics out of the Kirkland batteries, and still had a charge when we got cold and hungry and got out of the water.

 

Thanks for your recommendation- which model and brand on buy.com are you referring to? I briefly looked for underwater camera on buy.com but there were so many options!

[cocontom]

It's this one, but it seems like we got it from another company. Either way, it's the same camera, and they're the cheapest (and it's not like the thing comes with anything they can take out of the box to sell separately). It does come in black, too.

 

http://www.buy.com/prod/new-acqua-1231-underwater-5mp-digital-camera-12mp-max-video-recorder/220693497.html

[DangDane]

We are contemplating buying this Canon D10 waterproof camera- seems to get really solid reviews and I've seen the pictures from people's blog when they use it underwater- so clear and pretty.

 

We're not avid snorkelers, and most likely won't use it all the time. From what I've read, it's a great camera both for land and sea. We do already have a great Canon point and shoot, and a Nikon D60 SLR. Having another point & shoot camera wouldn't be a bad thing as it's much easier traveling with a portable one and it seems like DH and I are constantly wanting to use the camera and take pictures simultaneously.

 

We don't foresee another water trip for a few more years (maybe in 2015 when we go to Honduras or Costa Rica), but I guess we could use it for land pictures?

 

Thus- do you think we should purchase this D10? Or, just save our money?

 

Canon D10: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-D10-Waterproof-Stabilized/dp/B001SER460/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327449184&sr=8-1

 

 

My daughter gave me an underwater camera before I went to French Polynesia last year. We often take trips where we do a lot of snorkeling. I don't usually need to send pictures of sea turtles, sharks, stingrays....I put them in a scrapbook! I find that the $7 Fuji underwater camera works just as well! You can always scan the prints & send them!! Have fun!

[OKsoftballmom]

I just got the lifeproof case for my iphone 4s.

 

If you have one, you can see how well it takes underwater video/pictures, its pretty nice.

 

Rated to 6.6 ft, will go deeper, but 6.6 ft rating perfect for snorkeling.

 

I love my lifeproof case for pool/rain/river use. I am hesitant to use it on our upcoming Hawaii adventures as it doesn't have a strap or a way to attach a strap. Any ideas? :confused: