Underwater experience in Belize with Fantasea and a Nikon L3

I have previously posted this commentary to underwater/nature but the underwater

forum seems to have a problem and hasn't been updating. At the suggestion of

photo.net administrator I post this again.

I have a Nikon L3 [now outdated] point and shoot that I decided to fit with a

housing for underwater photography as Belize is known for its reefs. I am not a

serious diver. My family and I planned to snorkel.

Looking around I settled on a Fantasea FL-3 housing. There was a certain price

benefit consideration. I found that the cost to get a digital SLR housing to be

too excessive. Cheaper plastic bag type containment was rated to about 10-15

feet. Snorkeling below the surface, I wasn't going deep but didn't want to take

a chance. Fantasea wasn't cheap but it did come with a one year insurance

warranty for the camera.

The Fantasea housing allowed for use of almost every button on the Nikon L3

except to turn the camera on and off. The camera goes to sleep mode if not used

for a minute or two. Then it shuts off if the camera isn't used for two to three

minutes. Therefore, press the shutter every minute or so. The only buttons I

really needed were the on off switch and the shutter release button. I really

wasn't in need of editing functions during the dive. And... there's no button

for on/off!

We made two morning snorkel dives on a reef. We were in good light and not in

deep water. So, the photos were made without flash even with the auto flash on.

It's a definite challenge to photograph fish when the subject and photographer

are moving in three dimensions. Color cast was green but perked up with

Photoshop, except, reds which were lost rapidly.

The change in temperature from 90 on boat to 80 in water caused fog to form in

the camera housing so the LCD and then the lens fogged. I got about 30 shots.

Some shots were of the divers - myself, wife and daughter. The rest of the shots

were taken of coral and a few fish. On the second dive I shot a few photos and

then saw a water level in the bottom of the camera housing. Holding the housing

upright and swimming back to the dive boat with the camera held upright was to

no avail. The camera was fried.

Returning home I contacted Fantasea about the warranty insurance. They were very

cordial and my claim is pending. Absolutely no hassle so far.

Some observations: The Nikon L3 camera is now discontinued by Nikon [planned

obsolescence]. Therefore if I replace the camera and it is damaged again I will

have an underwater housing and no camera to go with it. There is no further

insurance warranty at this point. Fantasea offers to test the housing and will

replace it if there is a defect in their equipment. If it is owner error then

they charge $100. Or, another option, is to pay $50 and get the upgraded housing

for the next Nikon [plus a new 1 year warranty]. This is very generous, indeed.

So in conclusion there is still some way to go for a casual underwater

photographer. And, I'm just glad I didn't fry my digital SLR. I don't think

we'll be snorkeling again for a long time. :(

I use Nikon DSLRs and have an old Canon A80 that I have taken snorkeling many times. I use the Canon case, which was something like $150. It's built very well, and has never leaked on me. You can operate all camera functions. It's brutally hard to see the A80 LCD in sunlight underwater, however, but oh well. I have a rider policy on my renters policy that says they will cover water damage from a leaking case, but have never had to use it.

The camera itself broke down within 2 years but was fixed by Amex extended warranty. I know 2 other people with various further generations of the A80 line of cameras, and they both had issues with the camera breaking on them, so I won't be buying a Canon P&S again, personally. I would look into Olympus, I believe they have their own underwater cases which also look well built.

Yes, I agree. There's no such thing as composing a shot. You can't see the LCD. Just point and shoot. I tried to swim as close to the fish and coral and then trusted to a bit of luck. I was pleasantly surprised to come away with a few good shots.

I keep forgetting about extended warranty with some of my credit cards. Still, if I'm not mistaken, salt water and cameras is deadly combination. You really can't revive the camera. The price point is such that replacing the camera is easier than fixing except when you have a camera specific housing and the camera is no longer being sold.

Victor, how were the shots from the first dive? Can you post a few? Sorry to hear about the camera, but hopefully the insurance will work out.

I have gone snorkeling several times with a D70 in a EWA Marine bag, and had pretty good luck. It's a bit point and pray, given the difficulty of composing through the viewfinder, but at least the AF is quick, the frame rate fast, and the high ISO much better than a P&S. The ability to shoot RAW and edit white balance later is also a huge benefit.

I have also tried a Canon P&S in a dedicated housing, and the slow AF and shot to shot speed, poor low light performance, and fairly funky boosted colors in underwater mode made it a no-go for me.

The point and shoot had plenty of potential. I had the camera set for close up so that getting close to the subject not should have been a problem. I used wide angle to compensate for narrow angled composition. The light was favorable. I just never had a chance to sneak up on the fish. Sorry I don't have the hang of posting pictures to this thread.

All in all this is about learning a new trick. I don't expect to get shots like the professionals and National Geographic. But given the options available with digital, underwater photography is within the grasp of so many more casual and even serious amateurs. I saw quite a variety of equipment on disply - some hard housings like the Canon etc, some disposable one time use cameras, and some serious housings complete with two light set up. After I fried my point and shoot I was so glad that my most recent try wasn't with my D70. The dedicated waterproof camera from Olympus is supposed to go underwater to around 10 feet. But what is the real maximum depth? I'm still pushing my envelope of skills.

<p>At the beginning of this year, I bought a Canon underwater housing for my A610 P&S. After using a three different waterproof film P&S cameras, I decided to try digital. The problems I had with the film cameras were:

<ol>

<li>Most were used and ended up leaking after a couple of uses.</li>

<li>White balance was very, very difficult to correct, even after using my film scanner and mucking with the resulting digital files.</li>

<li>Only 36 shots, and then I had to get out of the water, carefully dry off the camera, and re-load film.</li>

<li>Composing the shot was mostly a hit and miss affair due to their small viewfinders.</li>

</ol></p>

<p>After using my A610 for snorkelling in Maui, I have to say that I was extremely impressed with the results. For starters, it was very easy to frame the shots thanks to the camera's rear LCD. The housing comes with a rubber hood on the back that makes it easy to view the LCD, even in direct sunlight. I had no problems viewing it, and was able to confirm exactly what the camera was focusing on. White balance was much easier to correct using the JPGs generated from the camera (as compared to my scanned files from film). I should note, however, that the camera's underwater colour balance mode wasn't strong enough to remove the blue cast and required post processing. The camera's small sensor was able to get quite a deep depth of field even at a relatively wide aperture (I shot at f/4 for most of the time). And best of all, I had the ability to shoot video clips! This was a great way to capture the experience of snorkelling. </p>

<p>Here's a shot of a sea turtle in Napili Bay:<br>

<img src="http://bb.bc4x4.com/lars/paw/albums/2007/week12.jpg">

</p>

<p>With underwater camera gear, you're supposed to let the equipment soak in fresh water for some time to dissolve all the salt away. With the housing, I just took my camera out and let the housing soak by itself. This really increased the utility of having my P&S with me because after playing at the beach, I could soak the housing separately and use my A610 immediately as my carry-about camera and backup camera to my DSLR.</p>

<p>- larsbc</p>

Victor, the water in Maui wasn't as warm (unfortunately) as you reported in your situation...but one thing I did, just in case, was to put a small pack of silica gel inside the housing. You might consider that next time. It might help (I don't have enough experience to say, one way or another).

- larsbc