What is a good waterproof digital camera for SCUBA diving?
I’m looking for a compact digital camera which I can use both in and out of the water. Most of the good waterproof cameras which I have found are only rated to 10 meters, which is insufficient. Am I better off buying a regular camera and a waterproof case? I have seen some of these offered by Canon.
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Tags: Camera, Digital, diving, Good, scuba, Waterproof
There is the Vivitar ViviCam 8400. It has 8.1 megapixles, and 8x digital zoom. It is waterproof up to 10 meters. The reviews arent the best, and i dont know if it would be great for regular picture taking. but, its on sale for about 90$ on amazon.com. I think its worth it for some great once-in-a-lifetime scuba pictures!!!!!
I strongly recommend the Olympus. Not only is it rated to 10 meters without a housing, you can drop it on the pavement and it won’t break (I’ve tested this). If you want to go deeper with the camera you can buy a housing for it. If the housing leaks, no problem, the camera won’t get fried.
I’ve taken my Olympus on trips to Grand Cayman and Japan. It works as well underwater as it does topside.
Even if you don’t go with Olympus, definitely get some kind of camera that is water-resistant without a housing. I have seen way to many people kill a $300 camera in an instant because it gets bumped in the rinse bucket or the o-ring leaks.
In short yes, you are better buying a normal camera and case. First make sure you can actually buy an off-the-peg housing for it though as the custom mades are bloody expensive. Sea+Sea are pretty good for both prices and after sales.
http://www.seaandsea.com/
First, I tried a compact digital camera, with a soft housing called a “DiCaPak”. It failed on the 5th dive, and though I’m pretty sure I closed it correctly, I suppose you can never be positive. If you do go this route, if your camera is one where the lens comes out a bit when you turn it on, then turn it on before descending. Otherwise when the little bit of air that is in the bag compresses, it can cause the lens and the lens housing to get misaligned so that the lens won’t come out when you turn the camera on at depth. That happened to me for 2 dives…so in other words, bought the thing and it only actually worked twice
You could certainly go for an Ikelite housing for just about any camera. This will get you the best image quality, but too $$$ for me.
When my setup that I described above failed, I got a SeaLife SL320. http://www.sealife-cameras.com/cameras/reefmaster_mini.html
It is rated to 130ft/40m. I took it to 135ft in Hawaii with no problems. The image quality is pretty good, but could certainly be better (my other camera is a DSLR, so maybe I’m a bit spoiled there). I paid $250 for it, a year ago. They have higher-end models available, too.
Yes, I would say it better to buy a single reflex camera or video camera and a waterproof case. if you are going for pro.
You’re best off to do a little research on the camera you really want and then see if there’s a decent underwater housing for it. Personally, I’d steer clear of the actual camera manufacturer’s housings. They tend not to allow use of all the camera functions and they are usually only just good enough that they can claim a depth rating of 130ft max. You’re better off protecting that camera investment by purchasing a decent housing like an IkeLite ( if it’s available for your camera). They’re rated to 200 feet and each is factory tested to pass that. I own a Canon A720IS, that canon does make the housing for, but it was so cheaply made that I opted for the IkeLite housing instead. That housing cost TWICE as much as the actual camera. But I know the camera is safe and that model does everything I want in a camera, both above and below.
As for amphibs ( cameras that are in their own housing such as Sea&Sea, or Bonica) I’d advise against unless you don’t mind lugging a large housing around on the surface or what your photos will actually look like. Amphibs are a compromise solution. They don’t take great above water shots and they don’t take great underwater shots. They do both only “ok” as opposed to a higher end camera that you put in a higher end housing.
When you’re looking for a camera, keep a few things in mind.
What’s it’s power consumption like? Changing batteries is impossible on a dive.
What’s it’s storage format and capacity? You can’t swap out cards on a dive.
How easy is it to point and shoot? You’re looking through a housing with a mask on your face, can you see what you’re aiming at?
You may be wearing gloves when diving. Can you manipulate those function buttons on the housing easily?
What are the options for adding things like strobes, lens or video lights later? What about the actual camera modes? You may find yourself doing macro or wide angle pics. Maybe at night? Maybe in low vis….that onboard flash can then be your worst enemy since you may not have an option to disable it and all you’ll get is backscatter.
My advice… choose ten cameras that do what it is that you intend on doing. Find out if a dedicated manufacturer of dive camera housings makes a housing for those cameras. Then choose from between the ones that do.