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underwater camera (1 Viewer)

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cheppi

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Looking to purchase an underwater point and shoot camera. Considering the canon D10, panasonic TS3 or the new nikon AW100. Does anyone have any knowledge good or bad on these cameras. I'm mostly concerned with image quality and the ability to keep the inside dry. Gadgets such as GPS aren't necessary.
thanks, scott
 
Have the TS3, love it. Thought about the Canon, but it was too bulky to carry easily (in my view)
 
Olympus is supposed to make a good one too...never used it tho I loved my Olympus point and shoot until I bought my Dslr...if you have a good point and shoot you could consider buying an underwater housing for it
 
Kodak playsport camcorder is very good too. You can do screen capture with it's software and it's selling around $150. I have one and the sound is incredible.
 
The underwater photos (and the photo looking back to shore) were taken using an Olympus Tough (white balance was adjusted in Lightroom):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcap/

In clear water, in full sunlight, many of the photo are quite nice (and I was bobbing in the water while taking these). The good ones have lots of detail (the copies I posted on Flickr are not full size, even at the largest size flickr will show you - the original of that photo of the wrasse swimming over the Acropora colony has LOTS of detail).

Under good photography conditions this camera gives quite nice results. It also does closeups really well (has a built-in LED specially for illuminating macro shots), though under challenging lighting an SLR would do a noticeably better job. It was a perfect camera to take on a trip though - very compact and slipped in and out of a small case strapped to my belt, so it was available pretty much all the time. My only regret, really, in a month of traveling in New Zealand and the Cook Islands, was that I was not equipped for doing bird photography (I left my DSLR and telephoto lens at home).
 
Thle009 said:
Awesome pictures.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

By the way, those two colorful corals were the only types that were colorful like that, and none of the colonies I saw of either of these types were very large. Most of the corals were brown, which I think is generally the case on other reefs as well.

And those vermetid snails in the huge coral were simply gigantic - bigger than my thumb!

The wrasses and butterflies were wonderful. Both of these would swim right up to you (and there were a variety of kinds of big colorful wrasses). The high point of the snorkeling for me though was seeing and photographing 5 moorish idols all within about a 5 minute period.
 
Thle009 said:
So these were taken within 10 feet of water I assume.
Click to expand...

Yes, it was not deep there, and I was snorkeling, so I was not far from the surface (mostly right at the surface for these shots I think - I don't dive down deeper very well). If I recall correctly, I think this camera is good down to 30 feet or so (double check this if you are considering the camera), which is deeper than I plan on going.

I don't know how deep people tend to go in ordinary SCUBA diving, but maybe this camera (and many of the other submersible point and shoots for that matter) would not go down deep enough?

The photos from times when it was overcast were not as nice as the ones in my link. But the camera did a nice job with sun, clear water, close to the surface shots. Not all the shots were good by any means (they never are when doing photography of animals that are moving), but I did get quite a few nice photos.

This camera is also shock resistant, though I have not intentionally tried testing its abilities in this regard!
 
Also note that those photos have been worked on in Lightroom. Straight from the camera they were very blue looking.
 
Nice pics!

As for diving depths, it does vary by location/what you want to see. The depth can really vary even for a novice diver. Wife and I had 30-40ft dives common 1.5hr south of Cancun and around Hawaii, though we've had 60-90ft dives in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. You pretty much have to go where what you want to see is at. If I remember correctly most dive specific cameras/camera cases are good to about 180-200ft.

For snorkeling, several of the water-resistant P&S cameras would be good options; but if interested in diving as a possible hobby but still have an everyday camera, I'd suggest a P&S camera with a separate dive casing (ie: Canon S95 + Ikelite case, just an example). Though, just like reefing, it can get spendy.

Good luck,
Glenn
 
Some of the waterproof housings can rival the cost of the camera (if you are using some sort of point and shoot), but it sounds like for diving a housing (or something like a Nikonos - not sure if they make those anymore?) is probably the only viable option.
 
I strongly recommend the ikelite

I have a professional photographer friend that has one and has taken some high quality pictures using that housing and a EOS-1D Mark III DSLR Camera


If you have a decent DSLR already then I would just recommend purchasing a housing. That way you are familiar with your camera and it can be trusted to take high quality photos.

Photos not sure if those will work
 
capman said:
Some of the waterproof housings can rival the cost of the camera (if you are using some sort of point and shoot), but it sounds like for diving a housing (or something like a Nikonos - not sure if they make those anymore?) is probably the only viable option.
Click to expand...

Yes, the cost of those housings are quite spendy but if you dive often it may be justified. Now if I can only fit my Canon s80 in the housing of my MX-10 and still have it usuable ;)

One option, I'm considering is a "weatherproof" P&S for all around use; and when my kids (3&5yo) get older and my wife and I can finally go on the occational vacation with some diving, is to rent a digital dive camera
http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/canon/cameras/compact-cameras/sea-sea-dx-1g-underwater-kit
 
I have the Olympus Tough 8000. My only gripe is that the LCD screen is tough to see in direct sunlight in the water. Seems like every time I go on vacation and want to take underwater pictures it's always sunny (wierd how that happens). A simple viewfinder would help with framing your shots. But that's my only gripe. I like the camera. I donated one to Hawaii while I was there 4 years ago. A wave snuck up on me and ate the camera. First purchase when I returned was another Olympus. The macro settings are very nice. And I second the LED lighting for the underwater macro setting. Great option.
 
DPreview.com did a few reviews on this lately. They include photographs with each of the cameras. I seem to remember pentax, olympus, nikon, canon, sony, panasonic, and a few others make respectable waterproof/underwater cameras.

I'd encourage you to look online at reviews as much as possible (including at places like amazon.com) before you buy. I thought about getting a Panasonic WG-1 for a while and a few department stores assured me it was the best thing ever, but after reading many reviews, half the people noted that the door was not locking tight and let water into the battery compartment. Needless to say I didn't get that one. My vote is for the one that does the best job in the conditions you need it to preform in. Each camera has it's strength and weaknesses.
 
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One thing that you need to be very careful about with these cameras if you intend to use them underwater is keeping the seals clean and undamaged. Since you need to open up one of the little doors on the side of the camera every time you need to charge up the battery or transfer photos to your computer you need to be always thoughtful about this. I don't know how easily damaged they are, but the rubber gaskets that seal this little door are small.
 
RedHeckle said:
Yes, the cost of those housings are quite spendy but if you dive often it may be justified. Now if I can only fit my Canon s80 in the housing of my MX-10 and still have it usuable ;)

One option, I'm considering is a "weatherproof" P&S for all around use; and when my kids (3&5yo) get older and my wife and I can finally go on the occational vacation with some diving, is to rent a digital dive camera
http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/canon/cameras/compact-cameras/sea-sea-dx-1g-underwater-kit
Click to expand...

Based on my one rental from them (a Nikon D700 and a 24-70 lens for shooting a wedding), LensRentals.com is a great company to deal with. They have a really good reputation on the Flickr forums too. They understand the urgency of having cameras/lenses when you need them so they ship things out early. The packaging is great, and they provide a prepaid return mailing label for returning the equipment. They were also very helpful and quick in responding to questions via e-mail. And their policy is to only rent out equipment that is pretty new (I forget when they retire cameras and lenses, but they say on their website).
 
Decided on the panasonic TS3. Most people noted the canon was too old. they haven't updated it for 3-4 years and it's bulky. The panasonic and new nikon seemed comparable but the panny is $100 cheaper. They all seamed to have a possibility to leak and all leave a little to be desired in photo quality but it is a point and shoot not dslr.
thanks scott
 
capman said:
Based on my one rental from them (a Nikon D700 and a 24-70 lens for shooting a wedding), LensRentals.com is a great company to deal with. They have a really good reputation on the Flickr forums too. They understand the urgency of having cameras/lenses when you need them so they ship things out early. The packaging is great, and they provide a prepaid return mailing label for returning the equipment. They were also very helpful and quick in responding to questions via e-mail. And their policy is to only rent out equipment that is pretty new (I forget when they retire cameras and lenses, but they say on their website).
Click to expand...

Ditto on my experience renting from them, they're really helpful and prices are decent to rent even with insurance - I rented a few Canon L lens for some trips = talk about saving some $$$.

I know from time to time they post stuff for sale but I haven't seen one in a while.
 
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