What digital camera to choose with a $400 budget?

[Margie]

What digital camera is good for clear water, in a tropical site? I'm a rescue diver, but not a pro and just don't know what camera to choose, I want one that can be useful for outside use too. Is the Casio EX-Z40 any good? Any recomendations ? Thanks!!

 

[Uncle Pug]

Hmmm... I think you could come close with a Pentax optio S50 and an OWP3 case from http://www.17photo.com/ I used an S40 on my trip to Fiji but exchanged it for an S50 which fit in the same housing. I recently uploaded 20 pictures I took with that camera into my gallery here on Scuba Board. I'm sure there are other point and shoot cameras that would serve you just as well but these pictures should give you an idea of what is possible. It was only the second time I had the camera in the water.

 

[RockyHeap]

Nikon 4300 4 megpixel - $225 off ebay.
Fantasea CP4-Pro Housing - $150 from Leisure Pro.

Great land camera and full close-up macro mode with decent built in flash for underwater.

 

[ShakaZulu]

Is that including the Underwater Housing??? The camera you mention is $219.00 on Amazon. The Canon and Olympus seems to be the leading brands in this world. I recently got the Canon A85 with the underwater housing. Very good value for money, and allows you a variety of manual settings.

 

[stu_in_fl]

I have a Cannon S500 (~$350) and the housing (~$160) that goes with it - 5MP...got mine of Amazon.com (probably the price has dropped or there may be cheaper plkaces for it) - the small size of the camera is great for topside use as well....the s400 (4MP) would be a little cheaper and uses the same housing

 

[f3nikon]

What digital camera is good for clear water, in a tropical site? I'm a rescue diver, but not a pro and just don't know what camera to choose, I want one that can be useful for outside use too. Is the Casio EX-Z40 any good? Any recomendations ? Thanks!!

Yes the Casio EX-Z40 is good! Its looks like even better underwater!

I checked it out myself, not underwater but on land.

The pros are: A LARGE 2 inch, bright LCD display, great for underwater, very sharp pictures (I loaded my own SD disc in a Casio EX-Z40 store model and checked the picture at home), Pentax Lens (one of the best lens in Japan), metal body and they make an U/W housing rated to 40 meters, the housing has a very good internal flash diffuser and a simple yet sound design.

Cons: No hot shoe for the external flash, have to use an external slave strobe.

The only bonus to this camera, is if it does not use a pre flash, so you won't be stuck to using an over priced Inon or high end Ikelite as an external strobe.


http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/ex-z40_pg5.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50506&item=3868816930&rd=1

http://exilim.casio.com/index.cfm?f...d&cnt_id=E98A42A5-3E58-4410-B8D3-282158A517D5

http://www.dealtime.com/xPO-Casio_Exilim_EX_Z50

Safe Diving

(fellow rescue diver)

 

[RonFrank]

What digital camera is good for clear water, in a tropical site? I'm a rescue diver, but not a pro and just don't know what camera to choose, I want one that can be useful for outside use too. Is the Casio EX-Z40 any good? Any recomendations ? Thanks!!

BUT, that does NOT include the UW case. You should be able to find one for about $400 online. Make sure they are an authorized dealer with a waranty IF that is something you care about. At the least, make sure it's new, has a return policy, and comes with ALL the included items.

I have been shopping for a UW camera for a while, and have come to the conclusion that in the PnS catagory there are really only a few that fit the bill. My #1 choice is the Oly C-8080. The other two are the Canon S70, and the Oly C5050 or C5060. The reasons I have limited my choices to those listed is because of features I want, and the OW housing requirment. It does NO good at ALL to get a camera that works nicely on land only to discover there is no housing for it.

Both Canon and OLY make a good number of housing for many of their popular digital camreas, so don't stay with my choices, but DO make sure that a housing is available at an affordable price. If the housing is NOT made by OLY or the camera manufacure in general, it's going to run you $500+ (ikelite for example).

Ron

 

[Uncle Pug]

The Canon and Olympus seems to be the leading brands in this world.

Well... that may be so... but take a look at the snap shots I took in Port Hardy with my little Pentax Optio. I can't see how it falls too far behind the Canon and Olympus for a snapshooter.

 

[RonFrank]

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/read_opinions.asp?prodkey=casio_exz40

Seems like there are two versions, one made in Japan the other in China. I do NOT know this to be true...

Looks like good features, but many are unhappy with the image quality.

DPReview has a forums section that generally is a good place to read what users have to say about a camera. Like anything on the internet, take it with a grain of salt... a big grain!! What maybe MORE telling is find the galleries that users of this camera have put together, and find full sized images to download, and even print/evaluate for yourself.

Happy shooting!
Ron

Yes the Casio EX-Z40 is good! Its looks like even better underwater!

I checked it out myself, not underwater but on land.

The pros are: A LARGE 2 inch, bright LCD display, great for underwater, very sharp pictures (I loaded my own SD disc in a Casio EX-Z40 store model and checked the picture at home), Pentax Lens (one of the best lens in Japan), metal body and they make an U/W housing rated to 40 meters, the housing has a very good internal flash diffuser and a simple yet sound design.

Cons: No hot shoe for the external flash, have to use an external slave strobe.

The only bonus to this camera, is if it does not use a pre flash, so you won't be stuck to using an over priced Icon or high end Ikelite as an external strobe.


http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/ex-z40_pg5.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50506&item=3868816930&rd=1

Safe Diving

(fellow rescue diver)

 

[f3nikon]

BUT, that does NOT include the UW case. You should be able to find one for about $400 online. Make sure they are an authorized dealer with a waranty IF that is something you care about. At the least, make sure it's new, has a return policy, and comes with ALL the included items.

I have been shopping for a UW camera for a while, and have come to the conclusion that in the PnS catagory there are really only a few that fit the bill. My #1 choice is the Oly C-8080. The other two are the Canon S70, and the Oly C5050 or C5060. The reasons I have limited my choices to those listed is because of features I want, and the OW housing requirment. It does NO good at ALL to get a camera that works nicely on land only to discover there is no housing for it.

Both Canon and OLY make a good number of housing for many of their popular digital camreas, so don't stay with my choices, but DO make sure that a housing is available at an affordable price. If the housing is NOT made by OLY or the camera manufacure in general, it's going to run you $500+ (ikelite for example).

Ron

B and H photo is selling the camera for $249 and the housing in Ebay for $179, I would check to see if the Casio EX-Z50 $299, the 5mp version fits that same housing.

I agree with you on the 8080, so much that I just purchased two Olympus housings for that camera. One for macro (flat port) and the second for wideangle (I am getting an Ikelite Dome port machined to fit the Oly housing for the wideangle). Waiting for two 8080 prices to drop (if ever) before I buy, and to give Olympus time to get the "bugs" out (if any).

Also drilling out the Olypmus sync cord feedthru holes to fit my Ikelite feedthru from my SLR housings. Still need to find out if the 8080 hot shoe is capable of firing an Ikelite strobe(s)

The 8080 looks to have the widest camera lens angle in its class. Quick, sharp focus in macro (I tested at a Best Buy using my own CF card).