Cheap underwater solution for snorkeling?

[Wendy]

Need some advice. We'll be taking a cruise in a few months and I'd really like to take some decent photos of my kids snorkeling. The last several cruises I've been on, I've just bought those little underwater disposable cameras, but obviously the quality is crap.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a relatively inexpensive underwater camera that will give decent results? I wish I could buy an Ikelite housing for my good camera, but that's just way too expensive.

The other option I was looking at was to buy one of those bags for my older 20D or my son's Rebel. I don't think I'd risk putting my good stuff in them, though. Are the bags be pretty safe for snorkeling? I've been looking at some from Leisure Pro and B&H and they say they're waterproof to 15ft which would be sufficient. We won't be doing any diving on this trip, unfortunately.

[jamesw]

Hi Wendy,

Which Canon do you have now? I have some used housings for sale, one for the 5D and one form the 1D/1DsMkII.

Otherwise, I recommend looking at a Fuji 1000 with the Fuji housing. You should be able to get the two for <$500.

Cheers
James

[bondarnes]

There are probably dive shops in Houston that can rent you a housing or a camera like a Nikonos.

[Torrey]

Olympus has a number of simple waterproof cameras (10-33ft) in the $200-$300 range new, no case needed. Perfect for snorkeling:

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_se...digital_sw.asp

[DBM]

Canon also makes their own housings for many of their point and shoot cameras. I take one with me as a backup to my housed DSLR and it does a fair job if you stay within it's limits - - i.e. get close since you are depending on a small internal flash.

[L Stegall]

I have one of the Ewa Marine flexible bags that you are talking about - I bought it to take on a trip to Hawaii and then had some surgery and wasn't able to get in the water. I've been considering selling it, since it just isn't getting any use in my closet. I had asked about them in a post before I bought it (you might search for posts on Ewa Marine) and felt that it would work for my needs (mine can house up to a 5D + attached Flash). If you are interested, I can put a post in the for sale section and post some images.

[Imagebuffet]

You could rent an Olympus Stylus 770 SW for $35 for a week. Get yourself a wriststrap if you rent this one, as Lensrentals didn't send one with my rental.

Some sample photos with the Stylus 770:


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[Daniel W.]

I've got the 770 and 720, both are great cameras, my "vacation" camera (or as a remote underwater). No, the images won't be on-par with any DSLR, but you really can't beat a pocket-able tank.

[BSGp8ntball]

Richard, is that Krause Springs?

[spluloacle]

I have the Canon D10 waterproof camera. I LOVE it. I can't post any examples at the moment but I absolutely LOVE this camera.

BTW Some Specs
Waterproof to 33ft
Shockproof up to 4ft
Temp resistant from 14 degrees to 104 degrees
High ISO Capability
The PowerShot D10 features ISO 1600 and High ISO Auto (ISO 3200) settings that reduce the effects of camera shake giving you greater flexibility under low-light conditions.

More info HERE