Digital camera housing vs. underwater cameras

[rcoltura]

Hey all,
I'm new to the discussion board and have been very impressed with the welcome I have received. I'm planning a dive trip in Central/South America in January and definitely want to capture some of my dives on film. I currently own a Sony CD Mavica 200 digital camera and am curious as to whether anyone has any opinions as to if I should invest in an underwater housing or save up and get an actual underwater camera. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Coltura

 

[pdoege]

My buddy has a Canon S40 with a UW housing.

Works really well. No way I'd trade it for one of those film cameras.

The 4Mpixel is hard to beat as well.

Is there a decent digital UW camera? All the ones that I've seen are pretty crappy 1.3Mpixel units.

Peter

 

[Wreck Ranger]

I've been doing tons of research on that very question. Buying a housing I think would definately be the way to go. I just purchased an Olympus C-3020 and an Olympus UW housing. I haven't got it in the water yet, but am looking forward to it very soon. I had seen pictures taken with a film camera and a good digital camera and the digital seems to be the way I would go. If you have any questions I would enjoy sharing any knowledge I can with you(little of my useless kind ha/ha).

 

[caymaniac]

I currently use a housed 35 slr and have extensivly researched digital slr's which is going to be my next move. Currently the Nikon D100 and the Fuji S2 are the ones to get with the Fuji winning out, however with both of these cameras there is a problem with off and on sharpness which is caused by either the ccd or the program, I'm not ready to purchase as of yet. If Fuji gets this problem taken care of I'd purchase today!:upset:

Caymaniac

 

[Dee]

rcoltura once bubbled...
Hey all,
I'm new to the discussion board and have been very impressed with the welcome I have received. I'm planning a dive trip in Central/South America in January and definitely want to capture some of my dives on film. I currently own a Sony CD Mavica 200 digital camera and am curious as to whether anyone has any opinions as to if I should invest in an underwater housing or save up and get an actual underwater camera. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Coltura

There are only a few 'actual underwater cameras' left on the market...NikonosV, S&S MMII, S&S MX-10 are the only ones that produce good pics, IMHO. For a consumer, I think digital is the way to go. You have no film processing fees and hassles after the trip (or at anytime), the instant feedback is very nice and results in more 'keepers' and you can tell how well you're doing, virtually no restrictions on how many pics you can take per dive and no scanning to get pics into your computer for sharing on the web. Although you can have pics put on CD when you have film developed, it's much nicer to have them instantly!

There are two housings available for your Mavica CD200.
Click here to see the list. The Ikelite is the only one I know anything about. The Ikelite will cost you about $950 -/+.

I was in the same position...I already had a decent digital camera and wanted a housing for it. But at the time the only housing avaliable cost more than twice what I paid for the camera. I decided to buy a better camera and affordable housing. I got a 4.1 megapixel Olympus C-4040 ($550 now), a Olympus PT-10 housing ($250) and with rechargeable batteries/charger and extra memory cards, I spent about the same as the housing for the first camera would have cost. Just another option you may want to consider.

 

[SCUBAMedic]

Ikelite is the only one that I know about for the Sony CD range. I have just got a Sony CD400 and I am now saving for the housing for it. Another diver I know uses a Sony digital camera with a sony housing and get fantastic photos with it.

I was taking some photos of my dog when I first got the digital and decided to get a couple developed at the photo place - just to see what difference it makes. The camera was not on its hightest setting and the photos were the best I had ever taken the colour and sharpness was far far better than any I had taken with film. Digital is so the way to go !!!!! and the CD formate is great for travelling.

 

[rcoltura]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the great advice you've all provided. I think I'm leaning towards Dee's suggestion of getting another digital camera and a housing that costs less than the cost of the camera. I'll be sure to post some pics when the time comes! Thanks again!

Coltura