Inexpensive dive and snorkel camera

[TheVegasMan]

No idea how good it is, but I found this camera on www.leisurepro.com. It might be a good first or second camera for someone that is thinking of combining diving or snorkeling with photography.

[RedHeadTexan]

TheVegasMan, the link to the camera is not working right now. Do you remember which brand the camera was? I am always on the lookout for good deals on underwater cameras since mine tends to turn off in the middle of a dive:(. Thanks!

[TheVegasMan]

It's an Intova IC600.

[PAcop141]

You can probably buy the intova camera on the ship at the photo center, I bought one in December on the Glory. Its a decent camera for the money. You can use it snorkeling or diving.

[Dgonza]

I am always on the lookout for good deals on underwater cameras since mine tends to turn off in the middle of a dive:(. Thanks!

 

Have you tried the photo batteries? They wont drain as fast. Actually they last a pretty long time. However they are a bit expensive...about 7bucks for 4.

[TheVegasMan]

You can probably buy the intova camera on the ship at the photo center, I bought one in December on the Glory. Its a decent camera for the money. You can use it snorkeling or diving.

Do you recall what the camera cost onboard the ship? They retail for $250, right now they are $135 on www.leisurepro.com

[RedHeadTexan]

Have you tried the photo batteries? They wont drain as fast. Actually they last a pretty long time. However they are a bit expensive...about 7bucks for 4.

Thanks for the tip, but the issue is with the internal timer that automatically turns the camera off after X number of minutes of no use. I selected the option for it not to turn off, but it still turns off. I am able to compensate for this by clicking the shutter button every minute or so, but sometimes I get wrapped up in what I am looking at and forget to push the button.

 

The first time this problem happened was on the dive with the sea lions in Cabo. Luckily no one heard me cursing through my regulator at the camera;). I plan on replacing this old piece of !?$% sometime this year (before the next cruise).

[PAcop141]

I think I paid 179 for it onboard.

[travelbugs]

I'd be interested in hearing how it works. I just got one for Mother's day and will be using it in June. (also an IC600). My husband is going to put some weights in it (floating things bug me). He did this with his and it's great. Never heard of Intova before. ~Bugs

[adventuregrrl]

For snorkeling, our Olympus 770SW worked really well. It's waterproof to 30 ft, so it wouldn't be too great for diving.

 

You can see some of the pics we just took in Hawaii at:

There are a few deeper pics in this bunch that were taken with a camera we rented on board.

[satxdiver]

If you already own a digital still camera of recent vintage, you can probably get a housing for it good for 130 feet. I have a Canon digital camera and the Canon plastic housing. Ikelite makes undersea camera housings for quite a number of digital cameras. Check out their website or the website for your digital camera. My camera takes decent pictures underwater but could use a strobe light. There are several made and they attach to the plastic housing.

[Sadere]

I ordered the "INTOVA INWD-IC600 6.0 Megapixel Digital Camera with Waterproof Housing -180FT from Amazon last night. It is priced at 104.52 with free shipping.

 

It gets pretty good reviews for a basic dive camera. I will let you know how it works once I test it out.

[Jeanyos]

Hi there,

I bought from Camera House here in Brisbane a "waterproof camera case" for $40.00 worked wonderfully with my good digital camera. Was excellent on our 13 night Rhapsady of the Seas in SEpt last year. No second camera to understand, etc etc. This may be a good option for you.

Good luck and enjoy the cruise.

[travelbugs]

Just got back from Hawaii using the Intova IC-600. Worked great for snorkeling and for our first dive. 2 days later on our second dive it flooded. I'm sure it was my fault (even though I had my glasses on when I put it together in the morning). I guess even a hair in the grease will cause leakage. See, this is why I let my husband take the pictures! I'm glad he didn't pay alot for it. I guess he knew me well enough! The pictures I did manage to get were wonderful. I'll try and post after I get through this learning curve of going from PC to MAC. Maybe I'll see what just the camera costs without the housing and try it again!

[RedHeadTexan]

Just got back from Hawaii using the Intova IC-600. Worked great for snorkeling and for our first dive. 2 days later on our second dive it flooded. I'm sure it was my fault (even though I had my glasses on when I put it together in the morning). I guess even a hair in the grease will cause leakage. See, this is why I let my husband take the pictures! I'm glad he didn't pay alot for it. I guess he knew me well enough! The pictures I did manage to get were wonderful. I'll try and post after I get through this learning curve of going from PC to MAC. Maybe I'll see what just the camera costs without the housing and try it again!

 

I don't think a hair would "flood" it, maybe a trickle but I don't think it would flood. Ok my fellow divers, what do you think?

 

I am still on trying to decide on a replacement camera, but having issues committing.

[travelbugs]

Well, when I put it all together (by the book of course), I always check for debris around the seals. Then (don't blush....) I cut a panty liner to go between the underside of the camera and the housing and then I put a purple desiccant capsule in the upper left space. On the boat the camera waited patiently with all of the others in the camera tank. Checked it before the dive, no problems. Took a few pictures on the way down, no problem. Got to the wreck site and noticed the purple capsule was the brightest pink I'd ever wanted to see! Looked underneath and sure enough panty liners were screaming! At this point I figured the camera was toast, so I just enjoyed the plane wreck with our daughter.

I do still pick up the housing and wonder what the h*ll. There is a little black slider on the right side that locks the housing shut, I'm wondering if I may have inadvertently hit that at some point.

One last note. We returned from our trip yesterday. When the camera flooded, we were staying in Waikiki at the time. This morning I was looking at the box that the camera came in. On the side I saw 930 Mapunapuna St. Honolulu, HI. How's that for a kicker!

[scuba214]

I had the Vivitar Vivacam and liked it. It only went down to 30 ft. so I purchased the Intova. I just returned from the Rivera Maya and have mixed feelings about the Intova. The lag time between pressing the button and the picture actually taking seems very, very long. Most of the fish swam away before I got their pic.

On the plus side, I bought the red filter for it and the colors in my diving pics are decent. I'm not a great photographer, so maybe with practice my pics will come out better!:)

These were taken with the Intova.

 

 

 

[BratDet]

when buying from LeisurePro- they buy from overseas on many items and the warranties from the manufacturer are not valid- so they offer some quasi warranty of their own.

 

I just had someone give me a story about how he bought a ScubaPro regulator from the dive shop I am in charge of (due to my brothers death) & he wanted my dealer number to register the item- years later (supposedly).

Since no regulator EVER left the shop without the cards filled out & since I asked him to stop by with his receipt- haven't heard one peep.

I suspect he bought from leisure pro and was trying to use the shop's ID to get a valid warranty issued thru me.

 

So I am not saying to not buy from them- but if it is an item you would expect a good warranty on- like cameras, regulators...really think hard and long before you put your $$ at risk. Pretend you are buying off e-bay when you are deciding. Heard about many satisfied customers non-warranty related.

 

I was in NYC just after the March Beneath the Sea Dive expo & was going to stop in in person to check out their store- but it was probably the only day they were closed....

 

Regarding camera housings- it is true that even a hair on the seal will kill the integrity enough to flood a camera....so be careful to check both sides of the seal before closing it.

 

Good luck!!

 

Bernadette WAC

[jhmoore143]

We have the Olympus SW-850 (Good for only 10 feet). We are taking it next week so I will see how it works and post pictures when we get back.

[RedHeadTexan]

Regarding camera housings- it is true that even a hair on the seal will kill the integrity enough to flood a camera....so be careful to check both sides of the seal before closing it.

 

Good luck!!

 

Bernadette WAC

Wow, I really had no idea that a hair would cause the housing to flood. Thanks for clearing that up. Once I decide on a camera, I will be more diligent in checking the seals. Thanks again BratDet! :)

[jkstoy]

Sealife makes a real nice combo package. You can find it them at your local diving shop. I think I paid $500 for mine... housing, strobe, case and camera which.. you can use on land as well.

 

You may also check out scubaboard.com as well. They have a few threads about underwater cameras.

[Tesla]

Sealife makes a real nice combo package. You can find it them at your local diving shop. I think I paid $500 for mine... housing, strobe, case and camera which.. you can use on land as well.

 

You may also check out scubaboard.com as well. They have a few threads about underwater cameras.

 

Is Sealife sold readily oversees so when I'm on vacation I could possibly purchase it? Or should I look for it here in the States?

[jkstoy]

I am unsure of that. Here is the website that you can search dealers at.

http://www.sealife-cameras.com/dealer/index.html

 

I bought the sealife dc600 (http://www.sealife-cameras.com/cameras/dc600_pro.html). LOVE it!