Underwater cameras

[friisc1]

I'm thinking of buying an underwater camera for our next cruise because I've been really unhappy with the photos you get with the disposable ones. Not sure how much use it would get so I'm not sure I want to spend the money to get a digital camera. I noticed SeaLife has several 35mm film cameras. Has anyone every used one of those? Is the quality a lot better than disposables? Would appreciate any opinions or advice since I'm a real novice photographer. Thanks for any input;)

[bruce-r]

The sealife cameras are not much higher quality than the disposable cameras. The price for one is probably more than the price you'd pay for a housing for a decent digital camera. A housed digital camera is the more cost effective way to go. IMHO. You get a camera that you can use underwater and above water. You will have much more control over the actual photo taking process if you want. You don't have to buy film or pay to develop it just to see if you got one or two photos that are any good. With digital there is immediate feed back and you only have to pay to print the photos you want, not a whole roll. It would price out as .19$ a print for digital (at Costco) compared to at least $2 for the roll of film and $3.49 for processing a roll of 24 photos where you don't know if you will like any of the photos. I recommend getting either a Canon or Olympus digital camera because in addition to these companies making good quality digital cameras, they make underwater housings for many of their cameras.

 

Sealife camera for $149

 

OR better yet :

the Olympus Olympus Camedia C 50 Zoom for between $229 and $480.

 

And get the housing for it for less than the Sealife camera, PT-014 housing for $139 to $164.

 

The Olympus camera is only used as an example to give an idea what is available.

 

Sure the Olympus digital camera costs more, but you can use it everywhere if you bought the housing that cost less than the Sealife camera and you'd have a much better camera.

[BullinOhio]

Agreed, go digital with a housing. A 24 exposure roll was $18 to develop in the Caymans. With a digital you can view your photos on a TV, laptop, or camera while on vacation and print the ones you want to keep very inexpensively when back stateside. The immediate viewing of results and long run cost savings on a digital are definately worth the upfront expense. I would not skimp on the housing either. Try to get a housing that is rated to 120-130'.

 

Just my $0.02

[friisc1]

I was kind of afraid of just these responses. Good thing I asked first, before committing to buying! Right now I have an Olympus c4000 Zoom but everything I've read says I need a housing that Olympus doesn't make anymore. Guess I'll have to do a little more research or call Olympus Monday morning to see if another housing will fit that camera. I definitely do not want to buy another camera-this is already a replacement for the one my husband dipped in The Baths on our last cruise!!

[mcw331]

Go digital. I use a Sony Cybershot DSC-P5 with 128meg memory stick and underwater housing. It works great the pics may be a little green / bland at first... but on the computer you can adjust the colors with ease (+red, -green, -blue) and the pics come to life.

 

Also on my last trip i usually shot with the flash off (because it doesn't throw far at all and runs the battery down) I was shooting a lobster under a ledge. Previewed it solid black... turn the flash on... Got the shot:). See lobster attached (it is resized smaller and compressed to fit here, no color correction was required on this shot.

 

This is an older Sony that still works great i would look on ebay (Maybe $200)

[christygobar]

Ok, so say I go buy a Canon digital camera....I have had my eye on a couple recently.

 

Where would I BUY the housing? Directly through Canon? Through a retailer? Which retailer? A dive shop?

 

I was looking at the SeaLife, but I am glad I got a review.....it seemed like a decent camera for the value. But I really could use a new dig. camera anyways!

[BullinOhio]

The Canon housings are much less than the aftermarket housings that fit Canon cameras, and most of the housings for their newer models are rated to 130'. I would go with a Canon housing. As to where to buy... Easiest is direct from Canon (links from powershot.com). However, I would do a little searching and homework on the internet to get a better price.

[bruce-r]

The very first thing to do is to go to http://www.digideep.com/ and check to see if a housing is available for the camera you are considering. You need to know the model number of the housing to search prices for it.

 

This is what I did when I bought my Olympus housing. I did a search using several of the online shopping sites, like nextag.com shopping.com or pricegrabber.com. I wanted to see what the price ranges were so I'd know what was a reasonable price. I'd also include froogle.com and ebay.com closed auctions to get prices. Choose a couple of online merchants and see what bizrate.com says about them. With cameras, there are a lot of online/mailorder store (most from NYC) that should be avoided. Their tactic is to sell the camera for a real low price, then call you to "confirm the order" which really means that they put the hard sell on you to buy over priced accessories. When you finally say NO, they will tell you the camera is "back ordered" and won't ship for weeks.

 

Some of the safe online camera retailers are:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

http://www.6ave.com/main.jsp This is the site I bought my Olympus 5050 from, excellent transaction.

http://www.adorama.com/

but this list is not exhaustive.

 

Also check http://www.steves-digicams.com/ where at the end of the review there is a price check link.

 

Don't forget to check ebay too, with the usually cautions to check the sellers feedback...etc.

[VTSnorkeler]

www.amazon.com

 

do a search for the housing you are looking for. For me it is the WP DC800.

 

$169 with free shipping is a pretty good deal I think. Good Luck and let us know what you find

[christygobar]

Thanks guys.....I appreciate it!

 

I am looking at the new Canon A85. So I can get the camera off of Amazon for about $250 + a card for $40 and the housing for $160.....and if I use Amazon, versus the retailers, it's free shipping :) So overall not a bad deal!

 

My trip is in May, so I have a bit of time, but I think because of this thread I am going to follow through and go this route. I was looking at the SeaLife originally. Thanks for the help!!!

[bruce-r]

Thanks guys.....I appreciate it!

 

I am looking at the new Canon A85. So I can get the camera off of Amazon for about $250 + a card for $40 and the housing for $160.....and if I use Amazon, versus the retailers, it's free shipping :) So overall not a bad deal!!

 

Canon makes pretty good cameras so I don't think you will be disappointed with the photos both above and below the water.

 

You can probably find a better price for the memory card on dealram.com $37 for a 512meg compact flash card is a pretty good starting point. You will also want to buy rechargeable batteries for whatever camera you buy. The A85 is a good choice because it takes AA sized batteries. This is good for 2 reasons; the rechargeable AA batteries are affordable, and if you need some emergency batteries, the AA size is available almost everywhere. I recommend this charger/battery combo. The charger is smart. It won't over charge your batteries, but it will trickle charge them to keep them at a full charge which is important as this type of battery will lose it's charge 1-2% a day while it is sitting around. In the long run, they are cheaper than disposable batteries and will last longer before needing recharging.

[VTSnorkeler]

This is good advice - I just spent 45$ on a spare for my elph. For me the difference in size is worth the extra money you need to shell out for lithium ion batteries though

[rsmith55]

I ran into a guy on my last cruise who had some incredible underwater shots. Bright, beautiful colors. So I asked him how he did it. It seems that the trick is to get enough light which he did with two big powerful flashes. (you can probably get good results with one) He also had a serious decent camera such as a Nikon N80 housed in a UW housing. For what its worth.

[bruce-r]

I ran into a guy on my last cruise who had some incredible underwater shots. Bright, beautiful colors. So I asked him how he did it. It seems that the trick is to get enough light which he did with two big powerful flashes. (you can probably get good results with one) He also had a serious decent camera such as a Nikon N80 housed in a UW housing. For what its worth.

 

Yes you can get very good photos with just one external strobe. You can even get good photos using the camera's internal strobe. Of course this doesn't apply to a housed SLR since they don't usually have a built in flash.

 

A rig like the one described probably cost in excess of $3000.

[winher]

I have been diving for the past 3 years with my Canon Powershot A20 and it's housing. It's only a 2 mega pixel and they probably don't carry that old a model anymore - but I understand that the housing will still fit some of the later models. If not, the newer ones have their own housing.

I have taken over 10,000 shots - underwater and on land -- and have been very pleased with the quality. I've attached a very small copy of a photo that I had published in a National newspaper, taken with this camera.

I also use the housing when I go skiing, camping, hiking, canoeing, wild parties,etc. - it protects the camera from a lot of hazzards. I've had regular 35mm dive cameras in past - but the digital photos are so much better. The camera is also a lot less bulky to use out of water than a regular dive camera is.

[winher]

I have been diving for the past 3 years with my Canon Powershot A20 and it's housing. It's only a 2 mega pixel and they probably don't carry that old a model anymore - but I understand that the housing will still fit some of the later models. If not, the newer ones have their own housing.

I have taken over 10,000 shots - underwater and on land -- and have been very pleased with the quality. I've attached a very small copy of a photo that I had published in a National newspaper, taken with this camera - it's the cavern entrance to the Chac Mool cenote at the Mayan Riviera.

I also use the housing when I go skiing, camping, hiking, canoeing, wild parties,etc. - it protects the camera from a lot of hazzards. I've had regular 35mm dive cameras in past - but the digital photos are so much better. The camera is also a lot less bulky to use out of water than a regular dive camera is.

[Aloha_Jackie]

I got the Sealife - it was $549 and has a removeable digital. I have a relatively new Olympus Camedia but they dont make the housing for it. Bozos! You can get one of those large bag style ones, but it looks so lame and isnt ruggedized. I am really pleased with using the digital sealife camera that I have, for my novice use, it serves its purpose and I have really had a ton of fun with it and gotten some excellent shots! Got it from a local dive shop were I was certified in the late 70s, http://www.oceanenterprises.com/index.html

 

Good luck and have fun - do your research, save money! The reason I bought locally vice Amazon or whatever....in case something goes wrong.

[greeneg]

Just add in another option, I recently acquired a small 4MP digital the Pentax Optio S40 which is a very nice and compact camera. The is an underwater housing (dedicated) for it the O-WP3 which allows all of the functions including the zoom for the camera to be used while in the housing. Camera was about $260 and the housing $169, but makes a nice combo and of course, you can then use the camera both in and out of the water.

 

Happy New Year everyone!