Canon S-30 or Sony P5 for snorkeling?

[Dave C]

I am considering buying a digital camera for topside photos along with uw snapshots. The two cameras that I am looking at most closely are the Canon S30 or the Sony DSC P-5 with WP-DC300 and MPK-P5 housings, respectively. Underwater, I would only be using the camera for snorkeling in the tropics. I am concerned about a couple of problems:

1. I have read that in shallow, sunny conditions (i.e. snorkeling in the tropics) it may be very difficult to see the LCD screen. Is this so bad that it is an insurmountable problem? Can the camera’s optical viewer be used at all when the camera is inside its housing and when you are viewing it through a dive mask? Would one of these two cameras have advantages over the other regarding these problems? I can’t imagine just blinding shooting away without having some idea of what is in your photo or being able to frame the picture in some way. I presently have a Sea & Sea MX-10 camera, and I certainly use the viewfinder all the time!
2. I have also read that leaving on the LCD display will cause the battery to run down quickly and may cause the housing to fog-up because of heat generated. When these cameras are in their housings, can you turn the LCD display off and on? (I think I remember reading a comment somewhere that you could turn the LCD off and on with the Canon S30, but I could not find anything about the Sony DSC P-5.)

Bottom line is, would you recommend either of these cameras for snorkeling, and is one to be preferred over the other? I am leaning toward the Canon, mostly because it can use compact flash cards or microdrives.

 

[GP]

I can't comment on the Canon because I haven't used one but I do have a Sony P5 with the MPKP5 Marine Pack housing. I like it a lot. It would work great for snorkeling. I use mine diving and have had it down past 100ft in Lake Superior without any problems other than lens fogging on the housing due to the 40 degree difference in air/water temps. The LCD screen CAN be turned off however I keep mine on because I like to see how my pics turn out after snapping them. If you leave it on all the time your batteries are drained much quicker. You're probably only going to get 45 minutes of time with it on the whole time which is why I bought a spare battery pack. Not sure how much time you'd get with the LCD turned off as I haven't used it that way. Don't worry about the LCD display fogging up the housing from generated heat...I think that's just BS. I use my camera in coldwater exclusively. The only time I've had fogging problems was from taking the camera from very warm air temps from inside my car into very cold Lake Superior water without a slow adjustment. The optic viewer on the camera itself can't be viewed when the camera is in the housing so you really do need to use the LCD which IMO is better anyway. Hope this helps.

 

[Jonathan]

Sounds a bit overkill for snorkelling - I used to get great results from the disposable ones.

I use a sony DCS=85 and have used a P5 and P9 and never had problems with the housing misting up. A friend who uses a canon does have this problem but he gets round that by adding one of those little packets that keeps food etc dry.

I also find the sony batteries superior to others and will do a weekends diving on one battery, with the lcd on.

You may be lucky and find a P5 in a clearance sale as it is old hat now.....

Jonathan