Underwater Cameras

[sturdiva]

(Apologies if this is in the wrong place, I wasn't sure which area it should go).

I've got a trip to Jamaica coming up in a few months and was looking into underwater options to play around with. This isn't something particularly serious for me, so I'm not looking to spend a ton of money on it (so underwater housings for my 5d3 are out, even rentals are ~$600 for a week).

Does anyone have recommendations for underwater cameras on the cheap side (~$300)

Ideally, I would prefer the following:

- Manual exposure mode (I could also live with Av+exposure compensation)
- RAW support
- 24mm (FF equivalent) on the wide end of the lens


Don't really care if it's Canon or not (the D20 *seems* to shoot raw, but doesn't look like it has manual exposure, and is 28mm on the wide end).

 

[2n10]

A GoPro? I haven't checked into whether it matches your 24mm equivalent but I have seen some very good shots and videos from them.

 

[Jay Khaos]

A GoPro? I haven't checked into whether it matches your 24mm equivalent but I have seen some very good shots and videos from them.

I researched this a little and GoPro seemed like the best solution by far in the price range—once you jump into pro camera casings they are ridiculously expensive.

I think GoPro is your solution. I heard the new ones even do 4K (maybe not movie-screen-worthy 4k, but for around $300 you cant go wrong)

 

[Jay Khaos]

Wait a min.. I think you meant stills. Not sure if a GoPro does still...

 

[duppencf]

Or a dicapac bag for whatever camera you already have. They make them for fulsize SLRs. I've got ones for EOS M and S110 that seems to work well. The M with 22mm lens is a pretty good deal right now.

 

[Don Haines]

Wait a min.. I think you meant stills. Not sure if a GoPro does still...

A GoPro will shoot stills. You can shoot movies in a wide assortment of resolutions, you can shoot stills, you can shoot bursts, and you can shoot intervals.

 

[Jay Khaos]

Wait a min.. I think you meant stills. Not sure if a GoPro does still...

A GoPro will shoot stills. You can shoot movies in a wide assortment of resolutions, you can shoot stills, you can shoot bursts, and you can shoot intervals.

Ahh.. I didnt know that

 

[sturdiva]

GoPro seems like an interesting route, does anyone know if it has exposure compensation, and if it shoots raw stills?

 

[Swphoto]

Love my GoPro (I have the older Hero HD models) for this. No worry of sand getting into some area on the camera where it will cause an issue (something that a number of the waterproof cameras are subject to) since the camera is fully enclosed.

I'm not sure about the new ones, but mine has no option for RAW shots or exposure compensation. You can change the metering between center weighted and spot, though.

 

[Don Haines]

GoPro seems like an interesting route, does anyone know if it has exposure compensation, and if it shoots raw stills?

no exposure compensation, no RAW stills.... it's very basic contols....mode button and shutter.....

I've been using mine on a kite.... less $$$ risked in the inevitable crash to the ground...

 

[symmar22]

You could put a S100 or S110 in the dedicated Canon housing, but it's a bit over your budget. However you still would have a nice compact camera that works aside from diving. I would highly recommend the use of an external flash though.

 

[Gareth]

If you happen to have a good P&S you like, check if Polaroid makes a hard case housing for it. I recently discovered they make affordable underwater hard cases (in addition to soft and semi-hard bags, which sound hard to use) for some cameras (i.e. G12, some NEX models, etc). They're about $100-130.

Obviously, this will be bulkier than a dedicated underwater camera, but it'll be cheaper if you happen to already own the camera. Note I haven't used any of these housings. I just happened upon them in my search for underwater options recently.

 

[Wildfire]

I've never tried these but it looks like an awesome way to get your 5D3 underwater safely:

http://www.outex.com/