Underwater Digital < $500

[jeffrey_aiello_photography]

My sister is looking for an underwater digital camera for her son who

is going to school to learn underwater archeology. She'd like to keep

it less than $500.00.

 

 

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks,

 

Jeff A.

[andy_szeto]

You did not say what kind of camera you are looking for (SLR, point-and-shoot, digital/film, etc.). Found a couple digital underwater cameras at B&H Photo: SeaLife Reefmaster DC310 (3.3m pixel for $320), SeaLife Reefmaster DC500 (5m pixel for $500), Equinox SeaSpy 5 (5.25m for $400). Or you can get a point-n-shoot digital camera from the popular brands, Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc. and get the underwater housing. I had the Canon PowerShot S60 (5m pixel for $265) and got the housing WP-DC40 (depth rated 40 meters) for $170. Hope this helps.

[briany]

Do you know how deep he'll be diving? It sounds like he would be deep, which would mean he'd really need to have off-camera strobes. I'd look for P&S digitals that have cases available that are flash compatible. The majority of manufacturers these days sell underwater housings for thier cameras - Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony?, Pentax, etc., but a lot of them are not wired for strobes. Look at digideep.com and wetpixel.com for reviews. Under $500 will be tough with flash capability -- under $1000 is more the range to shoot for there, though you may just get the case and then get the strobes later. If you rule out flash completely, then you could go for any of the the majority of the digicam makers. Take a look at wetpixel.com and digideep.com for reviews.

[pavelp]

There's also a housing ($170 or so) for Cannon S1 ($300 or so, 3.1MP).

[jeffrey_aiello_photography]

Thanks for the info. He'll probably be going fairly deep... what "fairly" equals to, I don't know... but I'd say around 100 ft. I like the idea, as does my sister, of the camera and housing set up, such as the nikon housing and coolpix 5600. But, as mentioned, lighting is going to be an issue and a strobe will probably be needed.

 

At this point, I think she has to ask my nephew what his needs are going to be, to make a best, informed decision.

 

Again, thanks so much!

 

Jeff

[d_np]

Hi,<br/>

Here's an article which might be of use.<br/> <a href="http://

www.digitalnaturepictures.com/

photography/underwater/sea-sea-DX8000G1610.html" target="_blank">underwater

cameras</a>. <br/>Doesn't give the prices, though.

<br/>

Hope this helps,<br/>

step