Tuesday, April 30, 2013

What camera is efficient both underwater and out of water? tough camera or housing?

Question by Bonnie Bullot: What camera is efficient both underwater and out of water? tough camera or housing?
I am looking to buy a camera for preferably under 650USD. I want to use it for snorkeling and shallow diving, but also have it to use as a regular camera that takes good photos-maybe with the option of manual exposure. Is it better to buy an underwater camera like Olympus Tough or Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT3, or to buy a decent camera and get underwater housing for it? What cameras would you suggest?


Best answer:

Answer by thankyoumaskedman
The waterproof cameras are usually outperformed photographically by non-waterproof cameras. Of the waterproof models, the Panasonic TS3/FT3 is probably one of the best. None have manual exposure.
A Canon S95 with an underwater housing should be better. You will need the optional weight set to counteract its buoyancy for diving. Without that the housing and camera have a net positive buoyancy (good for boaters), and you will be fighting that when diving. Also get some small silica gel packets to prevent fogging.



What do you think? Answer below!

1 comment:

  1. An underwater housing is going to have a depth advantage to a Tough camera. But having that, here is my story.

    I had a FantaSea housing (about $ 100) for my Nikon S200 - a run of the mill $ 150 camera. So the total cost was about equivalent to a tough camera.

    The housing had a 100meter depth, far more than I needed as I never scuba - only snorkel. My wife and I go on cruises in the Caribbean, so having something waterproof is desirable.

    But the housing was a bit large and bulky. It was always a pain. So for that reason, we never took the camera/housing with us unless we were going snorkeling for sure.

    Then we were in the Bahamas one day. I took my underwater camera, and my wife's Nikon S560 to the beach. I was taking photos with the Nikon S560 as it is easier to use on-shore than the underwater camera. While I could have removed the camera from the underwater housing to do this, it was just easier to use a second camera.

    But I then put my wife's camera in the front pocket of my swim trunks and forgot about it... until after I finished snorkeling.

    Yep - scratch one camera.

    We replaced that camera with a Nikon S570.

    Then about 6 months later, on another cruise. Same swim trunks, we were at the pool on the ship, and yep, scratch camera #2 after I went into the pool.

    Then we finally got wise, and I bought an Olympus Tough 8010. Since then I have not killed any more cameras.

    However, compared to the underwater housing:

    The Olympus is rated for 10Meters, the underwater housing 100Meters.
    You have to rinse the Olympus off after getting it wet - you don't have to with the housing.
    The Olympus is more convenient as the underwater housing is bulky.
    The photo quality is about the same with the Olympus as the camera that went into the housing.
    The Olympus is NOT inconvenient to use on land.

    I ended up selling the housing as I didn't use it after buying the Olympus.

    So long story short, unless you have a depth requirement of 100Meters, a Tough is a good choice.

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