underwater cameras

powershopper

Next month we are going to the Caribbean for a holiday, and would like to photograph the fish in the sea. Now all my camera gear is definately not for the sea, so I would like to have an inexpensive underwater camera for this job. so........ any ideas or reccomendations? Dont want or need to spend a lot of cash, but dont know where to look. HELP

diable

Do a search on Amazon for the following
Vivitar V5188 Digital Camera (5.1MP, 8xDigital ) 1.5"TFT + Waterproof Case seems a reasonable price for about £45

isofa

Have a look here, cameras and special waterproof housings for compact cameras: http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/c-underwater-cameras.htm

Canon have a new Powershot D10 coming out which is waterproof: http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/Digital_Camera/PowerShot/PowerShot_D10/index.asp

anudeglory

isofa wrote: »

Canon have a new Powershot D10 coming out which is waterproof: http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/Digital_Camera/PowerShot/PowerShot_D10/index.asp

But at around 200 pounds it might be a little expensive!

diable wrote: »

Do a search on Amazon for the following
Vivitar V5188 Digital Camera (5.1MP, 8xDigital ) 1.5"TFT + Waterproof Case seems a reasonable price for about £45

That's the camera I bought for when I went to the Maldives last year, some photos here on my public facebook album.

When I bought it they were £30 on eBuyer so look around, in fact I bought two, one for the OH .

They're not a bad camera, battery life is quite long especially for 2 x AAA and the image quality is okay. If the light conditions aren't great then the pics can be quite blury but then that's what you may expect from such a camera - although it's 5megapixel the CCD isn't the best.

Some advice - take hundreds of photos - it is surprisingly difficult to take photos underwater, especially when snorkelling. Mainly due to the motion of the ocean and also the bright sunlight conditions obscuring the screen.

You might benefit from some practice in the pool first so as not to dissapoint and to get the technique right - the camera seemed to work best in sports mode (which you'll need to memorise the sequence of buttons to press as underwater you can't see much and the buttons are rubbery and not very tactile).

Definately worth getting though, it's not a bad bit of fun kit to have considering a better underwater camera would be a lot more expensive and an enclosure just as expensive.

I did see, mainly from eBay shops, what looks a bit like a zip-lock bag with a lens attached which you can put your camera in and so it is sealed inside a plastic bag but I don't know something about them I just didn't want to trust with my normal camera...

powershopper

Thanks guys, looks like the Vivitar for us, the cannon sounds great, but only for a week is just a tad pricey. If I have any success I'll post some pics.
Thanks again

ewanm

I bought a Sanyo CA65 last year and have had good results from it. I think it has been replaced by the CA8, but again is over £200. It also records in MPEG4 and produces very good results on your PC and more than acceptable on your TV. Great if you want a quick and easy SD camcorder.

rsykes2000

How about a Fuji Finepix J10 and waterproof (to 3 metres) case for a touch under 90 quid. Camera is a refurb but I've got 3 refurbs from them before and been very happy. I would suspect it is a touch better than the Vivitar as well, my girlfriend's got a J10 (8 megapixel, x3 optical) as a camera for nights out and it gives decent pictures.
https://secure.fujifilm.co.uk/shop/consumer/digital/digital-cameras/fun-and-easy/finepix-j10

isofa

powershopper wrote: »

Thanks guys, looks like the Vivitar for us, the cannon sounds great, but only for a week is just a tad pricey. If I have any success I'll post some pics. Thanks again

Why not try a water proof case for some of your existing gear?

Sagz_2

We took some surprisingly good 'snaps' with one of the single use waterproof cameras that you can pick up in the supermarket.