Good inexpensive camera?

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I'm not much of a photographer, I admit, but I have some pictures I took with a disposable here http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album11 . Visibility at this site wasn't spectacular(20-25') and we were between 30-45' for the most part. Flash and flashlights were used for lighting. There were quite a few more pictures, but they weren't even close to distinguishable.

Same place, same conditions, this time the photos were taken by my buddies ReefMaster camera which I believe he payed $400ish for the cam and housing. http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album16 Yes, I know, we don't make good photographers but the picture quality is still obviously much better.

I would not rely on a disposable, in my experience, they aren't worthwhile in most underwater applications. It would be horrible if your adventure to Cook Island could only be captured by memory since your disposable only brings you home a bunch of pictures that show awhole-lotta-nothin. My $.02

 

[Museition]

Thank you every one for your kind & informative advice. I understand that disposables will probably be the cheapest route, but I don't want to sacrifice quality. I will check out some of the cameras that have been suggested & hope that I can find something that won't be more than $100.

 

[Atticus]

I bought a Canon Digital Elph S500 5MP camera for $400 and a housing for $160. I don't know if you consider this cheap, but it's a handy combination!

 

[alcina]

Thank you every one for your kind & informative advice. I understand that disposables will probably be the cheapest route, but I don't want to sacrifice quality. I will check out some of the cameras that have been suggested & hope that I can find something that won't be more than $100.

check out ebay for Canon A20 - I used one of these for almost two years and got some great results...they are discontinued but you might be able to find one cheap. A new housing is still going to be around $150 though.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

SL130 Reefmaster DC250 Digital for $299 @ http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&A=ShowProduct&Q=&sku=277756&kw=sermdc250&bi=195

This was just the first link under a yahoo search for that particular camera. Its not the best cam in the world, but it'll do you a world better than a disposable.