Photo screw up in Bonaire need digital recommendations!!

[DavidHickey]

Well,
I made it to Bonaire last week, had a WONDERFUL time!!! Great people to dive with from LDS "about 20 of us went including my Fiancee" The diving was great BUT I had bought a 35mm camera to use for the trip, a cheaper one. Sea and Sea MX-10 with YS 40 strobe and Macro lense, wide angle lens, and close up lens. The camera seemed to work flawlessy and I took a total of 6 rolls of underwater photos. I got back to the states and took the film to the developer. Well my heart was broken he said that only one roll "the first one I took" actually had pictures and the other 5 were blank and that nothing was on the negatives. Can't understand it BUT thats another fish to fry. I have decided at this point I'm going digital just not sure which model to get. Any one have any suggestions? Are the Sea and Sea and SeaLife brands good or are you better off buying a quality camera and a seperate underwater case from Ikelite or someone? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I looked on the photography Forum and did not see much info other than cameras for sale there was not a general forum.
Thanks
David

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

David,

Sorry to hear about your problem with the MX10, maybe you forgot to push that little button in the upper right hand corner by the film door back. I did that before. I used the MX10 for 10 years or so had simply never got (what I consider to be) as decent shot from that camera. I had seen photos taken with other cameras same model that were quite good, but mine all stunk.

I took it with me to Utila in April and shot 1 roll, took it to get developed and kept1 shot of the 24. I did not even bother to use the rest of the film I took with me..

I bought my underwater digital in June, and am more then pleased with it.

Good luck, but I must say digital is the way to go (I held out as long as I could, and now I wonder what took me so long)

 

[MagnaRyder2]

The battery connections in my MX10 were intermittent.
I'd take one photo and the film would advance. The next attempt would be with
a dead camera. Usually a sharp WHACK on the side of the camera would clear it
for a little while.

The next trip found me with a digital as well.

 

[Gilligan]

I don't think you can go wrong with Olympus, Canon or Fuji digital cameras.

The Ikelite housings for them will cost you a little more than the same-brand housings but will allow you to add on 67mm wet mount lenses with the additional Ikelite adapter.

You may want to check out the Oly SP350 (already out of production), The Canon S80 and the Fuji E900. The Oly and Canon are 8 megapixel and the Fuji is 9.

The Canon does not have RAW capability but the other two do if that's important to you.

 

[Diver Dennis]

There are a few threads here... http://www.scubaboard.com/search.php?searchid=3414075

 

[ejg62]

For easy point and shoot look at camera's from Olympus, Fuji and Sony. Each of these manufacturer's also offer underwater housings for many of their models. While these housings may not be as sophisticated as the Ikelite they are also much cheaper. Go to each of their websites and learn more.

I have an Olympus 5060 with the Olympus PT-020 underwater housing and use a Sea and Sea strobe.

Below is the Olympus web page for their underwaterhousings, this may help determine your camera options.
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_underwater.asp

Here is Sony's marine web site: http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_ParametricSearch-Start

I couldn't find anything for Fuji.

Hope these links help.

Jim