Housing or no housing?

[highveelocity]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, I'm not sure where to post itMy wife saw the Olympus 8000 at Best buy. She wants to get an underwater camera but is very stubborn and doesn't want to use a housing, saying she will be able to stay above the 30 foot limit, I disagree. Are there any cameras that can be used down to 50 feet without a housing? I'm guessing it's not recommended. Set her straight!

 

[imwright1985]

There are a ton of views on this, density of saltwater is more than fresh so depth tollerance is actually is less at times (casio gZone phone i think describes this in depth capibilitys). 30ft limit isnt that much and you may want to go deeper so find an apropriate cam that housings are cheaper (my housing is 80 my parents is 280) but also comfortable. Im just getting into Underwater Photography but got a camera yesterday that i had in the pool today and plan on taking as deep as i can get decent shots without a strobe until i get one, then after strobe going about 90 ft or so range.

 

[Bazooka Joe]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, I'm not sure where to post itMy wife saw the Olympus 8000 at Best buy. She wants to get an underwater camera but is very stubborn and doesn't want to use a housing, saying she will be able to stay above the 30 foot limit, I disagree. Are there any cameras that can be used down to 50 feet without a housing? I'm guessing it's not recommended. Set her straight!

Sealife Reefmaster Mini... great camera for the dollars... rated to 130ft.

He is a link to my pics witht he camera http://picasaweb.google.com/jdavissrusa

can do alot of things with the camera...boating, snorkeling, scuba.

Joe

 

[Damselfish]

a camera rated to 33 feet is really meant for snorkeling or other watersports, not diving. If a housing itsout of the question then yeah, look at the Sealife cameras. What is the specific objection to a housing? If it's the size/weight, there are some out there that are quite compact.

 

[imwright1985]

if i recall correctly the sealife's are pretty pricy, but might be a good option for you, the housings i dont find to be that bulky, kinda reminds me of a traditional SLR camera for size. Another option would be if the Olympus that your looking at has reasonable priced housings avalible get that camera and add a housing so you could use it without the housing for snorkeling if your willing to risk possible damage to the actual camera the put it in housing for deeper dives.

the benefit of having a good camera that you can get a cheaper housing rated for about 100 ft or more is that you can take it that deep and aslong as orings are good have no problems at all and the housing will also protect the actual camera from damage incase you bump it on the boat, some other gear, reef or wreck. granted you shouldnt be rough on a camera things happen so better safe than sorry

 

[marcaumarc]

If you want to take a digital camera diving, you need to have a housing. It's basically not negotiable. I would not take the camera you mentioned diving. I would take it snorkeling, but it's definitely not made for diving.

 

[Bazooka Joe]

A reefmaster Mini is like 249.00 water ready, no hose, one small O ring. Not really what I consider pricey as far as nderwater cameras go.

 

[imwright1985]

didnt know the reefmaster mini was that cheap, i paid 150 total for my olympus with housing that is about the same specs. Most of the sealifes i have seen are in 500+ range. I guess ill have to keep them in mind for my next cam

 

[Michael Folise]

Used a Vivitar 6200w (NOT the 8200-different camera) rated to 33 fsw for four years on dives. Took it to 80 fsw many times. Finally ruined it by putting in the O ring backwards (yes, it is not symetrical about the horizontal axis). Minor flood, sea water evaproated in it, coated the power board with salt, end of story. Look at the canon rated to 30 or so fsw. looks OK orther than the door to access the USB port.