Underwater/waterproof cameras, cases and housings

[Golf4food]

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

Yeah, but those things mostly turn our bad photos... I'm firmly against all disposable cameras. Thanks, though.

Might consider a brief purchase of an eBay model or something...

 

[annnewjerz]

There are lots of Olympus 850 SWs on E-bay (just took a peek) for under $100, some as low as $60 right now that are ending in a few hours. The only bad thing about the Olympus is the type of memory it takes---an xD card, so make sure if you are going to buy it, you get the memory to match!

 

[rtphokie]

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

The disposables are a waste of money. They are simply bad disposable cameras in an inexpensive water-resistant case. You have little chance of getting any decent photos from them even in bright sunlight. Most dont even include high ISO film to get you a little more of a chance to get photos in the lower light environment underwater.

To answer your original question, call a local dive shop. Some rent cameras of varying quality by the day or by the week.

 

[fan1080]

The disposables are a waste of money. They are simply bad disposable cameras in an inexpensive water-resistant case. You have little chance of getting any decent photos from them even in bright sunlight. Most dont even include high ISO film to get you a little more of a chance to get photos in the lower light environment underwater.

To answer your original question, call a local dive shop. Some rent cameras of varying quality by the day or by the week.

We bought one to use for swimming with the sharks, worked fine. Pictures are not top quailty but they are acceptable.

If the OP was only looking for top quality gear that is water proof......

Otherwise, disposables are a decent option.

 

[michellem1118]

The only bad thing about the Olympus is the type of memory it takes---an xD card, so make sure if you are going to buy it, you get the memory to match!

Olympus includes a microSD-to-xD adaptor in the box with their waterproof line, so we bought microSD's for ours. As an added bonus, I can also use the microSD's (with an adaptor) in my XSi as back-up cards.

 

[Stargazer]

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

I can't vouch for the quality, but there's a seller on eBay that has SVP Acqua 1231 for a pretty reasonable price right now (if you want the info, just PM me - I'm not sure if I can post it on the boards; you should be able to find pretty easily by searching, too).

I ended up getting one for less than $60 shipped and will test it out before our trip.

Buy.com had a pretty decent review on it, so hopefully it's not a piece of junk.

 

[hereyago]

Hi
When I went to Oahu a couple years ago, I took my Nikon with underwater pack. Pictures were all right, but it was kind of difficult to use.

So, this year, going on DCL and want to do Stuart Cove snorkeling and want to get some great underwater pictures especially for last part of snorkel trip.

I have narrowed it down to 2: A Pentax Optio W690 and Olympus 850. Now, for those who use underwater digital cameras, the Pentax says it can be in water for 2 hours and the Olympus, I am not sure about.

The trip would be a couple hours, but broken down like 30 minutes 2 places then the shark thing stay in the water no longer then 10 or so.

Any experience with either of these cameras? TIA

 

[annnewjerz]

I don't have the Oly 850, but I do have the Oly 1030 SW and can tell you that I had no problem keeping it in the water as long as I wanted. There would be afternoons during our trip to Mexico that we would spend entirely in the pool (it was August when we went and 100+ degrees) and I left the camera attached to my wrist the whole time.

We would get in, swim, have drinks and the whole time my camera would be in the water. It was really weird at first, but great after I got used to it.

Again, I'm not sure if the same is true with the 850 (I believe you can submerge the 1030 a little deeper) but I'm sure everything will be comparable.

Here are some shots I took with it August 08 on vacation. VERY easy to use, just make sure that if you are swimming somewhere deep you keep the wrist strap attached. This camera is a heavy little p&s and will sink the second you let go of it. If you're in 30 feet of water, you probably won't be getting it back.

 

[hereyago]

Thanks for info and pix. I plan to buy a floating camera strap on amazon.

 

[Jeanne B]

No advice here (I use a Canon A720 w/ underwater housing) but we did the Stuart Cove trip in 06....awesome excursion!! The third stop with the sharks was definitely the highlight.

I did notice that Olympus has come out with a new u/w camera and it takes microSD cards...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

Canon is also coming out with an u/w camera (D10) but I don't think it's been released yet.

 

[hereyago]

Jeanne B- did you do the afternoon time snorkel trip? Of course everyone thinks I am crazy for wanting to do it, but why not? That is something I have wanted to do and now I am just too excited.

 

[SueInBoston]

I have an older Option W10 and have taken it on many water vacations. We also did the Stuart Cove Snorkle excusion and it was excellent. I'm not sure about the 2 hour, but I've used the camera in and out of water all day long with no issues.

Here are a couple pics from

 

[Jeanne B]

Jeanne B- did you do the afternoon time snorkel trip? Of course everyone thinks I am crazy for wanting to do it, but why not? That is something I have wanted to do and now I am just too excited.

We did the afternoon trip...DH stayed on the boat and watched, DD and I were the crazy ones.

It's also very cool when they throw the bait to the sharks (after everyone gets out of course!!).

 

[Ju Ju Bean]

We have the Olympus 850 and kept it in the water with us at Castaway Cay all day. It takes awesome pictures.

 

[manning]

Depending when you are going this underwater panasonic I think is coming out in april

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0901/09012705panasonicft1.asp

 

[praline3001]

I am a big fan of the canon powershot. I know all you fancy photo peeps with your big cameras like more sophisticated equipment but I am too dumb to figure those things out

I do REALLY well with the poweshots

Last year I even bought the waterproof case for my powershot for camping and our Disney trip. The problem? The case was too big and bulky and heavy around my neck while in the parks or hiking. Also it was difficult to change settings with the little doo thingy on the outside of the case.

Sooo while trying to figure out all the techie talk about digital cameras I ran across the powershot D10 (coming out in May)
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=2590&modelid=18332#SNAModelSuppliesAct

Now to my unlearned eye~ that looks like a pretty damn good camera! I can take it on water rides/ not worry about weather in the parks or camping or canoe trips~ I kind of lead a rugged life LOL AND yes I have dropped my share of cameras before so the shock proof thing does interest me!
Is it all too good to be true? It comes out right before our trip to Disney. I don't want to find out it has crappy performance while on our trip! Of course I will play with it before hand but I hate for the first real test to be my Disney family trip. I do like Canon powershots though so I am assuming it will be the same ?

Now on to the next part of my question~ I still use a regular SD memory card in my current canon. Now talk of all this SDHC extreme XLIXXX or whatever is driving me insane
I can't tell whats more market ploy and what is good info!

I think I understand and I think I want a faster speed memory card~ is the write speed mean when I click the picture and it takes a few seconds before I can take another picture? I have had this happen to me a few times and it drives me nuts! I thought it was my camera but maybe its my memory card?

SOOO with this new D10 camera it does take SDHC memory cards but they have 15 speed and 30 speed and extreme 3 speeds and extreme 2 speeds ... It can give a girl a headache!!!!!
IF I did get this waterproof powershot what memory card would give me the camera's max speed for taking pics? I don't want a lag time but I don't want overkill either.

Sorry if I sound dumb here LOL I love taking pictures and I am good at it for a low ranking hobbyist
but when it comes to the techie part I really get lost!

 

[blackjackdelta]

All I use to use was extreme 3. I never had a problem and never tried something else. The camera's write time has part of the delay issue. If you get the cam, try a card, if it does not meet your needs, take it back.

Best of luck and good shooting.

Jack

 

[praline3001]

So if I get the D10 waterproof powershot, the extreme 3 won't be overkill? It won't be more than I need, I guess I am getting at? With 3 kids and 3 dogs I need as little delay as possible.

I am thinking of getting 4 smaller ones VS 1 large one just in case~

I am extremely ignorant when it comes to the techie side of photography

I do like to take pictures and I love to do artistic photo manipulations and editing. That is why I am liking the 12.1 on this camera ~ I also tend to try and take pics without a tripod! I know bad bad me and against everything I ever read but I just hate carrying the damn thing around!
The last time I asked my DH to hold still so I could use his body ~ he told me what I could use

 

[VVFF]

So if I get the D10 waterproof powershot, the extreme 3 won't be overkill? It won't be more than I need, I guess I am getting at? With 3 kids and 3 dogs I need as little delay as possible.

I am thinking of getting 4 smaller ones VS 1 large one just in case~

I am extremely ignorant when it comes to the techie side of photography

I do like to take pictures and I love to do artistic photo manipulations and editing. That is why I am liking the 12.1 on this camera ~ I also tend to try and take pics without a tripod! I know bad bad me and against everything I ever read but I just hate carrying the damn thing around!
The last time I asked my DH to hold still so I could use his body ~ he told me what I could use

Shot to shot times in more budget oriented cameras are more limited by the camera than by the card. I would be you would see little to no difference between memory cards provided their from a reputable manufacturer.

Shot to shot delay is often much longer on P&S's if you use the flash. Turning this off will get you quicker shooting as the flash doesn't need to recharge.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

You may want to think about getting a camera with a larger Optical zoom. This one only has 3x Optical and 4x digital or 12x total. However, digital zooms actually make you think you are zooming in when it is actually stretching out and somewhat distorting the photo. There are others out in the marketplace that have larger optical zooms with most of the same features built in. (Maybe not necessarily water, freezing and shockproof though...) Good luck!