Camera recommendation - small and underwater

[michaelborger]

Aloha from Honolulu, everyone! I had an Olympus Stylus 410 and an underwater housing that I used on various

scuba trips and continued to use when I moved here to Hawaii a couple years ago. Last year in Thailand that

housing flooded(!) and the Stylus is no more. The housing is fine - I just didn't seal it properly (and promptly

lost what would have been great shark images).

 

So now I'd like to replace it, but I have two needs:

 

1. Get another underwater solution, preferably one that uses the same housing to save on $. I dive here to

roughly 100ft at max depth.

 

2. Have something that I can slip into my pocket for nights on the town, something that doesn't bulge out like a

fat wallet.

 

Yup, I'm well aware that this probably requires two separate cameras unless there is a slim-form camera that can

also be used underwater to depth with a relatively inexpensive housing (I can hock the old housing if it makes

sense). What I'd like to do, then, is reduce the overall expenditure. As my main camera is a D70 and I'm a

student(!), cost is a factor for secondary cameras.

 

So any thoughts? Since I've been married to my D70 for the past three years, I haven't kept up with the latest

offerings. I'd appreciate any recommendations.

 

Thanks,

Mike

[jamescpurcell]

olympus1030 is prob the best of both worlds, only thing is it is only good to a depth of 10m which doesn't may not be much good to you? On the plus side though it is a great carry around camera as well as being waterproof to the depth of a couple of pints and and if your old olympus housing fitted it...?Got one myself as a pub/carry around camera and love it. For a hundred ft... i'm sure olympus does a housing for it but havn't looked into it myself

[gerrymorgan]

Canon G9 + WP-DC21 housing? The G9 is <a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2008/08/g9-history.html">listed as discontinued</a> in some places. Possibly a chance to pick one up cheaply? I have a G9 and I like it a lot. It's a little larger than most point and shoots, though. I have no experience of the WP-DC21 but it gets very good reviews on Amazon.

[stephen_fassman]

Canon A650 IS or 720IS, or 1 of the canons that does 28MM WA with a dedicated Canon housing. As long as it'll do

manual white balance so you can set it at different depths.