Underwater/waterproof cameras, cases and housings

[ukcatfan]

Pentax and Olympus both make waterproof models. I don't know about the Oly, but I have heard nice things about the Pentax models. I doubt there is much difference in IQ and features between brands.

 

[EnnEss]

The olympus is really nice, borrowed a friends once for the underwater feature. Was shocked the camera is so inexpensive and takes pictures underwater.

 

[covereddish]

I have the Olympus Stylus, I think I have the 750. It is fantastic for underwater, and above.

Some of my regular shots are FANTASTIC!

I highly recommend it!

 

[lsayd]

I gave my daughter the Pentax Optio W60 for Christmas and played around with it a bit. It took a pretty good picture as long as it wasn't low light, is light, and easy to use. I also did not like that it didn't have a viewfinder, but my daughter doesn't care. I chose the Pentax over the Olympus simply because it uses sd cards instead of xd cards. Her laptop has a slot for an sd card and we had sds around the house already. Both cameras seemed very similar, however. It cost a little over $200.

 

[Graeme]

I bought a stylus 770SW a few years ago. It's been replaced in the Oly line up by an upgraded one but is still a decent camera for a P&S like me. There are scene modes specially for underwater shooting, I hadn't set it for the one above which is prob why it's a bit blue.

 

[stormer]

I have the Olympus Stylus 1030 SW. I love it for underwater shots. It is great for a day at the beach or the pool, but I don't use it if I am not going to be around water. My Cannon takes better pictures.

 

[Jeff Fillmore]

I have the Pentax W30 (I think the new models are fairly similar) Fun camera for rainy days- water rides- or in the pool.

Here are a few pics-

 

[wdwwishes]

We got our DDs the Olympus Stylus cameras last year and they've had a lot of fun with them and no worries with the underwater stuff. It's also a very durable camera which is why we made that kind of investment for them. Their pictures above and below the water turn out just fine for them. They figured out the various modes and buttons etc. very quickly so it's easy to use. We paid $300 for them but the newer models have gone up. It also has the movie feature which they love. While they haven't done it, I'm assuming you can do underwater movies too.

 

[gofenmom]

Bump

 

[cmwade77]

I have the olympus 770SW, it is a great camera, just make sure to learn it's features before going to WDW, it can take pretty good low light pictures, once you figure out how to do so. I also highly recommend the Gorillapod, I keep mine on my Olympus case (sold seperately), the gorillapod works on most slow moving attractions, you can simply wrap it around a handle bar or similar object. I haven't tried it on any of the faster moving rides (usually due to the time factor). You can do underwater video with it as well, it does work great on water rides. When my DH bought mine for me, there weren't any other companies making waterproof cameras and as far as I can tell the Olympus SW series are still the only ones that are water proof, freeze proof & Shock Proof (This last one is a must have for those that like to go to theme parks in my opinion), the one that I have and the newer version both offer image stabilization that works fairly well in low light without flash.

 

[Pugrpooh]

I've got my eye on the Olympus 1050 sw. It's not as expensive as the 1030, but is only waterproof to 10' below, not 30'. We're going on a cruise in 2 months and some of the things we'll be doing, I can't use my DSLR.

Olympus has been selling refurbished 1050's with warranty on ebay and they've been going for around $155-170. They're around $240 in stores. DD6 wants her own camera too, so I can let her use it with no worries.

 

[Tabatha]

I love my Olympus SW 770 for trips. It is very durable so I often turn it over to the kids with no worries. It does take some time to learn how to get good underwater shots, but it can be done. Here are some from our trip to reat Wolf Lodge last weekend:

It does work okay for other shots including action, but the zoom is awful! I would definitly reccomed ths OLympus for its durability, but would also take something else. For me it will be a camcorder and probably my daughters kodack

 

[TAKitty]

I have an underwater case for my Cannon. Is is a Dipac case (I think I am spelling it wrong). Will I need to use my flash underwater? The case is neat, but it blocks my flash. I want to use the camera at the pool and on our Disney cruise.

Thanks!

 

[Alacrity]

Underwater, the flash is good, probably, to about 3 feet of illumination or so. If you are going deeper than, say, 10 or 15 feet, you'll need to get close or use an external strobe to do much good. If you are going to just be snorkling or staying shallow, ambient light should do just fine. That is assuming pretty clear water!

Be sure to turn the flash off before putting it in the case, it will save battery big time!

 

[GrumpyOne]

I'm not familiar with that case but it's not uncommon that a housing would block the flash from being used. Many housings come with diffusers to scatter the light and get into those areas where the housing would block the light.

 

[Golf4food]

I'll be going on a business trip to Mexico in a few months and we'll be doing an afternoon excursion one day that will most likely put me in the water for part of it - I don't want to leave my camera at the hotel and miss any good photo ops but I also don't want to ruin my current, non-waterproof camera in the process of getting those photos. That said, I have no other use for a waterproof camera and don't want to shell out $300+ to buy one just for the trip. Is there any place to rent one?

I suppose I could buy a used one off eBay or Craigslist and then resell it upon my return...

 

[annnewjerz]

You can rent mine!!! I have an Olympus 1030 SW that I used for our snorkeling trips in Mexico this past August and it works great. Hope you can find one somewhere...the year before that we used a disposable and I'm not exaggerating when I say the photos looked like garbage. Horrible color, not all that clear and surprisingly much harder to use underwater than my p&s because of the larger bulkier size.

Edit: I would bet that if you buy one on Ebay you won't even want to sell it when you get home. I haven't used my p&s much since getting my dslr, but I am definitely bringing it to The World with me in December. It comes in handy when it's rainy, really cold, on wet rides, snowing, underwater, etc. You can definitely find more uses for it than just using it on vacation.

 

[Pugrpooh]

I was in the same situation. We're going on a Caribbean cruise next month and I definitely wanted pictures when swimming with dolphins, stingrays and snorkeling. I went to ebay and bought an Olympus 850 sw from Olympus auctions. They sell refurbished cameras on ebay with a warranty and it was $100 cheaper than buying new.

DD6 has also been wanting a camera, so I got it in pink and since it's waterproof, shockproof, freezeproof and crushproof, I don't have to worry about it when she's taking pics.

 

[alan]

Before my last summer holiday I bought a Vivitar Vivicam 5399 from Asda (the UK subsidiary of Wal-Mart). This was a fixed focal length 5Mpixel camera with a waterproof case, all for under £40 (approx US$60)

This went with us on holiday to the beach, the pool, kayaking, the water parks... It was great fun and we got some really good pictures and videos. I've no idea how long it will last, but for that price it was well worth it.

Some of the holiday pictuers are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/atp/sets/72157606204634244/ - one of the photographs and both of the videos were from this little camera.

regards,
/alan

 

[fan1080]

Another option is to buy a disposable water-proof camera.