What is better: Underwater camera or an underwater camera case?

Nick from

My Situation: I'm going to a family reunion in Hawaii in a couple of weeks, and was thinking taking pictures while snorkeling may be fun. I could buy one of those $10 disposable underwater film cameras, but since I go into caves a lot which are wet, I thought getting something not disposable could be useful there also. I don't want to spend too much money, but am exploring my options.

What I've tried so far: I went to REI the other day, and bought a $30 heavy duty underwater plastic baggie with a hard lens opening that goes over the camera lens part. I tried it out with the digital camera I already have and noticed the pictures are okay if I don't use the flash, but once I use the flash the pictures come out very cloudy. That was the AquaPac brand, and I'm not sure if the DiCaPac brand name underwater baggie would be any better or not. As an alternative, I'm not sure if those "hard case" underwater housings take care of this "flash problem", although with how much they cost for my particular snapshot camera model, it may be cheaper just to buy a real underwater camera. I'd also be worried that a hard case housing wouldn't be useful if I decide to upgrade cameras later on, since they're specific to the camera model?

So, moving the story forward, at Costco there's an underwater camera usually $300, but I just bought it on sale for $150, trying to figure out if I should open it or return it. It's a Nikon Coolpix AW100. It's waterproof to 33 ft, drop proof to 5 ft, and has "underwater mode" (although the camera I already have has an "aquarium mode", not sure if that would help or not).

My Question: I'm not sure if it would be best to go with the Nikon AW100, or get a better underwater heavy duty baggie case with the hard lens to go with my existing digital camera (so that I can always upgrade my digital camera later on), or some other option?



IT'S NOT NEEDED TO READ BELOW UNLESS MORE DETAILS ARE NEEDED:

The underwater camera I found at Costco is http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-COOLPIX-Waterproof-Digital-Camouflage/dp/B008JI0R8U/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1365876725&sr=1-4&keywords=Nikon+AW100

If I do get some underwater housing, the digital camera I have now is a Canon Powershot A720 IS that I got in 2007 http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-A720IS-Digital-Stabilized/dp/B000V1VG2E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365875483&sr=8-1&keywords=Canon+Powershot+A720+IS

The type of underwater housing which gave me foggy pictures when using the flash was http://www.amazon.com/Aquapac-Small-Camera-Case-Shown/dp/B0012BRAFY/ref=sr_1_24?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1365875732&sr=1-24&keywords=aquapac+underwater+case

The housing which I haven't tried but don't know if it would be better is http://www.amazon.com/Dicapac-WP-ONE-Digital-Camera-Waterproof/dp/B005IAXVMG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365875559&sr=8-1&keywords=dicapac+waterproof+case

Answer
I am a scuba diver & underwater photographer.

The reason you get 'foggy' pictures when using the flash underwater is that you get 'backscatter' from on axis flash off particles in the water.

The ONLY way round this is to use an off camera strobe - these can be attached to DSLR underwater housings, or you can get versions that attached to hard cases for compact cameras. The hard cases are usually waterproof down to recreational diving depths (ie at lease 40m, usually 60m). This may well be overkill for what you want to do.

There are rigid underwater housings available for your camera;
http://www.digifish.nl/en/equipment/housings.html?model=Canon+PowerShot+A720+IS

You should be able to attach an external strobe but these are not cheap - you are talking a few hundred pounds!!


Using a flexible 'baggie' is ok, but as you have found in low light (& light levels drop off fast underwater) you are going to need some additional lighting. The Dicapac wouldn't be any better in this respect to what you have already tried. The Costco camera would also suffer from this problem too as it has an inbuilt flash.

The other alternative is to get really close to the subject - reduce the thickness of the water column - this will reduce backscatter.

Just realise that if you thought photography was an expensive hobby, underwater photography is much worse!!

Is it possible to build an underwater housing for a Canon PowerShot A520?

mystina777

I would like to be able to take photographs at a depth no greater than 60 feet. If you could direct me to some plans or a book about the subject please do. If there is an underwater housing for this camera how much does it cost?

Answer
Yup, they sell the waterproof casing for this (40m I thnk)
Cost S$370 which probably works out to <US$200
Model is Waterproof Case WP-DC60 (A510 / A520)

http://www.canon.com.sg/index.cfm?fuseaction=digitalcamera&prod_type=accessories

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