Waterproofing a camera . . . Help Please!

[seadooken]

I recently purchased a canon 1100 IS for our next cruise. Its a pretty nice point and shoot. I am going to purchase a case so i can get it wet at cc and while snorkling. I will not be taking it very deep. Has anybody had experiences with those waterproof bags (kinda looks like a zip-lock bag)?

 

[dta87]

I bought one for our last cruise in May for our canon 850IS. It worked great. It was called DicaPac WP100 Small 145 X 95mm Waterproof Cases and we bought it from Amazon. It is definitely better than buying a disposable camera for your underwater pics.

 

[seadooken]

Thats funny, I just stubled across the Dicapac website. How deep did you take your camera? Any problems pressing the buttons?

 

[dta87]

We didn't take it past 5-10 ft. The shutter button was not hard to press at all (I probably took 100-150 underwater pics while we snorkeled on our 3 CC days). The main problem that I had with the case is it is not easy to change the function settings while the camera is in the case. And when you go from underwater to above water pictures we had some pictures that were obstructed by water spots on the outside of the cases lens cover.

Another thing to emphasize is you need to make sure the ziplock portion is fully closed. I took the camera with me on a float and the ziplock was not fully closed. The camera was not taken very deep for that trip but I did have some drops on the inside of the case when I took the camera out. Also when you take the camera out of the case you need to make sure the ziplock is facing down if not residual water will fall back into the case and on the camera.

Here are some pictures I took:

 

[disneypoor]

We went to Hawaii for spring break this year and wanted either an underwater camera pack or a new underwater camera. We stumbled across an actual underwater digital camera while reading someone's trip report here on the dis. It works great! It was less than $100, and we ordered it through target.com. I'm sure your canon would take better pictures, but I'd be scared to death the bag would leak or something.

BTW--4 months and 2 days until sailing for Thanksgiving with you Seadooken! Can't wait!

 

[momtomari]

i will have to look into this, but wish i would have known for our niagara falls trip that was in june.

amanda

 

[Capt.OneLeg]

I bought a $79 camera bag from sony on Amazon.com for my point and shoot...the pictures are far better than the disposables. Don't have any information about the "baggie" type underwater housings, so good luck if you go that way.

Check out the underwater pix I took on Flickr (some of the nonwater pix are also from the same camera in the housing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25131728@N06/sets/

 

[mousemom11]

I bought a $79 camera bag from sony on Amazon.com for my point and shoot...the pictures are far better than the disposables. Don't have any information about the "baggie" type underwater housings, so good luck if you go that way.

Check out the underwater pix I took on Flickr (some of the nonwater pix are also from the same camera in the housing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25131728@N06/sets/

Those are really nice pics. Looks like you didn't have any problems with water spots in front of the lens.

 

[seadooken]

I just googled the sport jacket you got from Sony. NICE. I dont think cannon offers anything like that. They only offer the $200 hard case version. A little much to go snorkling with.

 

[seadooken]

BTW--4 months and 2 days until sailing for Thanksgiving with you Seadooken! Can't wait!

Disneypoor, It will be here before we know it! I dont think I even planned my wedding this much! I cant wait!

 

[rlcook]

I just ordered the dicapac trom e-bay for our canon. I had been looking for something also. Glad I ran across this site. I got it for $34 with FREE shipping. GO TRAVELLING TURKEYS.

 

[dta87]

Here is an example of the waterspot issue:

We had just arrived on the sandbar during the Jetski excursion and did not have anything dry to wipe off the lens cover on the bag. After we saw this in the preview screen we just wiped the lens off with our hands and it took care of the problem.

 

[seadooken]

I just ordered the dicapac trom e-bay for our canon. I had been looking for something also. Glad I ran across this site. I got it for $34 with FREE shipping. GO TRAVELLING TURKEYS.

I think I will get the dicapac as well. We'll match!

 

[Barbossa]

Aquapac is another good company. Their point-n-shoot camera bags worked well with our Canon Powershot camera. The bag for our camcorder was a bit unwieldy, though.

http://www.aquapac.net/

 

[SoccrMom]

Aquapac is another good company. Their point-n-shoot camera bags worked well with our Canon Powershot camera. The bag for our camcorder was a bit unwieldy, though.

http://www.aquapac.net/

I bought a couple of aquapac's for my kids cheaper cameras. They worked great in the water, but on the day that it downpoured at WDW, it ended up too foggy for pictures. Maybe if we had put the cameras in it before we went outside? Otherwise, they were great, and I wish I had a bigger one for my camera.

 

[StitchMad]

dta87 - Great pics!
We have used a zip-lock-like water-proof bag to put our digital camera in, back in 2003. It wasn't the best of things. It was difficult to change settings, and it took a few attempts to press the capture button.

For our 04, 05, and 08 cruises, we bought a water-proof camera which floats, and has a strap to stay around your neck. I'm not sure on the make, it's at the back of the cupboard somewhere, but I reccomend a water-proof camera so you won't have to worry about anything.

 

[scillacc]

I used one too, and it worked fine. I had one issue, and that had nothing to do with the bag. I didn't change the setting on my camera to "beach" so many of the pictures did not come out well at all. Also, the sun was so bright I was unable to see what I was pointing the camera at.

But otherwise, I will use the ziplock thing m any more times to come, especially on the beach when I want to make sure I don't get sand in it.

Good luck and enjoy!