Inexpensive camera recommendation

I bought the Sea life dc500 on ebay and will try it in a dive, but the few
indoor test pictures were very grainy when viewed on the computer screen. I
have NOT tried printing them.

Anyway, if the underwater pics do not come out too good I will be selling
this camera on ebay. What cameras would you recommend for around $500 US,
should I be in the market for a new camera?

Thanks!

Eddie G

"soxmax" <soxmax_2000@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1177000376.698581.219570@q75g2000hsh.googlegr oups.com...
> On Apr 17, 6:46 pm, "Eddie G" <mickeddie@(removeme)comcast.net> wrote:
>> I bought the Sea life dc500 on ebay and will try it in a dive, but the few
>> indoor test pictures were very grainy when viewed on the computer screen. I
>> have NOT tried printing them.
>>
>> Anyway, if the underwater pics do not come out too good I will be selling
>> this camera on ebay. What cameras would you recommend for around $500 US,
>> should I be in the market for a new camera?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Eddie G
>
> I bout the FujiFilm Finepix F30 and associated case for about $480
> (use CNET.com $260 for the camera). The photos are certainly not
> professional but the camera takes great surface shots and has an
> underwater setting. It also fits comfortably in my front pocket when
> it is not in the underwater case. It was worth $480 to me. Some of the
> shots are 80 feet unterwater coming out of the belly of the Rhone in
> Tortola.
>
> http://soxmax.myphotoalbum.com
>
> Best Regards,
> Derek

That's what I bought as well and it takes decent photos and is very compact. I have
not figured out a way to mount an external flash on the housing though.

Adam

"Eddie G" <mickeddie@(removeme)comcast.net> wrote in message
news:e-OdnTr37bjz97jbnZ2dnUVZ_v-tnZ2d@comcast.com...
>I bought the Sea life dc500 on ebay and will try it in a dive, but the few
>indoor test pictures were very grainy when viewed on the computer screen.
>I have NOT tried printing them.
>
> Anyway, if the underwater pics do not come out too good I will be selling
> this camera on ebay. What cameras would you recommend for around $500 US,
> should I be in the market for a new camera?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Eddie G

I picked up an Olympus FE-230 with the separate underwater housing (good to
100'). Not bad, and out of the housing the camera is very small and easy to
carry around. Under $500 for both. Unfortunately many of the inexpensive
point and shoot cameras adjust the ISO automatically for you. If the scene
gets dark the ISO goes up and you get noise. The problem is finding a
camera that's easy to use with lots of manual settings but also has a
reasonably priced underwater housing.

-hh wrote:
> Dan Bracuk <NOTbra...@pathcom.com> wrote:
>> "Sheldon" <shel...@XXXXXXXXsopris.net> pounded away at his keyboard
>> resulting in:
>> :I picked up an Olympus FE-230 with the separate underwater housing (good to
>> :100'). Not bad, and out of the housing the camera is very small and easy to
>> :carry around. Under $500 for both. Unfortunately many of the inexpensive
>> oint and shoot cameras adjust the ISO automatically for you. If the scene
>> :gets dark the ISO goes up and you get noise. The problem is finding a
>> :camera that's easy to use with lots of manual settings but also has a
>> :reasonably priced underwater housing.
>> :
>>
>> Hate to break it to you, but a bigger problem is people overanalyzing
>> simple things. You can take a lot of nice underwater pics with point
>> and shoot, well, I can anyway.
>
>
> There's trade-offs in simplicity as well as cost as to what kind of
> image quality can be gleaned out of any system. Sometimes, simple is
> all you need.
>
> If your standards for image quality are high, then the old car racing
> adage applies:
>
> "Speed costs money. How fast can you afford to go?"
>
>
> ...and of course, sometimes you find that your options are to get
> creative when a piece of hardware fails (here, leaving you without any
> strobe):
>
> <http://www.huntzinger.com/photo/old/356in2b.jpg>

I love that shot!
most people can not see it, much less capture it.



>
>
>
> -hh
>