What is the cheapest underwater photography solution available?

waterproof digital camera 10m image

Guy Haimov

I want to take underwater photos in shallow reefs

Answer
Two questions - how deep are you going to go & what's your budget?

Shallow/cheap options - you can either buy a waterproof digital camera (usually ok for swimming pool depths - 2-3m or so) or you can use a flexible housing for a camera you already have (usually ok for 5-8m or so).

Fuji finepix is quite good at around £100;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-FinePix-XP10-Digital-Camera/dp/B00342UTO8/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1300631604&sr=1-7

or the Canon Powershot D10 for just over £200;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-PowerShot-Digital-Camera-Optical/dp/B001T9NH7E/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1300631604&sr=1-12

A selection of flexible housings;
http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/ewa_marine/d_stills/index.html

If you are going deeper than about 10m you need a rigid housing, otherwise water pressure pushes buttons you don't want pushing. A selection of compact camera & housing packages here;
http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/d_stills/packages.html

These will be a few hundred pounds for both camera & housing.

At the top end of the scale is housings for DSLR's - these are several thousand pounds worth once you've bought strobes/ports as well.

Which waterproof case/housing will fit my camera?

monster_gi

I need a waterproof case or housing that I can use for underwater pictures, but I don't want something that is $200+. I found the DicaPac cases but I don't know how reliable they are and which one would fit my digital camera. My camera is an Olympus SZ-12, it has 14MP and 24X zoom and 23mm and a 3.0" LCD.
It won't be used in very deep water. Like maybe a foot or two under the surface is all considering I can't really swim the greatest.

Answer
The DicaPac cases are supposedly good for 10m / 33ft, but in reality they are really designed for splash proofing the camera or swimming with it, not even snorkelling.

The biggest problem with all of the 'baggie' style 'cases' is that water pressure quickly makes it impossible to use the cameras buttons as it starts pressing them for you.

Any decent waterproof housing is going to cost you as much as the camera if not more.

If all you want to do is take a few snaps in very shallow water then the DicaPac's are useable but to match them up with the camera you need to compare the cameras size and layout with the case, ideally by going and trying them.

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