Disposable Underwater Cameras

[AceszHigh]

So I'm going diving in Key Largo this weekend and want to take some pictures. I always see those Kodak disposable cameras they put in in plastic casing for underwater use. my question is...do these things take decent pictures? Good enough to be worth my effort to bring it along on my dives?

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I had nothing but dissappointment with these skin diving a few years ago. Taking U/W photos is not trivial, it is much more difficult than topside. With a disposable (assumming you find one that is water tight at your dive depth) you are handicapped in so many other ways (no feedback, fixed aperture, fixed focus, etc..) that I dont think its worth the distraction / cost.

 

[under water]

If you are taking underwater snapshots of your buddies or the "Jesus statue", then it is worth it for the memories, etc. If you want fish pictures, you will probably be dissapointed.
If you have a flash, you will probably get some "Backscatter" .. so if at all possible, shoot shallow and shoot close.
Go for it.. Just don't let it distract from your enjoyment of the dive.

 

[fisheyeview]

We started out doing just that years ago. The "waterproof" disposables were okay for snap shots. The one thing you should know is that past 15' you can take a picture, but the camera will be compressed to the point that you will not be able to advance the film. You will have to ascend to above 15' to wind the film to be able to take another shot. It only took a couple of dives like that for my wife to get an underwater camera. The rest is a life long addiction for the both of us.

 

[diverrex]

We started out doing just that years ago. The "waterproof" disposables were okay for snap shots. The one thing you should know is that past 15' you can take a picture, but the camera will be compressed to the point that you will not be able to advance the film. You will have to ascend to above 15' to wind the film to be able to take another shot. It only took a couple of dives like that for my wife to get an underwater camera. The rest is a life long addiction for the both of us.

Different brands work differently. I've had some down to 40+ and was still able to advance the film.


Here is a photo from about 4 years back, my wife doing mask clear with her instructor on her checkout dive. It was at about 50 fsw, with just ambient light. I took around 3 shots at that depth and was still able to advance the film. Not a good photo, but not bad either for a $15 disposable camera. It at least allows you to bring back some memories.

 

[mike_s]

I've had them down 40-50 feet. they didn't implode.

however, the pressure was enough to push in the 'shutter' button. So if you wanted to take a pic, you had to get it into view, then wind it and when it got to the point where the frame had advanced enough to take the pic, the shutter would automatically depress from the pressure a depth.

Did it make great pics? no.... poor color from lack of ambient light. everything looked blue (similar to the above pic). But I'm glad I did it as it was neat at the time to have some snapshots from the dive. (but you end up with a lot of wasted pics also.)

now days, having a digital underwater camera with a strobe is the only way to go. (and a nice set of high maH batteries to run it).

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I have had them on the Speigel Grove and they worked fairly well and did not implode or leak. There are actually some rated to 100 feet and 75's are easy to find down there. They deeper rated ones may cost you 25-30 bucks for something like 27 shots but if you are careful it may be worth it.