Affordable UW Stills camera recommendation 2018

[Twinnings]

Realise that recommendations for a cheap stills cameras have been asked previously but many of the threads are quite old, so thought I'd ask for the current year!

So for July 2018, what would people's recommendation be for the best UW stills camera under $500? Needs to go down to 30m depth, and ideally shot raw images.

 

[arew+4]

Your going to have a hard time finding anything new for that price. Housing alone is going to run $300 or more. I am considering an Olympus TG-5, the camera is about $374,(good to 50 ft) and the Olympus housing is another $300 (good to 147 ft). A strobe and tray will add another 3 or 4 hundred.

 

[Barmaglot]

The recently discontinued Nikon 1 series has some very good deals available - you can pick up a used J1 with a 10-30mm lens and a WP-N1 housing for less than $200 total. It's a dead system now, but with the entry point being so cheap, you can collect all the accessories (the cost of which far exceeds the cost of a camera body and a basic housing) and then toss the camera and upgrade to something nicer, as budget permits.

 

[Twinnings]

One solution I've just stumbled across is this: Kraken Sports

Universal smart phone housing. Fits my budget, and I do like my Samsung S8 picture quality. Definitely not a proper UW camera but will get the simple snaps done.

Anyone had any experience with it? If I get it I'll post a review.

 

[bravokiloromeo]

The recently discontinued Nikon 1 series has some very good deals available - you can pick up a used J1 with a 10-30mm lens and a WP-N1 housing for less than $200 total. It's a dead system now, but with the entry point being so cheap, you can collect all the accessories (the cost of which far exceeds the cost of a camera body and a basic housing) and then toss the camera and upgrade to something nicer, as budget permits.

Second this. Getting started with a J4 + housing that my dad picked up for $275 total when Nikon was clearing inventory. Just picked up a pair of Z240's that will get me started; probably going to upgrade to the Olympus E-M5 mk2 since bluewater has a good price on the combo and I will also use it for wildlife photography.

 

[jerbee]

I just purchased a Nikon 1 J1 with 10-30 lens on eBay for $90. I got the WP-N1 housing from Adorama for $60, a Toshiba FlashAir Gen 4 WiFi SD card for $40, a Sea&Sea style optical cord (UltraMax) for $20 from B&H Photo, and a compatible strobe (UltraMax) and bracket for $90. All in, $290... I’m extremely pleased with my set up given my budget constraints. The ability to shoot in RAW is going to make a huge difference from the W300 ($400) I had previously been using (and sold to pay for the new rig).

 

[jerbee]

That being said, I’m probably going to be dropping another 200 for a focus light soon. It never ends. lol

 

[jerbee]

 

[Barmaglot]

FWIW, you can get pretty good lights from Archon for considerably less than $200.

 

[jerbee]

Good thinking! They have Archon on Alibaba, too.. which is where I’m getting my arm extenders for barely a fraction of what identical ones retail for at my LDS. Thanks for the idea.