Digital camera on a snorkling excursion

[2BCruising]

I have a general question about taking my compact digital camera on excursions. My DH and I will be taking a few snorkling and kayaking excursions through the cruiseline. Do you think it's safe to place the small camera in a waterproof bag and tie around my wrist or waist? I may or may not take pictures in the water, but I would definitely like to take pictures of the beaches, DH, etc. Also, would it be safe to leave the camera on the excursion boat? Just wondering what you folks with digital cameras do on excursions. Thanks.

[Keksie]

I always take disposables on excursions. I get regular and waterproof. That way I never have to worry about my expensive camera getting stolen or wet. They take good pictures and I get them put on cds when I get the prints made.

[10X]

I have always taken cameras on snorkeling excursions. My video cam is always left in the excursion boat and I've never had a problem.

[sea-jay]

I wouldn't trust a bag to keep my expensive digital camera dry. Take disposable cameras to the beach.

 

I have used the water resistant ones down to about 15 ft. depth and I never have to worry about getting them wet or sandy. Also, If they get stolen from the beach while I am in the water, so what?

 

The cost is minimal compared to much more expensive cameras.

[2BCruising]

Thanks for all the feedback. The information you have provided is great. It does make more sense to take an underwater disposable camera and get the CD cut on the ship. Plus, less stress and worry about the digital camera. Thanks for your help.

[bruce-r]

I put my digital camera in something like this:

 

It is made specifically for my model camera, an Olympus C5050. Olympus makes housings for a number of their cameras, all priced under $200 (for the housing). I use my digital camera underwater to take photos like these:

 

 

I don't know if your camera has a housing available, or even if you are interested in getting one, but a housing does provide excellent protection for the camera from not only water but sand too.

[2BCruising]

bruce-r....Wow! Nice underwater pictures. Thanks for sharing them. I was toying with the idea of getting a housing for my camera. I saw that Fantasea makes one for my Coolpix 3200. I was going to wait til after our upcoming cruise (10/31) to see if we would go on anymore cruises and be able to justify the cost of the waterproof housing. But your pictures speak a thousand words. Amazing. Thanks again!

 

A few questions for you...how often do you have to change the seals on the housing? Also, do you have to place a desiccant pack inside the housing?

[bruce-r]

A few questions for you...how often do you have to change the seals on the housing? Also, do you have to place a desiccant pack inside the housing?

 

Thanks. Those are just the thumbnail photos from my web gallery. I really just do the photography to amuse myself. There are some real experts that post on wetpixel.com

 

To answer your questions. There are 2 O-rings on my housing that can be replaced, but I don't know when I'll have to replace them. I think that if I store the O-rings separate from the housing in a baggie, then they should last at least a few years, but I really don't know. I don't use a desiccant inside the housing, but some people do. I haven't had any problems with condensation so far.

 

I did a little looking and found that Nikon does make a housing for your camera. Best price I found was $215

[2BCruising]

Thanks for the websites. Very informative. The Nikon housing is definitely better than the Fantasea...there's more control over the camera (more buttons on the housing). Unfortunately, I don't think it's available in NA. Maybe...next year. Thanks again for the sites.

[10X]

I use the same setup as Bruce does. If you're willing to spend the money, it can't be beat.

 

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4074962&a=31166402&f=

 

I have recently ordered a Canon A95 5MP for my wife with the corresponding Canon underwater housing (she wanted something smaller than mine).

 

You'll find that the pictures you take will BY FAR exceed anything you will ever take with a disposable.

 

O-rings do require minor maintenance, like cleaning and coating with silicone grease, but it's not hard.

 

Nikon makes a case for the Coolpix 3200. It's called the WP-CP1, and it's available for about $200. There's one on eBay right now for $219. An Internet search might produce something cheaper.

[2BCruising]

Hi 10X...Another Wow! for your pictures. Thanks for providing the link to your photos. You are correct, in that the digital camera pictures are going to be far superior than those from a disposable camera. I've been taking digital photos for almost 4 years now, well over 15k pictures. As you can imagine, it will be hard for me to go back to a film camera.

 

Bruce and 10X...another question. If I were to purchase the Nikon WP-CP1 that is specifically sold in Japan, would it work with a 3200 bought in the US? I realize the manufacturers will sell the same camera in different countries and there might be some slight differences in the camera (e.g. color, warranty, etc). Should I be worrying about that? Just a thought.

 

I will definitely keep an eye on eBay...starting now.

[bruce-r]

Well I think the housing would work. I don't think that they change the body size, shape, or location of the buttons. They might change some of the internal software to read in Japanese characters and the measurements in metric, but that would be all.

[Snorkelcat]

I use an Olympus with it's housing as well. Another site to check is www.scubaboard.com. They have threads specifically with items for sale. I'd put my pics on here, but I have tried in the past and can't seem to manage to get it done! Oh, well! It's money you won't regret spending. The diff in the pics is night and day!

Have fun!

[10X]

I think the WP-CP1 housing would be identical to one sold here in the USA. Like Bruce said though, the writing and graphics may be distinctly Japanese oriented.

 

Go to this site for some info. You can send the owner, Yuzo, an e-mail with your questions. He's a very popular supplier for some of the people who frequent ScubaBoard. He apparently really knows his stuff, his prices are cheap, and his shipping is fast. Everything is priced in Yen, so you'll need a currency converter. He'll be able to tell you if the housing will work. Unfortunately, it appears he does not sell the Nikon housing, but he might have the answers you need.

 

http://www.uwdigitalcamera.com/English/euwdigitalindex.htm

 

Currency converter

 

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

 

Besides ScubaBoard.com you can take a look at Digital Diver, which is another underwater photography site.

 

http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.php

 

SnorkelCat,

 

Save your pictures in "web" format, about 640x480 and you should be able to load them onto ScubaBoard. Because I use a 5MP camera, I need to save in an even smaller format to get the pixel size down to where the file is less than 100KB, which is the max size they will accept. It took me a while to figure this out but it's not a problem now.

 

Denny

[TedC]

Bruce and 10X,

 

Thanks for sharing those great photos. I can't wait to get into the water!

[bUU]

They don't make a housing for my camera, so I bought an aquapac. Anyone have any experience with them?

[2BCruising]

Hi 10X (Denny)...thanks for the additional websites. I will be sending Yuzo an email with all my questions.

 

bicker...I did see the Aquapac (at LLBean's website). Unfortunately, I don't have any experience with them.

 

Has anyone used one of these before?

[zydecocruiser]

No experience with Aquapacs, used to use an Ewa-Marine bag and it worked fine although only rated to 30 ft.

http://www.rtsphoto.com/html/ewamar.html

 

Now have a Canon with a waterproof case. I do toss (more like wedge) a dessicant cartridge in. One of these (sort of):

http://www.divebooty.com/equipment_details.asp?pid=2405

They are just repackaging and selling them - I bought a bag of 100 of the same thing for $20-$25. Think I am set for a while. The dessicant isn't going to help you if you have a leak.

 

I believe I'm supposed to replace the gasket in the housing once a year, but I haven't, yet. I do feel for any nicks when applying grease to it. I also went ahead and ordered extra gaskets figuring the case would be discontinued sooner or later. I was right - first the camera, then the case. I imagine spare parts sooner rather than later.

 

Am curious if Photoshop or equivalent was used on some of those photos.

 

If you are just looking for waterproof bags, I like these:

http://www.watchfuleyedesigns.com

They also make a neck pouch and fanny pack to hold them (splash caddyy). Careful if you just put them in you pocket, cause they can float/fall out. You can order online or buy at a number of stores/catalogs. Don't think pictures taken through the bags would be good, though, they aren't designed for that.

 

bill

[bruce-r]

Am curious if Photoshop or equivalent was used on some of those photos.

bill

 

If you are asking about my photos, the answer is yes. I use Photoshop Elements 2. I slightly tweak the color balance to take out a bit of the blue, almost like it would be like if you had a nice dual strobe set-up. I've also cleaned up a bit of back scatter on occasion.

[zydecocruiser]

It was sort of a question for all the photos I looked at, I wasn't really taking names, but on second look, you were one of them. Great photos, thumbnails or not.

 

I'm far from an expert, or even very good at photography, but that doesn't stop me from trying. My underwater pics were always very blue (learned to take white balance off of auto and pick something else (sunny or cloudy depending), but still too blue. So far I've been too lazy to try to manually adjust the white balance (would probably get wrong anyway).

 

I did buy some version of Photoshop (2.0 I think) a couple of years ago, and discovered the WOW factor when I let it do auto-levels. That is my experience with that; it seems good enough for now. I know with more knowledge my pictures (well, maybe a few) could be masterpieces worthy of public display.

 

For what I do, there is a free download these days from Adobe that seems to do the same as what I do. By no means all the bells and whistles.

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopalbum/starter.html

 

 

Regards,

bill

[bUU]

No experience with Aquapacs, used to use an Ewa-Marine bag and it worked fine although only rated to 30 ft.

Aquapacs aren't rated for underwater use; they're intended to protect cameras from inadvertant damage. I've pretty much given up the thought of using it for snorkeling. It'll just be for kayaking.

[10X]

I started adjusting my photos wth Paintshop Pro 8, and now have version 9. However, I also own Photoshop Elements 2.0 and I learned a layering procedure from someone on Digital Diver. It works even better at enhancing the underwater photos. You don't remove blue, but add red, by the way of a layer. You adjust the amount of red you want based on how much blue is in the photo. What I thought were terrific enhacements in Paintshop Pro are nothing compared to what I see now. I know the same procedure can be used in Paintshop Pro, but I just don't know how to do it.

 

I have greatly improved on the photos that I posted in my link (above), but I have been too busy (or lazy) to replace them with the good ones.

 

If you want the layering procedure format, I'll send it to anyone who wants it. It's easy and after using it on about 5-6 photos you'll have it memorized and will be able toi do an entire picture in 2-3 minutes.

 

Let me know if you'd like to see some before/after shots before trying the layering technique. If there is enough interest, I'll change the photos in my link.

 

Denny

[zydecocruiser]

I'd love to try the technique. Please send to zydecocruiser@yahoo.com.

 

I would be curious to see your results, but no rush. Or you could just email to above address as well.

 

Thanks,

bill

[betsyrossapk]

I love this post! We are sailing away in 2 weeks in celebration of our 20th anniversary. I thought the trip would be our present. Last nite (our actual anniv date) my husband surprised me w/beautiful diamond stud earrings. I felt so bad that I didn't get him a gift, so this AM, I did a search & found a waterproof camera case for his Fujifilm digital camera. He loves taking pictures w/it so I think he will love trying it underwater. Its a great website (Keep it Dry) & if you click on 'fitting guides' it will lead you to whatever case fits your camera. Thanks to these boards for bailing me out.

http://www.keepitdrycase.com/ewdigstilwat.html

[2BCruising]

Hi Everyone! I just want to say thanks for all the feedback, discussions, suggestions, recommendations, and pictures galore. This has been very helpful and I've enjoyed reading every thread. I'm sure I'll have more questions and maybe we can keep this going. Thanks again!