Underwater Camera Shopping

Lately I’ve been getting more and more involved with water sports and would love to be able to take my digital camera out on the water. For one thing, I have way too many disposable underwater cameras with film I have yet to develop. Digitals are just so easy. However, it is not without some concern that I embark on this little search. I once bought an underwater camera that you could open up and replace the film, and despite all best efforts, I still ended up with water (and potentially spoiled film) in the case. Not only that, but I have some knowledge of dive watches, and have seen brand new watches spring leaks on their very first outings on the water.

So shopping carefully is a big concern. I basically have two options. I have to either shop for a casing for my camera, or buy a brand new underwater camera. Both options have their plus and minuses. Interestingly, the most important thing I read about underwater camera’s came not from a guide to shopping for a case, but from someone else’s review of a case that I was looking at: Get Flood Insurance. Why this does not seem to be made clearer, I don’t know. The point being, that any number of things can cause a leak in the casing, such as a grain of trapped sand, or a faulty o-ring. No company warranties against this because it would just be too costly. Luckily, with a little research on the web, flood insurance for your camera shouldn’t be too hard to find. Both DAN and DEPP (both of which are standard diver insurance) offer this coverage

As far as the benefits of buying an underwater case versus an underwater camera, the obvious one is that you can use it out of the water too. While cases aren’t exactly cheap, it is definitely cheaper than purchasing a whole new camera for underwater. And, as I said, I was even able to find a case that was actually made for my pocket-sized camera. Additionally, actual underwater camera systems can set you back a good several hundred dollars, depending on what you get. Both of these factors helped me decide that an underwater camera was out of my budget (for now).

I then decided to look at what were important features when choosing housing for my camera. Full controls are definitely important. If all you can do is point and click underwater, that’s not going to be much help due to the lowlight environment. Another consideration is whether or not I’ll be using an internal flash. The way light travels through water, you can take a picture 3 feet away, and yet the light is filtering through 9 feet of water (in layman’s terms, light doesn’t go as far in water), so the regular flash on a camera won’t do a whole lot to illuminate. Getting closer to what you shoot and not going too deep will certainly help matters. I may have to look at getting a strobe, somewhere down the road though, for much better illumination.

Other things to think about include, what are you going to be doing with the pictures? Do you plan on upgrading later? If I do decide to get a strobe, I’ll have to look at what strobes my housing can connect to. What kind of environments will I be using the camera in? If it’s cold water, can it be operated while wearing gloves? Also, what do I want to shoot? Do I want to take macro shots of fish or just snapshots of your friends? These are a lot of things to consider before I make the plunge. But, keeping those questions in mind, I’m fairly sure that I can find a camera housing that will be something I’ll use and won’t break the bank.

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