Recommend me an underwater camera

[~firefly~]

I'm going on holiday in January and will be snorkelling every day on a reef. I'd love to get an underwater digital camera to make the most of what I see.

I don't have much money to spend on it (all that's going on the holiday!) but anything up to $100-150 or £50-100 (I'm in the UK). Can anyone recommend any specific models? Do you have sample photos you have taken with an underwater camera?

I've used disposables before, and whilst ok, were not great quality (very, very grainy and mostly out of focus). I'd like something digital now that they are affordable.

[Aeonflame]

The pentax wg-1 and 2 are excellent cameras for the price. they are extremely rugged and can stand up to a lot of abuse.

[~firefly~]

Thanks for that. Do you have one? I've read good reviews on these.

[Aeonflame]

I dont have one but hopefully I will soon. It will allow me to go hiking without having to worry about my dslr. I can however, vouch for pentax's quality.

[~firefly~]

Yeah I have a DSLR. I'd love an underwater housing for it but they seem to cost a lot more than the camera itself!

[Trillianne]

Depending on what camera you currently have, you may be able to buy a waterproof case for your existing camera within that budget.

That is what we did for our snorkeling vacation, and we got some pretty great photos that way.

[Aeonflame]

dslr underwater housings are super expensive. You'll be lucky to get a reliable one for less than a couple grand. Much easier and cheaper to get a camera designed for that purpose.

[Aeonflame]

Here is a good review

[~firefly~]

dslr underwater housings are super expensive. You'll be lucky to get a reliable one for less than a couple grand. Much easier and cheaper to get a camera designed for that purpose.

I agree. I wouldn't trust a cheap housing (or one of those bags) with my precious DSLR. It took me a year to save up for it!

I'm definitely going to go for a purpose compact.

[LionelC]

I have a GoPro. I got it for the tuff enviroment of off shore fishing. I think that the GoPro would be hard to beat.

http://gopro.com/products/


LionelC