Budget uw set up advice please...

[clarkey]

I think my old Canon SD750 needs to be retired, I'm on my second one and although the housing is fine the camera is discontinued and I'm having one last attempt at new batteries for it first (as the main problem seems to be battery not holding charge - I've got through a number of replacements)......
So any advice on a similar kind of camera/UW housing ..... I run a small dive shop in the Caribbean and its mainly for rental purposes, not for professional shots.... so ideally a camera that has a half decent underwater mode for those that just want to take shots of their friends pulling silly poses, plus white balance for those with a bit more experience.....
I guess around the same budget as my original set up which was about $400 in total for camera and housing.... and advice greatefully received....

 

[Gilligan]

My first question would be where and what kind of batteries are you buying? If the camera still serves its purpose as a rental would it not be best to just get a quality battery? Many of the online purchased batteries are junk, especially the ones from Hong Kong sellers.

 

[Scubanomad]

check out my website for budget UW gear Best Beginner Underwater Camera options | SCUBA PHOTO SCHOOL
The S100 would be low budget with great results

 

[tplyons]

If you want to try to revive your old SD, I'd recommend a company called Green Batteries.

I use several of them with great success in my DSLR's and have one spare for my SD600 as well. As good, if not better than Canon OEM batteries.

Here is their NB-4L replacement: Li-ion replacement battery for Canon NB-4L - 3.7v 750mAh