Good underwater camera?

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11iketra1ns

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Hello. I am looking to buy a waterproof camera that i can take diving down to at least 10 metres. I would like to spend about £200-£250. Does anyone know a good, simple to use camera for this money? I am thinking about buying the Intova IC16, is this a good camera?
 
Don't know that one, but I have a Pentax WG-2 that I like. The latest version, the WG-3 is waterproof to 14m and is just under the £200 mark.
 
11iketra1ns said:
Hello. I am looking to buy a waterproof camera that i can take diving down to at least 10 metres. I would like to spend about £200-£250. Does anyone know a good, simple to use camera for this money? I am thinking about buying the Intova IC16, is this a good camera?
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I'm assuming as you're going to 10+m you're on scuba kit? I guess in that case you probably want something rated to 40m
 
boyfalldown said:
I'm assuming as you're going to 10+m you're on scuba kit? I guess in that case you probably want something rated to 40m
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Yeah, i will be scuba diving. I don't intend to go much deeper than 10m, but it would be good to get something that can go to 40m.
 
11iketra1ns said:
Yeah, i will be scuba diving. I don't intend to go much deeper than 10m, but it would be good to get something that can go to 40m.
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From experience I bet the 10m thing changes fast. Your advanced ticket (if you do it) covers you to 30m. In any case I bet it's not long before you just want a look at something a bit deeper then 10m. The fuji housing were (probably still are) really good
 
Have you considered the gopro hero range?
 
Google "go pro hero black"
 
I can't see why. If you want a bombproof underwater camera that will do depth and reasonably light sensitive there isn't much out the to touch it for the money. I have three underwater cameras and the go pro isn't bad at all.

These were all shot with it.
http://www.stewartsandersonphotography.co.uk/p558553973
 
Stu Blackpool said:
I can't see why. If you want a bombproof underwater camera that will do depth and reasonably light sensitive there isn't much out the to touch it for the money. I have three underwater cameras and the go pro isn't bad at all.

These were all shot with it.
http://www.stewartsandersonphotography.co.uk/p558553973
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The Inotva sport HD is a lot cheaper than the Go pro and if you compare the two the Intova sport seems a lot better.
 
I think the lack of raw options, lack of viewfinder and lack of lighting options really rule gopros out as the best option. They are undeniably very good. But as an option they're not the best for this
 
To be fair, I use the LCD screen and clean forgot they don't have one as standard. Guess we also need to ascertain if the OP's interest is in stills or video as I'm mainly talking about video and the go pro does shoot raw. Not sure what you mean by lighting? Or did you mean flash?
 
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I also use the Panasonic Lumix TS-3 if your looking mainly for stills.
 
Stu Blackpool said:
To be fair, I use the LCD screen and clean forgot they don't have one as standard. Guess we also need to ascertain if the OP's interest is in stills or video as I'm mainly talking about video and the go pro does shoot raw. Not sure what you mean by lighting? Or did you mean flash?
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Can go pros shot raw? I didn't know mine could.

I mean flash by lighting, there is no way of controlling from a go pro and you really need it underwater.

Phil, go pros are perfectly good u/w. I just don't think it's the best option
 
To use flash underwater you need to get it off camera on a sled or you just get a load of back scatter and the OP is talking about spending £250. I spent 5x that in my underwater flash kit alone without a camera. On a budget you can do well on some video lights but again, they need to be off axis so sled needed. None if this is beginners stuff.
 
Stu Blackpool said:
To use flash underwater you need to get it off camera on a sled or you just get a load of back scatter and the OP is talking about spending £250. I spent 5x that in my underwater flash kit alone without a camera. On a budget you can do well on some video lights but again, they need to be off axis so sled needed. None if this is beginners stuff.
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Undeniably, but just a go pro rules it out, and doesn't allow any option to add in the future
 
Yeah, for flash with stills I agree totally. But the OP may still be referring to video and the GO black + Is hard to beat at that. I prefer my Lumix for stills alone. Always said one day i would put my 5D3 in a housing but every time I consider it seriously I just think the risk isn't worth it and I back out again. The gopri with video lights is so damn good at stills that I just can't justify the financial risk for the gain.
 
11iketra1ns said:
I could raise it up to £300 max but it would need to be an amazing camera for that sort of money.
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£300 won't get you an amazing camera, especially not if you need waterproof to multiple atmospheres.

Somewhere like Ocean Leisure will be able to help find a camera that matches your use case. It may be a GoPro as they're easy to use and good at video if you can provide enough light.
 
gopro hero 3 plus black edition is on amazon for £300
as it comes with new case (40m rating) you then contact gopro and the should send out the older style case for use with the battery pac for free
 
could there be some bargin film camera's?
i got a action sampler with underwater housing for *very* cheap, and i think mr bump got some nikon underwater film camera fairly cheap
 
Forget the go-pro, get yourself on the dreaded bay, get a canon housing for one of the older 'S' cameras - i.e. s90, s95. Acceptable quality, shoots RAW.

i think the most important aspect is being overlooked though - are you a competent, qualified diver? If not, and your 10m comment makes me think you might not be, then forget taking photos, you'll have too much else to concentrate on and you cannot even think about compromising safety for photography - and that's before damage to the reef is considered
 
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