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Diving Bonaire: Photography
Bonaire Talk: Diving Bonaire: Photography
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dyan Lee (BonaireTalker - Post #11) on Monday, February 14, 2011 - 6:10 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I'm upgrading from a 35mm to a digital camera. Any thoughts or suggestions on a good point 'n shoot underwater camera? I'm not interested in anything really expensive - just something that will give good shots. thanks in advance.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Grunt (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1231) on Monday, February 14, 2011 - 7:29 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I don't what your budget is, but this is getting good reviews. Canon also makes an underwater housing for it.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/734743-REG/Canon_4342B001_PowerShot_G12_Digital_Camera.html

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dyan Lee (BonaireTalker - Post #12) on Monday, February 14, 2011 - 7:51 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thank you. With the housing that's a little steep for me, but it's a place to start. I was hoping for under $500 for both camera and housing.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Susan Brown (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #191) on Monday, February 14, 2011 - 7:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I love my olympus 1030 stylus. It can go under water by itself but I am in the water for hours at a time so I bought an ikelite housing for it. I think it takes great vacation photos and I have had many complements on my photos, and I dont even know what i am doing. I am sure the newest olympus is at least just as good and it is under 200

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barbara "CB" Gibson (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6251) on Monday, February 14, 2011 - 7:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for asking this, Dyan. I'm in the same boat(is that a little pun?), and will read everybody's suggestions with great interest...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ruth van Tilburg (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1531) on Monday, February 14, 2011 - 7:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I've been happy with this (general use & snorkeling-good down to 10m). I found it for just over $300 last year.

There is an additional u/w housing available for diving, but don't know it's cost.

http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Cameras-Camcorders/Digital-Cameras/Lumix-Digital-Cameras/model.DMC-TS2A_11002_7000000000000005702

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By ABCdivers (BonaireTalker - Post #63) on Monday, February 14, 2011 - 9:39 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I got one of these as a back-up. I like my primary (Olympus 1030 and housing)so much,I didn't even try the Nikon out on my last dive trip. The Nikon is slow but takes good pics topside. The Ikelite housing is nice. You can pick up an extra camera for under $100.00...just in case the camera goes because of something simple like a bad O-ring.
http://www.diveprodivegear.com/m8/250106--nikon-coolpix-l22-ikelite-housing-package.html

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Grunt (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1232) on Monday, February 14, 2011 - 11:20 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

This is the camera I use and it works great.
It is of course now obsolete.
A good price on a camera and housing together.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Olympus-SP-350-8-0MP-with-PT-030-Underwater-housing_W0QQitemZ280628602951QQcategoryZ31388QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7094634444801761294

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Guilherme Losch (BonaireTalker - Post #42) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 6:58 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

This camera (Sealife DC1200) is at the price you want. Saw good reviews about that.
http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=SealifeDC1200Camera

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Remco van Reeuwijk (BonaireTalker - Post #24) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 7:25 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I would opt for a Panasonic Lumix with housing. Should be possible for about USD 500,00.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By KOB (LBR32) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #464) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 8:09 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sea Life just came out with a 9MP digital point & shoot at only $229. Supposedly available in March, but they're advertising them now. http://www.diveprodivegear.com/m8/250413--sealife-mini-ii-9mp-digital-underwater-camera.html

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill and Donna Goodwin (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #450) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 9:01 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Gotta blow the horn for Sony P/Ss. A 10 mp Sony P/S won the Nature category of the 2009 International Geographic Photography contest Nature Division (first place out of 208,000 entries professional and amateur mostly dSLR entries) - see June 2010 issue, and won First Place in the hotly-contested Macro division of the 2010 Scuba Diving magazine photo contest - again against a huge field of mostly dSLR entries. That was in the August 2010 issue. The picture was taken in Bonaire. The cover shot of the turtle on the 2011 Ocean Conservancy Oceans Calendar was taken with a 10 mp Sony in Cayman Brac. Sony P/Ss are very very good for machines with those small P/S sensors. BTW, we know these things because the first two came from Bill's Sony WX-1 and the turtle was made by Donna's Sony N-2!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill and Donna Goodwin (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #451) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 9:08 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Barbara and Dyan - you each have a PM.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kelly(*) (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6647) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 10:16 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Grunt... I have the same camera and LOVE it. My cover for the batteries has broken, and I'm actually duct-taping it closed now. Refuse to give it up!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By brenda (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1243) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 11:06 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Grunt, Kelly, me too! Plus INTOVA slave flash. Just had to replace the cam ...... my 1st flood over many years, guess that makes me a pro!
The card survived, thankfully, as it was our last dive of the week. So timing was "good".

Love this set up.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kelly(*) (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6651) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 11:28 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Brenda, I usually take two cards, and swap them out after each dive. That way, if I lose one due to flooding, I still have the other one. I'd hate to lose ALL my pictures!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Schamp (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #657) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 11:46 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I take multiple BATTERIES for my u/w cam, but just my single 2 GB flash card.
But I try to offload pics from that card to my laptop on a daily basis.
I presently use a Sealife DC600, but am hoping to upgrade to a Canon S95 once my finances settle down. I'll ponder some of the recs in this thread also.
There's a dedicated Photography forum over at ScubaBoard that some folks may wish to check out...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By brenda (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1244) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 12:32 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Kelly, I take 4 2G cards, usually I fill 3, but the last card always seems to hold the best uw pics! All my settings and bugs are worked out by then.

The raw feature on this cam is great.

Gotta say I was impressed, given the extent of the flood, that the card door held tight. I noticed the flood right away, in the 1st 10'-15' (upon descent) of water, a drop then, woosh. I did get it outta the water right away.

Your advice for taking multiple cards is spot on.
I keep 1 card dedicated for land shots. That 1 rarely gets full.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bas Noij -- www.vipdiving.com -- (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #640) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 1:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I am far from an experienced photographer. I do however think we got a very nice setup with the Canon G12 and standard Canon housing. Just over $600 (camera plus housing) which is quite a bit for point and shoot but both the above water and under water pictures turn out fantastic. We had a Canon powershot A650 before but several things on it started to fail on both the camera and the housing so it was time for replacement. The picture quality on the G12 is MUCH better than the A650 was (even though the 650 had 15MP and the G12 is 10MP). Especially in low light the difference is almost unreal. I am very happy and expect this setup to satisfy our needs for a LONG time.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lizard0924 (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #492) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 2:49 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I have a Sony Cyber-shot WX1/B that is super tiny (like the size of a credit card, but a bit thicker) and shoots incredible pictures in low-light conditions. The main purpose I bought it was for my very amateurish UW photography endeavors, but it takes great topside pics, too, especially at night without the flash. And the small size makes it ideal for carrying around in your pocket, so you have your camera with you all the time.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom M. (BonaireTalker - Post #17) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 3:15 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I second the vote on the sealife dc1200. You can add one or even two strobes if you are so inclined, as well as a wide angle attachment.

Inside the housing is an excellent point and shoot camera that you can use dry. Camera has great automatic settings for all different kinds of water/light levels.

The housing has a nice little place for some desiccant to prevent fogging.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eric author of "Why is the Grass Green?" (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1595) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 3:26 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Do a search for a thread called, "What you can do for not much dough" in the photography forum. I had a very inexpensive setup and while they are not magazine quality, was very satisfied with the memories (many posted there on the thread) that I brought home.

e.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By stephanie (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #4) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 3:39 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I have a Sea Life DC1000 with strobe I am wanting to sell. The internal camera had a bit of a fall and broke, so it needs to be replaced. You can get them online for about $300 or cheaper.
But, the housing & strobe & wide angle lens still work great ! Im willing to part with it.. Please email Stephanie for details


(Message edited by modfreddie on February 15, 2011)

 


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