Camera suggestion needed!

[tdallen]

Used GoPros are inexpensive on eBay. I need to sell my GoPro Hero 4 Silver, in fact, since I got a Hero 6 recently. They're not a "serious" underwater option but they're fun. I just clip mine off to my BC or loop in around my wrist, and use it when time and task loading allows...

 

[kelemvor]

Since the hero7 is out and costs $399 you will probably start finding used Hero6 cameras all over the place for a lot less. I'm not sure what stores will discount "old stock" hero6 black cameras down to.

Gopro has a neat "insurance" program too. It's $5/month and they will replace a lost or broken gopro supposedly "no questions asked" up to twice a year. I have the insurance on my hero6 but haven't needed to use it yet.

 

[miserkris]

Thanks all !!!!! I will wait for BF deal to get the Olympus TG-5

 

[miserkris]

thx

 

[miserkris]

Used GoPros are inexpensive on eBay. I need to sell my GoPro Hero 4 Silver, in fact, since I got a Hero 6 recently. They're not a "serious" underwater option but they're fun. I just clip mine off to my BC or loop in around my wrist, and use it when time and task loading allows...

How are underwater pics in that hero-6? Sure vids are great !!

 

[gr8jab]

I use a Sealife Micro with a tray and SeaDragon video light. The light is not a strobe, but still makes for very good photos. Plus, I use the light as my primary when night diving, which is HUGELY BRIGHT.

Note too that the Micro is a sealed camera, with no housing to leak or need maintenance.

 

[kelemvor]

How are underwater pics in that hero-6? Sure vids are great !!

They're decent, but I prefer my outdated and inferior (in most ways) DC1200 for stills. The issue with gopro and underwater still photos is that the gopro does not have any way to trigger an underwater strobe. If you are able to light your subject with regular lights then it would be okay. It's harder than it sounds (I've tried). Compare even older dive cameras with external flashes to any dive camera without a flash and you'll see a significant difference.

As I said, hero7 is the current model gopro. However it still doesn't have any way to trigger an external flash underwater that I'm aware of.

 

[rsingler]

I'd echo what others have said about the drawbacks of GoPro. That said, you can't argue with the form factor. It's small!
I just returned from a week photographing in the Cayman Is. I had my rig with arms and strobes. Yeah, nice pics.
But my buddies with GoPro came up with nice stuff, and to address the other half of the OP's initial question, their video light made a perfectly acceptable low cost dive light:
Suptig Diving Light High Power Dimmable Waterproof LED Video Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07315JD78/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_NtsPBb4V42R13

So, yeah the Oly will be a reasonable choice. But to answer the OP's question, a GoPro and this light makes for a very cost effective way to get started (AND have a fair dive light).

I was surprised (and chagrined) at some of their pics, given what I've spent on gear.

 

[tdallen]

How are underwater pics in that hero-6? Sure vids are great !!

Depends on your goals and expectations. Even my Hero 4 Silver with an inexpensive red filter and a little color correction, at shallower depths, takes stills that look great on my iPad as we share with stories with friends. The 6 is even better.

If I were going to print with these, upload to my (nonexistant) YouTube channel, or plan to show them on a 120" display, or do macro photography, or if I were concerned about white balance or true color correction - different story. But if you understand the limitations of low-light photography and just want to have some fun then a GoPro can fit the bill. I have "real" cameras for other purposes but underwater I'm just looking for a super convenient form factor and good enough pictures to be part of the after-action story telling.

I have a blurry close-up of the back of a nurse shark. It will forever be in my camera roll, though, because as I was hovering at the bottom in Belize a 9 foot nurse shark swam straight at me. I frantically bounced up and managed to snap a picture as it swam through my split legs. Lousy picture, good story.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

If I were going to print with these, upload to my (nonexistant) YouTube channel, or plan to show them on a 120" display, or do macro photography, or if I were concerned about white balance or true color correction - different story. But if you understand the limitations of low-light photography and just want to have some fun then a GoPro can fit the bill. I have "real" cameras for other purposes but underwater I'm just looking for a super convenient form factor and good enough pictures to be part of the after-action story telling.

You can get a clip on macro lens for the Hero. I had one of THESE for the 3 for quite a while. Until Kim used that camera, forgot to attach the lanyard, and it popped off on the ladder. I found that I never used the macro lens anyway, just the filter, so I replaced it with just a red filter.