Will my digital camera work underwater?

[soxgirl45]

I'm not sure what subforum to put this question in, so I'm going to guess and say here. I have a Sony digital camera, 6 megapixels, that I want to use for diving. Before I buy the expensive casing, I'm wondering if my pictures will even turn out better than the disposable waterproof Kodak I used the last time (they didn't turn out very good). I'm not looking to take anything professional quality, so my photos don't need to look amazing, but I would actually like to see more than a blur of a fish. Also, does anyone know of a company that makes casing cheaper than Sony's, which is $200?
Thanks!

 

[grassyknoll]

Soxgirl45. I'm surprised nobody has responded to your question yet. IMHO yes, you will get substantially better pictures than you did using a disposable underwater 35mm camera. Of course, this is based on the cameras' potential, how you use it and the conditions you are shooting in will make all the difference. I am very new to UW photo myself and am only using a 7mp point and shoot myself. But I did move to it after messing around with a 35mm P&S film camera and the difference is huge. If you are interested in how your camera may perform, search around in the forums and you will likely see trip report pictures from members using cameras with similair capabilities.
Hopefully you will get more advice than what my limited experiences can offer.

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board

How well it preforms depends on a lot of things but yes it is capable of much better shots than any disposable. The water conditions, depth, the shots you choose and the quality of the internal flash will have a large impact on how the photos come out. IMO the single biggest advantage is you can shoot more, look at the photos instantly and make adjustment to improve the shots on the spot. The learning curve is so much less on a digital than any film camera, disposable or not.
It's not likely your going to find a housing for much less than the $200 range.....and if you do, you may regret buying it.

 

[FishNut]

You will get better shots but it will depend on the conditions if you are diving up north you will have to get a strobe to compinsate for the light loss. I think it would be worth it 200$ for a housing is not that expensive and i dont think you have to much to lose with purchasing it

 

[SFLDiver3445]

I'm not sure what subforum to put this question in, so I'm going to guess and say here. I have a Sony digital camera, 6 megapixels, that I want to use for diving. Before I buy the expensive casing, I'm wondering if my pictures will even turn out better than the disposable waterproof Kodak I used the last time (they didn't turn out very good). I'm not looking to take anything professional quality, so my photos don't need to look amazing, but I would actually like to see more than a blur of a fish. Also, does anyone know of a company that makes casing cheaper than Sony's, which is $200?
Thanks!

Hi Soxgirl45,

I use a Sony Digital Camera for underwater use. Granted, I have slowly upgraded mine over time and am now at the point where I have all possible accessories for it (1 Sony housing, 2 strobes, 1 fisheye lens, 1 wide angle lens, 2 close-up lenses) and am starting to get some pretty nice pictures - There's a few in my gallery you can check out, including a few of my current camera setup.

You will definitely get much nicer pictures with your Sony camera then with a disposable Kodak; however, you will need to make some adjustments to the settings in the camera, and for that, you may have to go to a site and seek some advice - I suggest Digital Diver Network - Your source for digital underwater photography information!. Also, at a future time, if you upgrade and add a strobe to your setup, you will be amazed at the quality of the pictures you can get, once you get the hang of it - Almost all of the pictures in my gallery were taken with a singele strobe.

If you are looking for a better deal on the housing, I suggest checking at Tristate Camera, Viseo and Computers (tristatecamera.com). I got mine there for about $130.00. I just checked and it looks like they still stock all Sony housings.

Good luck to you!

 

[Teamcasa]

I'm not sure what subforum to put this question in, so I'm going to guess and say here. I have a Sony digital camera, 6 megapixels, that I want to use for diving. Before I buy the expensive casing, I'm wondering if my pictures will even turn out better than the disposable waterproof Kodak I used the last time (they didn't turn out very good). I'm not looking to take anything professional quality, so my photos don't need to look amazing, but I would actually like to see more than a blur of a fish. Also, does anyone know of a company that makes casing cheaper than Sony's, which is $200?
Thanks!

Generally speaking, your Sony will take better pictures than a disposable. What model Sony is it?

 

[maynard.hogg]

I'm wondering if my pictures will even turn out better than the disposable waterproof Kodak I used the last time (they didn't turn out very good).

Did the Kodak have a flash?

If the title means nothing to you, dig out your OW manual.

 

[Kim]

$200 is around the standard price for u/w casings for point & shoot digitals from the camera maufacturers. If you go to a specialist u/w case maker you'll generally pay more - quite a bit more!

I haven't seen pictures from a Sony underwater for a while - they used to be very popular and did a reasonable job. I should imagine a 6 megapixel should do pretty good.

 

[soxgirl45]

Generally speaking, your Sony will take better pictures than a disposable. What model Sony is it?

It's a DSC-W30, about a year and a half old.

 

[ce4jesus]

BTW...at the top of the photo forum is a link by Alcina that is well worth reading. Here's some additional thoughts.

If you can manually do a white balance with the camera, it will help your strobe-less photos. You can also do a search for magic filters which you can cut and place in the end of the port.
Getting close, closer than you think, will allow you to use your internal strobe on the digital camera.
If you choose Auto or Program modes, the camera will often choose a shutter speed that will cause your fish to be blurry. Anything less than 1/125 will often result in soft or blurry photos.

Cheers,