Underwater Cameras

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Mar Mon 16, 2009 9:04 pm

I am about to go on my first cruise, and with all of the snorkeling, and water excursions, I really want good pics. Do they make an affordable good underwater camera? Disposables suck!

elizabethswann · Post by **elizabethswann** » Mar Mon 16, 2009 9:36 pm

Try searching camera stores like Samy's. They should have some affordable ones.

Post by **Len90** » Mar Mon 16, 2009 9:51 pm

Here is a link from B and H a big camera and electronics store in NYC. They have some but I don't know how good these are. Also, I have never dealt with B&H but I have heard some good.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/5236 ... meras.html

Post by **js3901** » Mar Mon 16, 2009 11:34 pm

I just found this site searching through Yahoo:

http://www.sealife-cameras.com/

apparently, they have a few dealers in the Ft. Lauderdale area (I searched around Plantation, and it kicked back that Ft. Lauderdale was the closest area with dealers). I just plugged in a random Ft. Lauderdale area zip code and found these:

http://www.sealife-cameras.com/dealer/d ... srchmeth=z

from the looks of a couple of the sites, it looks like a basic camera (probably not much better than one of the disposables) will be about $150 or so, with an 8MB running you about $400. or, you could go with the big guns for about $2700 (before tax):

http://www.diversdirect.com/scuba-divin ... rd-system/

probably your best bet would be to stop by some of the local dive stores (the ones that sell scuba gear and such). they'll usually have a selection of waterproof cameras, and may even have some sort of set-up to try them out.

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Mar Tue 17, 2009 12:07 pm

Len90 wrote:Here is a link from B and H a big camera and electronics store in NYC. They have some but I don't know how good these are. Also, I have never dealt with B&H but I have heard some good.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/5236 ... meras.html

Or if you want an actual underwater camera from B&H go here:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... bmit+Query

They just announced several new underwater cameras at PMA 2009 and they are amazing, but they won't be available until later. If you want to see a review on cameras check out this, they do a PMA review and they do talk about underwater cameras.

http://revision3.com/tekzilla/2009-03-12cameras/

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Mar Tue 17, 2009 3:59 pm

my head is spinning...soooooo much money!!!!

Post by **horizons1** » Mar Tue 17, 2009 5:32 pm

Three words: Zip Loc bag

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Mar Wed 18, 2009 11:54 am

horizons1 wrote:Three words: Zip Loc bag

Three more words ZIP LOC LEAKS!!!!

If you are just keeping the water off of the camers in the rain, then yes zip loc away, but under water don't trust it.

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Mar Wed 18, 2009 8:50 pm

i did a zip lock experiment today, and i can say nope to the camera. I just put some old toy cars in the bag and it didnt last more than 5 feet, and only 30 sec. worth.

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Mar Wed 18, 2009 9:59 pm

yodiwan1 wrote:i did a zip lock experiment today, and i can say nope to the camera. I just put some old toy cars in the bag and it didnt last more than 5 feet, and only 30 sec. worth.

Told you, but if you really want to get fairly good pics under water you will have to spend. Annoying YES but that is the only way you can be assured that it will work. And if it doesn't you can call the manufacturer and demand money back. It is hard to ask Zip loc's parent company for money back on your camera after the bag failed. Also if you already have a camera then if the underwater one fails on you you still have another camera.

I know this isn't helping, I'm making you spend money, but you can always see if a friend wants to get one too, then you can both pitch in to get one (far fetched but it's an idea). Or you can see if a local camera store will rent you one, you can check online for this too. Actually after I typed this I looked online, at the place I like to rent lens' before i decide to buy them or not, and found this:
http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/camera- ... underwater

7 day rental is $35
10 day is $47
14 day is $59
etc etc

I when you rent from them they ship it Fedex Second day, if you schedule it a week in advance or more you will be guaranteed to get it, so don't wait too long. You also get it a day early, usually not always but usually, so you can play with it. Personally I like to get my stuff from them about 3 days early, yes I have to pay more, but I get to REALLY play with it before I have to go and shoot. And like I said check with local camera stores, real ones NOT bestbuy, and see if they can do a rental too, you can save $22 in shipping that way. If not lensrentals.com is a great place to get them.

Post by **horizons1** » Mar Thu 19, 2009 5:23 pm

Yeah, I wasn't serious!

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Mar Thu 19, 2009 6:09 pm

When we went on our cruise I bought a Kodak underwater camera and I thought our pics. turned out great! I haven't bought one of these in a while...but at the time there were two kinds and I bought the more expensive one. I got alot of great shots, including with the Hidden Mickey!!!