Best P&S waterproof camera??

[talon4x4]

Anyone have any experience with waterproof P&S cameras?? I will be going to Hawaii for my honeymoon in October and would like to get a decent waterproof camera. I've been looking at the Canon D10, Olympus Tough 8000 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1G. Anyone own one of these or even a different brand and care to comment on the image quality, ease of use, etc.???

Thanks!!

 

[Masoch]

If you already have a P&S, there may already be an underwater housing for it. I found one for my old FinePix F10 for $100 off EBay. No hassles using the housing, and it's rated for something like 30 metres -- making it more rugged than most of the P&S waterproof I looked at last year.

 

[aussie_chicago]

Agree,I have a canon p+s sd800 that takes great pics,so I got the canon underwater housing for a deal from canon directly for like $80 (usually $200+),takes great underwater pics and is rated for 30m+.If you already have a decent p+s,you will get better pics with a good housing rather than a rated underwater p+S,and greater depths also.

 

[DaddyReefer12]

Pentax W60 or W80 grate cameras....I use the W60

 

[iceemn360]

i think most of the tough p and s cams are great now adays.

If you are just looking for the day to day p and s then....

Id check out the new Pentax W90 (yet to be released. it should sport leds around the lens to aid in macro close focusing), or w80, or even the w60
I used to use a Pentax w30 that did wonders for snorkeling and swimming (took it down to about 15ft in a diving pool ) until I left it on a bus

also the olympus models look really nice and sturdy but i've heard about the lens cover jamming due to sand

if you check dpreview sony just came out with a new wp camera too.

if you are looking to dive then id suggest a canon p and s with an underwater casing.

 

[Masoch]

And this thread is meaningless without pics

Blue crab at the beach by the hotel.

Murky day at John Pennekamp in the Keys.

Those aren't bad for a 6 year-old P&S.

 

[TWallace]

I'm in a similar situation to the OP. I'm going to Hawaii in May. I currently have a Canon A720 with a good underwater housing, but I've been disappointed with the performance. Shots often come out grainy and/or blurry. Curiously, it takes pretty nice underwater video, though. I have a Nikon D90, but no housing. The cheapest good housing for that is around $1400 I believe, little too steep for me given how infrequently I'd use it. I know there are cheaper options for the D90, that are basically watertight bags with a glass lens opening. I've read somewhat bad reviews for these, in that taking photos is difficult, but not that they leak.

I'm debating on getting one of these cheap housings for my D90, or getting a better P&S that is either waterproof or has an optional housing for underwater.

 

[Masoch]

TWallace,

Did you run your photos through PhotoShop? Before tweaking the colours, virtually all the underwater pics I took in Florida looked awful -- here's a pic of the crab with nothing done but resizing the image.

Once I had found the secret sauce for the colours, I ran a batch process to tweak all the photos.

 

[sphelps]

I'm not a strong believer in actual waterproof P&Ss because of all the multiple seals required on all the opening parts. To me it's got too many chances of failure and I'm not sure the seals can be maintained and replaced when needed. Not to mention I have friends and family with such cameras that have failed.

I prefer the idea of getting the P&S you want and an underwater case to match. This way the case only has one opening part which has a replaceable seal. The depth is also superior.

I chose the Canon G9 and case, IMO it has everything you want including raw mode, multiple manual WB, aperture priority with a max of 2.8 and a great camera all around.

And yes I have pictures :celeb1:

BTW, no strobe or flash used. That's where the large aperture comes in.