Underwater Photos. Have any of you

[weebo]

found a disposable camera a good choice? If you go on excursions, like to a beach to snorkel, what do you do with a regular camera while you're in the water?? I was thinking of a underwater disposable one. I have a digital for 'dry' environments... :) Maybe leave my regular camera on the ship?

 

Mostly we will be staying in shallow water. Any suggestions? Any pros out there with photography tips for under water photos?

 

I love to take photos and it's important to me to have great pictures of our trip... (25th anniversary & first cruise!)

 

Thanks, Weebo

[mrsfuzzmo]

We have always just used the underwater disposables that work fine for beaching and snorkeling (not digital quality, just fine). This time we are going to chance the digital camera "dry bag". I purchased one from a dive shop for about $15 and I can fit my small digital in it and use it underwater for photos. I have seen a few photos taken with the digitals in bags and they work out beautifully. My husband is sure I will ruin the camera, but I assured him this is what the bag is made for.

[10X]

I love to take photos and it's important to me to have great pictures of our trip...

 

One thing you keep in mind is that if you want "great pictures" underwater, a disposable is NOT the way to go. Disposables have no adjustments and are focused at infinity so everything looks like you were a hundred yards away from the subject when you took the picture, unless you are within a foot of it. You also cannot zoom or later enhance the pictures you get.

 

However, the other option, having a digital camera and underwater housing, might be too expensive for you, depending on your available $$$$$. You would be looking in the $500-$600 range.

 

There might be an underwater housing available for your current camera and you can check here to find out: http://www.digideep.com/

 

Most major camera manufacturers, Olympus, Canon, Nikon, Sony; offer housing for many of their cameras. They are generally priced in the area of $175, give or take a few $$$.

 

Denny

[kirbmeister]

I now have a digital with case, but for our first cruise we used kodak underwater cameras and they worked fine. A better camera might have done more, but for occasional usage the disposables took good pictures.

 

You can check the pics out at

http://community.webshots.com/user/kirbmeister1056

[JLC@SD]

here is a disposable underwater camera photo I took on the Big Island of Hawaii. It was printed at 4 x 6 and I scaned it to this digital photo.

[10X]

I have a number of pictures posted here that were taken by my wife and myself, with each of us using a 5MP digital camera in its own underwater housing. I use an Olympus and she uses a Canon.

 

http://www.sunfield.smugmug.com

 

Select Cruise 2006

Select any of the galleries listed as snorkeling

[Host Star]

I have a number of pictures posted here that were taken by my wife and myself, with each of us using a 5MP digital camera in its own underwater housing. I use an Olympus and she uses a Canon.

 

www.sunfield.smugmug.com

 

Select Cruise 2006

Select any of the galleries listed as snorkeling

 

hi denny and Paula,

i just purchased a pentax w20 , the camera cost as much as the housing for my regular digital camera so i just went straight for the underwater one.. I gave it to my son to try as he's on star princess now . however, they couldnt get into Grand Caymen, due to weather conditions and in cozumel it was too rough.. is there decent snorkeling at Princess Cays?.. that's their last stop so hopefully they can get in there... thanks for posting pics.. i look forward to trying my camera on my next cruise in December on radiance of the seas, in st. thomas and st. martin and nassau.. thanks for posting!!!

[10X]

Hi Star,

 

That W20 should give you some great pictures. I checked on it and it's a 7MP camera, which is great. My wife and I both use 5MP cameras and we'd be interested in seeing what your 7MP can do. I'd appreciate it if you could post something online if you get a chance.

 

Denny

[Host Star]

well, my son did snorkel at princess cays, but forgot to take the camera :(.. kids.. grrrrr.. so it will be up to me to try it out first.. we'll be in st. thomas at C oki beach next week.. hope for some good snorkeling .. i'll be reporting back.... can't wait to use the camera :)

[nolaAlive]

I would still be careful not to freedive with the W20 - it is only rated waterproof for up to 30 minutes up to 5 feet (actually 1.5 meters) deep. Also want to set it on Underwater picture mode. On most cameras, you would want to take off of Auto White Balance, but not sure if that is factored into the underwater mode.

 

The waterproof case for my Canon is rated to 130 ft.

 

You probably want to consider investing in Photoshop Elements to fix any color issues.

[mom_to_5]

I am a photofinisher. Invest in disposable underwater cameras! Just remember that water cameras DO NOT have flashes, so if you end up using it other than when snorkelling or at the beach, you must have adequate natural light to get a good picture. I took 5 with me to Tahiti last year, and then purchased a reuseable underwater camera on the boat. Best investment I ever made.

[mom_to_5]

found a disposable camera a good choice? If you go on excursions, like to a beach to snorkel, what do you do with a regular camera while you're in the water?? I was thinking of a underwater disposable one. I have a digital for 'dry' environments... :) Maybe leave my regular camera on the ship?

 

Mostly we will be staying in shallow water. Any suggestions? Any pros out there with photography tips for under water photos?

 

I love to take photos and it's important to me to have great pictures of our trip... (25th anniversary & first cruise!)

 

Thanks, Weebo

I am a photofinisher. Invest in underwater disposable cameras.

 

While there are those out there who will swear by a digital camera, for the average Joe, a disposable camera will do the job just fine. I took 5 with me to Tahiti last year and have never had better snorkeling pictures. They rival the photos taken on our digital camera. As a photofinisher, colour, quality and clarity are very important to me. If you are someone who plays with your photos and zooms and crops prior to printing, then you may want to invest in an underwater housing made for your camera. Do you travel a lot and are going to get your money's worth out of your investment? If not, with thought and planning you will still be able to get good memories from and underwater disposable camera. My shots from last year were good enough to enlarge to 8x10's without any loss of quality.

 

Mom_to_5

[foneguy]

i bought a 35mm reusable camera last feb on the grand princess, worked well at 80 ft, and has a flash for 20$

 

 

 

[Host Star]

back from my dec. 9-17th cruise and sad to say the pentax w20 is on the way back to pentax because it leaked.. took about 10 pics before the screen went black.. :(.. after drying off the camera and opening it i found the card and battery were both very wet... i had the lock closed and followed the directions, as I only snorkel it should not have leaked.. i returned it and hopefully they will repair or replace it.. the card and battery are still fine, which would not be the case if it was film.. so the pictures I did get are intact and are good.. some you have to play, find the fish with, or 'the fish that got away'.. i'm really bummed because i'll be in grand caymen next week and won't have the camera to try again :(

[coevan]

I have a Canon A-70 digital with an underwater housing and it works great. I have pictures of the Wreck of the Rhone in BVI in 90' of water. Now the stupid part, I have these pictures saved in my pictures. When I try to load them in this forum it says the file is too large. HELP!!!

[sk8teacher]

I have a Canon A-70 digital with an underwater housing and it works great. I have pictures of the Wreck of the Rhone in BVI in 90' of water. Now the stupid part, I have these pictures saved in my pictures. When I try to load them in this forum it says the file is too large. HELP!!!

 

Open them in most any graphics program and resize them. One that I use is a free one found at http://www.irfanview.com/.

 

Depending on your camera settings, your existing pictures are probably around 1mb or more. Open them and resize to 480x360, and set the resolution to 72dpi. That should bring them down to a size that you can upload. If they are still too big, just downsize them again.

 

Cheers,

[firefly333]

I have a Canon A-70 digital with an underwater housing and it works great. I have pictures of the Wreck of the Rhone in BVI in 90' of water. Now the stupid part, I have these pictures saved in my pictures. When I try to load them in this forum it says the file is too large. HELP!!!

 

I use photobucket.com to post pics on message boards. It will store almost as many pictures as you want if you use sub albums. When you are uploading the pics to their site, there is an option to choose the size of the pic...just choose a smaller size. It will upload them and give you the links to post here.

 

I'm sure there are lots of ways.

[coevan]

I'll give it a try.

[peanut561]

You can buy a housing for your digital camera and then you can take it under water.

[Raceroc]

I have a Canon A510 with an underwater housing. I Enjoy it so much that I got my wife an underwater housing for her Casio EX-S500. We take it Parasailing, Cave tubing, Snorkeling, to the beach, etc. with no worries. Great pics and you can reveiw and delete if needed, unlike the disposables. The cameras also have a underwater setting that works well.

[Madkitty]

I have a Canon A510 with an underwater housing. I Enjoy it so much that I got my wife an underwater housing for her Casio EX-S500. We take it Parasailing, Cave tubing, Snorkeling, to the beach, etc. with no worries. Great pics and you can reveiw and delete if needed, unlike the disposables. The cameras also have a underwater setting that works well.

[ATTACH]34351[/ATTACH]

 

vinteresting as this is the housing I am looking at getting - any hints or tips with it and I also never realised the camera has an underwater setting????

[frediver]

Yes a disposable carmea will be fine for quick pictures.

And yes you can get a disposable camera with a flash, yes you DO need the flash! You will loose all of your hot colors if you do not have a flash, this starts about 10ft. underwater.

The camera to look for is the SnapSights (brand) Flash camera. You can get them from REI and some wal-marts ( $16.00 - $11.00 ). I also saw them on ship during out last cruise but way more expensive.

One other nice feature of this camera besides the flash is that can re-load the camera it is not a one use system.

[feistytigger]

bummer about the pentax w20 leakage. we have the olympus stylus 720 sw. i've had a blast snorkeling with it in puerto rico, the bahamas, st john, and st maarten. and in the pool of course. i just bought photoshop, so i'm looking forward to trying to correct the color balance (it's too blue). other than that, it's super! it says 10 ft for 30 mins, which is great for snorkeling. and i really can't stand to hold the camera in my hand for that long anyway. i just drop it in my beach safe when i'm sick of it.

[Host Star]

bummer about the pentax w20 leakage. we have the olympus stylus 720 sw. i've had a blast snorkeling with it in puerto rico, the bahamas, st john, and st maarten. and in the pool of course. i just bought photoshop, so i'm looking forward to trying to correct the color balance (it's too blue). other than that, it's super! it says 10 ft for 30 mins, which is great for snorkeling. and i really can't stand to hold the camera in my hand for that long anyway. i just drop it in my beach safe when i'm sick of it.

 

pentax replaced my camera but i won't have a chance to try it again till my next cruise which I haven't even planned yet :(...

[feistytigger]

Bath Tub Time! ;)