N eed to buy a decent camera for snorkeling

[arresife]

Can any one recommend a good water proof camera for snorkeling. I don't want anything professional, more like a small pocket camera. I was looking at the 8010 Olympus tough salt water series. I dont want to go over $400. What do you think?

Thanks.

 

[streetjudge79]

The olympus stylus 1030sw is a good choice. It's good to 33 feet.

 

[davocean]

I love the oly 1030SW, takes great shots.
There was a long thread in reefdiscusion on them w/ a ton of great pics.
Only issue is my seal went bad after about a year and a half, but that seems to be pretty common on most cameras w/out an actual housing, so I would advise maybe changing that seal yearly for optimum lifespan.

 

[Speckled Grouper]

Canon D10, hands down the best camera for your purposes. I have had mine for over a year and the pictures it takes are incredible!

 

[cur10u5g30rg3]

You can buy waterproof case for alot of different cameras. I use an older canon right now. Some of the canon include an underwater mode. I have heard good things about the Olympus but don't have any experiece with them.

 

[halibutk]

I would suggest you read this

http://www.lenstip.com/125.1-article-Underwater_cameras_test_2010__Introduction.html

Based on this article I bought a Lumix. Best camera i have ever had. Had it in a recent trip in the Caribbean and had an amazing time with it. I was int eh water for hours each day and the camera was strapped to me.

Takes great pics too. Here are some example of my trip in Grand Cayman and Roatan. I took over 500 pics and 20 minutes of HD video. Still have room on a 16gb card. I just wish i knew about underwater mode in Grand Cayman. I listed underwater mode on/off on pics.

With Underwater Mode OFF

With underwater mode on

Screenshot of underwater video (underwater mode off)

Roatan Squid (underwater mode on)

Butterfly (underwater mode on)

 

[quack quack]

Canon G11's are going for good prices right now

 

[jbarr2000]

The canon s95 is supposed to be a good underwater camera. The housings are relatively cheap.

 

[Gamepro_inc]

Canon D10 is an awesome camera with lots of special settings including underwater and aquarium setting so you dont have to adjust for taking pics of your tank the colors come out true every time.

 

[arresife]

Thank to all for the reply, after reading halibutk's article and a few others I decided to go with Lumix.
Thanks halibutk I didn't even know Panasonic made a water proof camera.

 

[Lordhelmet]

the Olympus stylus Tough 8010 is the 3rd Gen underwater camera from Olympus. It is about $400 and shoots HD video as well.
I bought the Tough 8000 about a year ago and love it for all its rugged ability. I don't worry about where I take this camera.

 

[Drez]

Ive had great luck with a caonon SD700 w/ dive case, case isn't cheap but great land camera that you can take diving. Canon makes dive cases for most of thier POS cameras