Underwater camera?

Question

Hey all I am looking for a good underwater camera for a girlfriend of mine. I know I could always go ask someone at a shop but I really don’t want a salesman’s point of view. What I’m looking for is the makes and models of some good ones and if you know the price range too that would be great.

She is a diver so this will be used more than just a one time thing.

OK sorry more details needed I guess. She dives and I need a camera that can go at about 100ft down

Answer 1

Your budget is going to play a big part here. You can spend as little as 200 Canadian dollars or go all out and drop 3,000 dollars. If she currently has a camera, you can see if there's a company , like Ikelite.com, that produces a housing for it. They support many of the popular brand name cameras. This is your cheapest option. There's also Henrys.com, an online camera retailer that also has stores in the US and Canada. They are starting to sell both housings and cameras that are amphib's (use on surface and underwater).
There are other manufacturers out there like Nikonos and Sea & Sea that poduce amphibs. Generally you can pick one up for 350- 500 Canadian dollars.
What to look for in a camera or housing? Big buttons so that you can use them with gloves on. Buttons for all of the cameras functions too as not all housings will support all of the camera's functions, especially digitals. Strobe support is an important feature. One of the biggest problems an underwater photographer faces is called back scatter. Light from the flash hits suspended particles in the water and produces a "snowstorm" in the image at times. A strobe attachment eliminates this but needs to have a camera and housing that support attaching one.
If you're looking for a "ready to go" unit, Sea and Sea make a digital now that has the strobe option and is about 500 Canadian plus the cost of the strobe kit. It has a built in flash, so will work without the strobe, but you may experience back scatter by using the flash alone.
Depth rating? If she's an avid recreational diver, you'll want something rated to at least 120 feet, as she's either already an Advanced open water diver or planning on it in the future. 150 feet would be better but as long as she stays within recreational limits, even if she maxs out to 130, the camera and housing should tolerate the extra 10 feet. The only issue would be if something were to go wrong, your warranty won't cover it.
Myself? I own an old fashioned Sea &Sea MX 5 film amphib with no strobe. I spend most of my time diving and not with a camera stuck to my face so I don't take a lot of pics. :) It's rated for 120 ft, but that hasn't been an issue at 170 as the camera has been that far when I forgot that I had it still on my BC on a dive. I don't suggest that anyone try that on purpose though.

Answer 2

actually, you can buy cheapo underwater cameras that you use then throw away. But they only work so so. You can buy an underwater case to fit almost any camera now a days, and use it with no problem. Or , you can go crazy expensive and buy a special camera for underwater use.
For many years, I used the same minolta 35mm under water that I used for land as well. I just bought the sealed case for it, which was good to depths of up to 150ft, which was deeper than I ever needed to go. I did use it on a wreck at 80 feet. It worked very well. And, like I said, I used it for years at 45 and 55 feet with no problems at all. The flash attachment for it, back then, cost me another 85 bucks so with the case and flash unit it was around $300.00
Sorry I can't give you more help than that.

Answer 3

I just got a Canon SD800IS for diving. It's a great camera for surface pictures too. The casing costs a little bit much, but I've never been happier. I first went scuba diving in Belize and took disposable film cameras -- I do NOT recommend it! Obviously with a digital camera, you can take as many pictures as you like and delete as necessary.

As for pricing, the price was fluctuating a bit back in April when I got it. I finally found a website where I purchased the casing and camera for $500 total (including shipping).

Good luck!

Answer 4

what do you mean by making use of below water, just to apply once you're swimming, or do you mean which you scuba dive, for swimming you need to use any digital camera underwater all you ought to do is get a housing, the two the Zip lock form or a plastic housing, they vary from $50 up as you at the instant are not susceptible to get a lot deeper than 20 ft perhaps alittle greater. for Diving you % a housing rated to a minimum of 30 ft over the optimal intensity you intend to dive at. AOW can dive to 30m (39in to metre) so which you % a housing for a minimum of 40m that starts off to get costly. there's a company called sea and surf, that have rather priced cameras/camcorder housings. good luck If its Diving then provide me a digital mail i'm going to do my best to help you out. RR

Answer 5

My sister is in the process of buying an underwater digital camera...it's about $300 on the Wal-Mart website. I don't know how well it works but I know it's out there. Don't order it from Presdigee Camera website though because they sell the Japaneese edition, which it's cheaper but all the controls are in Japaneese...sorry I couldn't help more!

Answer 6

Unless you were looking to get her one that she will use all the time, I would suggest getting the disposable kind if this is for a vaca. I have used them before, for snorkeling, and they worked GREAT. Also, can use out of the water as well. Run abt 15 bucks.

Answer 7

a few of the big companies have underwater digital cameras.
try going on the fuji and minolta websites. then try the webpages of independant camera magazines, see the pros and cons for each

Answer 8

try this

http://www.scuba.com/scuba-gear-535/Cameras-Our-Most-Popular-Digital.html