Help ! Housing for digital cameras ?

[Amanda]

Hi to all,

I just received my new Sony Cybershot DSC-P51 (it's a 2.1 MPix, Optical Zoom x2, Digital Zoom x6, Memory Stick 16 Mo, f=6.3 - 12.6 mm 1:3.8) and was wondering if any of you know where can I buy a housing which is cheaper than $1000 ? :bonk: I'm desperate because everybody seem to think that housing for digital cameras are sooooo expensive !!)

Also, does anyone owns a Sony DSC P51 here ? Any tips for better utilisation will be greatly appreciated.

Is 2,1 MPix enough for u/w photography ? I'm just a beginner, so my expectations are not that huge !

Thanks for replies !

 

[notabob]

Is this a variant of the DSC-P5? Sony makes a housing for a DSC-P5 camera, which should be pretty reasonable, price-wise. Probably on the order of $200-$300. DigiDeep has a very thorough list of digital cameras and suitable housings. I didn't see a DSC-P51 there, but try looking anyway. Maybe you'll see a picture of your camera and it'll turn out to be a variant of one that has a housing available. Welcome to the digital world. Good luck!

-Roman.

 

[norcaldiver]

Son'y housing $100

It says it's for the p5, but call them, it might work =for the p51

 

[Amanda]

Great ! Good surprise, the only strange thing is that on DigiDeep it costs 249 Euros (approx the same than dollars), and on the other site, only 100 euros...... Weird.

Anyway, thanks a lot for your help - I'm not a trusting person by nature, do you think 40 meters resistance is "safe" ? I mean, they always say your clockwatch can go up to 30 meters but you'd better not take it deeper than 20 ...

Any comments ?
Thanks again !!

 

[norcaldiver]

Well, I'm sure there are going to be a billion opinions on this, but I wouldn't take it in the pool unless I had insurance on it.
Anyway, I think anything past 10 meters and you're going to need/want a strobe, which this doesn't have, so why take it to 40 meters in the 1st place?

One thing I did with my housing when I got it (used) was take it on a dive without the camera in it, just to see if it leaked or not.

You could put a piece of paper in there then take it on a normal dive, you'll see when you're done if the paper is wet.

 

[Amanda]

What is a strobe ?

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Amanda, a strobe is an intense flash for use with an underwater camera to provide light for the subject of the picture. A strobe will add the color back to your photos and is generally advisable for all underwater cameras. I dont know if anyone makes a strobe that you can use with your camera, but check out Ikelite.com. It will give you an education in underwater photography, or at least, confuse you to no end.

 

[norcaldiver]

Amanda once bubbled...
What is a strobe ?

Whoa, so you ARE new to it. That's cool, so was everyone else once...even Dee.

Here are a few starter sights.

1st off, care and feeding of you camera
It's sea and sea, but has good basics pointers.

The 10 commandments of UW photography

Actually, there's goo info and good pictures here

and remember, shoot, shoot and shoot some more. I have hours of video, but only a few minutes of stuff that I would even consider showing people.

 

[raxafarian]

I don't think the P5 housing will work. The P51's dimensions are 127mm x 58mm x 47mm.

The p-5's dimensions are: 113 x 54 x 36

Usually the housings are "made to fit". I would verify with sony before purchasing.


Ewa-marine makes a housing, but it is some sort of poly-vinyl bag... I wouldn't use it except for snorkeling. See www.camerasunderwater.com

Sorry to say that you might need a new camera (see the many threads recommending cameras).

 

[ReyeR]

Try http://www.digideep.com