What's the best camera (and set up) for scuba diving?

[My Big Bear Ron]

details please.

[buff5200]

Originally Posted by My Big Bear Ron

details please.

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Just some suggestions: Photography (still/video/film/digital) all becomes very dependant on artificial light below 10' (3m).

If you are starting out on a "budget", buy a higher quality strobe, with a cheap camera (that is strobe compatable).

A good strobe with a cheap camera gives better quality photos than a high price camera with no strobe, or a small, cheap, underpowered strobe.

Another point to remember is that most underwater photography is done at very close range. If possible you want a very wide angle lens, that is capable of tight focus.

When you see a magazine photo of a diver, full length head-to-toe. That photo was most likely taken with a 15mm fisheye lens, with a lens to subject distance of less than 2 ft (66cm).

ALL water, no matter how clear, has suspended particles/bubbles. The more water between the camera and subject, the worse the photo is blurred by the turbidity of the water.

Digital cameras with good zoom lenses are very nice for UW use. With the old Nikonos, you always saw the most perfect tiny critter when you had the wide angle lens on the camera. And of course the best shark shot opportunity occured when you had the one-to-one critter lens on the camera.
(you cannot change lenses on a 35mm film camera underwater)

My Nikon Coolpix digital will zoom from one-to-one macro all the way out to (equivilent) 40mm wide lens. Gives a wide variety of shot capablily on one dive.

[rush007]

Hi
Here is the best camera available for the underwater purpose.

Aqua-Vu MAV Underwater Camera System.

It cost only $1999.99 and I think it worth it.

[abinesh]

hey .. i googled and the result was Aqua Vu MAV . they say this is the best camera available for underwater tasks...

[omnium]

Well, it does all depend on what you want to achieve and how much you want to spend.

Personally, I'm happy with holiday snapshots, rather than "pro" quality photos.

So, I would recommend a Canon IXUS 75 (SD750?) with a Canon underwater housing. It has a lovely 3" screen, great for composing a photo! It will fit into your BCD pocket and will take decent snapshots. It should cost about �170 for the camera and another �130 for the housing.

If you're happy to go a wee bit larger - maybe you have big BCD pockets - then the slightly larger IXUS 950 IS would be a fantastic option.

Adding a strobe will increase the quality of your pics a lot. I don't use one, but then, I am sticking to portability - it won't fit into my BCD

If you want much much better quality, you need to start using a digital SLR - but then you're talking about a �2000+ investment! I have a dSLR, but the housing alone costs over �1000. And that's without a lens port.

Personally, I don't want to spend that much money on an underwater camera system. And, more importantly, I don't want to carry all the kit down with me!! I dive for diving's sake, not as an opportunity to take photos.

When choosing a camera, you want to consider the following things, just as if you were taking photos on land:

- low light performance
Does it capture decent/useable images at ISO800, or higher?
- shutter lag
If it's slow, the fish will have gone by the time it takes the photo
- underwater housing availability
Canon is excellent at providing housings, as are Sony and Olympus.
However, I don't use Sony because of their stupid memory sticks and
I don't use Oly because the shutter lag is often very slow AND they
use the really slow and expensive XD memory cards.

Use Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ to evaluate camera, they are very accurate and honest.

I believe that the latest top of the range Sea & Sea camera is a Ricoh that is generally all round excellent - albeit slow at saving photos to the memory card. The Fuji F31 is reportedly a very good option too with its excellent low light performance. The F31 may be even better than the F40.

[Josh]

The best will be an Nikon SLR in a Subal, Aquatica, Nexus or smiliar housing but that will cost around $10K with different lenses, ports, strobes etc. I would recommend you start cheap and small so i would go for a point and shoot Canon with a little plastic housing and a slave strobe from Sea and Sea or Ikelite. That will give great results once you figure out what you are doing without breaking the bank.

Best thing is to find which housings are available, then the camera to fit into it.

Good luck
Josh
Undersea Productions - Underwater Videography, Underwater Photography, Marine Life DVDs, Underwater Stock Footage