'Cheap' U/W Camera Research

[Fondueset]

I've been looking into a relatively inexpensive U/W digital camera setup. In so doing I've been lucky to consult with someone with a great deal of experience and expertise. Anywho - after much lookage the name Casio came up. Turns out the Casio Ex z50 uses pentax lenses, is very quick and quite good in low light. Casio makes a dynamite little housing for it as well - which is good down to 40meters. I've found the camera for $299us and the housing for $200. Casio also makes housings for their very small lower end cameras - looks like even with the housing they'd fit into a smallish pocket though the best they do is 2 or 3 megapixels.

Anyway - I thought I'd share what I've found so far.

 

[donmoore]

My work bought one of the lower units Casio’s that was under $300 for camera and case. I borrowed it and it took wonderful pictures. It turned out it was too complicated for the use the company was trying it for, but before I could get my hands on it another non-diving employee, snatch it. :waterwork

I think now that the camera manufactures have gotten into the underwater case business, the best value is to buy their cases.
don

 

[mustangmermaid]

Thats actually a great camera for the money. Housing is reasonably priced and it will last you quite a while...enjoy!

 

[Shadowkiller]

One of the best bits of advice I got with regard to UW cameras was to make sure it could do the job in 12 months time.

That is, make sure you get a camera that will still suit your growing skill level after a year or two has gone by.

Fully auto cameras might sound good but once you learn the camera the fully manual settings become much easier to use, and produce better results.

So when looking for a camera make sure you can adjust the following settings:

Aperture ie f-stop
Exposure - shutter speed
Focus - Auto focus is good, but sometimes manual works better.

Added features that are worth looking for is manual white balance as this can correct the colour cast at depth. It works best for me on sunny days when the light reaches 10-15m. Cloudy days mean I have to use my flash.