Diving Cameras

- A few months ago I asked a question about underwater diving video cameras. Can you help?
The camera must be as lightweight as possible (ideally tube shaped) WITHOUT housing, and that can be used for diving, or even mounted on a neoprene helmet (or strapped to an arm) for other activities in and out of the water to give a 1st person perpective. Please help!!!

A Yes. Answered By: Fares Al-Sagri Jan 21, 2007

- Underwater Diving cases for cameras? A good one?
Any recommendations on good underwater diving camera cases for 30m - only one product on eBay so can't be sure if it works?

A At risk of disappointing you, most waterproof casings are designed specifically for a single model of camera, so it is very unlikely that you will be able to find a 'generic' casing which fits a camera you already own. Casings are generally made (or at least 'badged') by the same company which produced the camera, and (being a niche market product) can be correspondingly expensive--sometimes costing nearly as much as the camera itself (even for cheap digital compacts, never mind monster SLRs). If you want a housed camera system for underwater photography, your best bet is to buy the camera and housing simultaneously, as a package. There are also a few 'non-housed' (i.e. the camera is permanently attached to its waterproof case) underwater cameras on the market, both film and digital; these may be cheaper than a housed system, but may also have less scope for expansion with your ability/ambitions. Cameras aimed at the sport diving market are usually rated to 45+ m (approx. 150 ft), and as such are guaranteed to 'work' at shallower depths (so long as you follow the operating instructions!). It's basically a question of personal preference (and budget) from then on. Cheap disposable-type 'underwater' cameras are usually not much good for anything more than snorkelling. If you don't wish to buy new, you may be able to find a secondhand set through eBay, or your dive buddies/club/local dive shop--otherwise, internet forums or classified ads in the back of dive magazines are probably the next best places to look. What you should buy really depends on what kind of ambitions you have for your UW photography. I've owned 2 cameras so far, both bought second-hand. I started with a Sea&Sea Mx10 (basic non-housed system, with detachable strobe) which was good for taking souvenir snapshot type photos, but not much else. Sea&Sea's range is aimed squarely at the entry-level market: their Mx5 is even more basic than the Mx10, and the MotorMarine II is a more advanced, modular system (NB these are all 35 mm film cameras). They also make several non-housed digital-compacts. There are sevaral other manufacturers producing lookalike products. After the Mx10 flooded (likely O-ring failure, since we always set it up very carefully), I got a Canon Powershot A380 digital compact plus housing. There are a fair few digital compact/housing systems on the market these days--you can find reviews (by a much more experienced photographer than me) for many of them at www.divernet.com The Cannon A380 now looks pretty basic (e.g. it's only 4 megapixel!) compared to what's on the market these days, but considering how seldom I go diving at the moment, it's fine for me. I'm toying with the idea of getting a baseplate/strobe arm for it, since the on-board flash produces too much backscatter, but again there's that niggle of 'How much use am I actually going to get out of it?' The next system for me would be a digital SLR monster, but I should probably finish paying off the mortgage on the house first... If you have any further questions, feel free to mail me through Answers.