Underwater Camera Reviews

- underwater camera?
im moving to the canary in a few weeks and would like to pick up an underwater camera for when i go out in the bays, are there any reasonably priced reusable underwater cameras? i took a diposable camera on my holiday last year but the pictures all came out crappy :( also im in the uk so prices in £ will be most helpful

A here in australia we have a store called "dick smith", also "rebel sport", and i bought one for $30, which i think is like 10 pounds where you are...

- Underwater camera?
Hey all I am looking for a good underwater camera for a girlfriend of mine. I know I could always go ask someone at a shop but I really don’t want a salesman’s point of view. What I’m looking for is the makes and models of some good ones and if you know the price range too that would be great. She is a diver so this will be used more than just a one time thing. OK sorry more details needed I guess. She dives and I need a camera that can go at about 100ft down

A Your budget is going to play a big part here. You can spend as little as 200 Canadian dollars or go all out and drop 3,000 dollars. If she currently has a camera, you can see if there's a company , like Ikelite.com, that produces a housing for it. They support many of the popular brand name cameras. This is your cheapest option. There's also Henrys.com, an online camera retailer that also has stores in the US and Canada. They are starting to sell both housings and cameras that are amphib's (use on surface and underwater). There are other manufacturers out there like Nikonos and Sea & Sea that poduce amphibs. Generally you can pick one up for 350- 500 Canadian dollars. What to look for in a camera or housing? Big buttons so that you can use them with gloves on. Buttons for all of the cameras functions too as not all housings will support all of the camera's functions, especially digitals. Strobe support is an important feature. One of the biggest problems an underwater photographer faces is called back scatter. Light from the flash hits suspended particles in the water and produces a "snowstorm" in the image at times. A strobe attachment eliminates this but needs to have a camera and housing that support attaching one. If you're looking for a "ready to go" unit, Sea and Sea make a digital now that has the strobe option and is about 500 Canadian plus the cost of the strobe kit. It has a built in flash, so will work without the strobe, but you may experience back scatter by using the flash alone. Depth rating? If she's an avid recreational diver, you'll want something rated to at least 120 feet, as she's either already an Advanced open water diver or planning on it in the future. 150 feet would be better but as long as she stays within recreational limits, even if she maxs out to 130, the camera and housing should tolerate the extra 10 feet. The only issue would be if something were to go wrong, your warranty won't cover it. Myself? I own an old fashioned Sea &Sea MX 5 film amphib with no strobe. I spend most of my time diving and not with a camera stuck to my face so I don't take a lot of pics. :) It's rated for 120 ft, but that hasn't been an issue at 170 as the camera has been that far when I forgot that I had it still on my BC on a dive. I don't suggest that anyone try that on purpose though.