so inspired by ali's fantastic underwater pictures i would like to purchase a camera compatable for use under water. i have read his thread on under water cameras though it was from 2007 so a lot of the cameras have newer models or are discontinued and there are many more cameras on the market from when he wrote the thread.
i have virtually no knowledge on cameras though i am looking to get into it more over the next few years so anybodys help with this purchase would be greatly appreciated. i will be using it travelling through asia, australasia and south america over the next few years and this will involve some diving and use around water. i dont mind whether i buy an underwater housing or just a camera that is suitable for use underwater without the housing.
it would need to be a digital camera as an SLR is too big and i would like a camera i could carry in my pocket when not using it under water. i have vouchers for amazon.co.uk for £500 (~$800) from where i would like to purchase the camera. i dont need to spend the maximum as i could buy an ipod, memory cards, books or whatever from the change though i dont mind spending it all on the camera.
there are so many cameras on the market i just dont have a clue what to purchase so if anyone could give me some advice or link me a camera they would recommend it would be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance
scott
Reply to this Scott,
This is a great question and one with many different answers. I personally feel that a camera with a housing can get bulky if you aren't really all that serious into photography. I might suggest that you try one of the newer waterproof cameras n the market as an alternate option to the camera + housing situation. Check this review out for some info:
Waterproof Camera Reviews from DPReview Reply to this thanks for your response and the link to the thread. i found the olympus mju tough 8000 camera of interest though after reading some peoples responses on it some have said that it is susceptible to leaking and the rest of the responses have said it is great though they havent used it under water yet. although it says you can use it to depths of 10m i am wondering whether the cameras are designed for harsh environments and durability rather than use for diving/snorkelling.
Reply to this You could be right Scott. Maybe Ali will chime in on this issue since he has more experience but my concern is that a camera housing can be a bit bulky, expensive and needs to be treated with care. I'll send Ali a note and see if he'll give his two cents...
Mike T.
Reply to this The waterproof cameras - are usually up to 10m only - which means that they're only suitable for snorkelling, diving would take you beyond that most times.
Another set of cameras that are no use underwater are the ones with touch screens.
Finally if you are buying a camera with the intention of using it below - get it at the same time as the housing - sometimes - you cannot find the housing at a later date.
I personally have had lots of success with Canons (point and shoot) - and am currently using a Canon G9 with housing.
The Canon G10 is the successor - if you can get a good price on that - you'll be happy I'm sure!
(Regarding bulk - yeah - it doubles the size of the camera - but - when I pack my stuff - I put the camera in the housing... simplifies it a little)
Reply to this Hi Scroosko.
I have been looking at waterproof cameras myself lately.I would only be using it for snorkelling as I have noticed it only has a depth recomendation of 3m,but it has HD video capeabilities and a pretty good all round setup.12mp too,its the Panasonic Lumix FT-1.
It comes in a few different funky colours too ;-)
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