Camera for Scuba Diving

[SwissJon]

A friend of mine is after a camera for scuba diving. She'd like it also to be one that was useful above the waves as well, but it's got to be rated down to at least 30m. Preferably with a flash.

I've suggested she get a camera with a case and simply take the case off when she's not diving, but I haven't been diving for many years, so I'm really not up with what's available.. Rather than just ask Uncle Google, I thought I'd find out here if anyone was able to make recommendations.

I'm not sure what her budget is, but she does a lot of travelling for her work, so I'm guessing she's after something quite light, any recommendations?

Thanks

[NgaiHill]

This camera Olympus Tough. It is only rated to 10 m but I can highly recommend it.
I lost the 6000 in a white-water river in Oct 2010, it was found, still in the river in March 2011. Still in working order with the battery still fully charged after five months on the bottom of the river and travelling about 3 km downstream.
Its replacement was the 8000 - late last year it spent 3 days lying in the rain on a friend's lawn(son dropped it). She found it after running over it with the lawn mower.
Not only are these cameras waterproof and very robust but they are very difficult to lose!

[SwissJon]

Originally Posted by NgaiHill

This camera Olympus Tough. It is only rated to 10 m but I can highly recommend it.
I lost the 6000 in a white-water river in Oct 2010, it was found, still in the river in March 2011. Still in working order with the battery still fully charged after five months on the bottom of the river and travelling about 3 km downstream.
Its replacement was the 8000 - late last year it spent 3 days lying in the rain on a friend's lawn(son dropped it). She found it after running over it with the lawn mower.
Not only are these cameras waterproof and very robust but they are very difficult to lose!

Sounds rather easy to lose, just one of those things that turns up eventually!! A bit like my ex-wife!

Unfortunately 10m isn't sufficient.. 10m is basically rated for splashing about in rivers.. Canoeing etc. You need 50m or 100m ratings for diving I believe.

[OsmosisStudios]

She'll have to look either at something specialized or a housing. None of the "All-weather" or "waterproof" compacts are good for anything beyond 10m or so.

[Rigu]

Originally Posted by NgaiHill

This camera Olympus Tough. It is only rated to 10 m but I can highly recommend it.
I lost the 6000 in a white-water river in Oct 2010, it was found, still in the river in March 2011. Still in working order with the battery still fully charged after five months on the bottom of the river and travelling about 3 km downstream.
Its replacement was the 8000 - late last year it spent 3 days lying in the rain on a friend's lawn(son dropped it). She found it after running over it with the lawn mower.
Not only are these cameras waterproof and very robust but they are very difficult to lose!

I wouldn't be surprised if Olympus wanted to use this post as promo for their cameras, you don't get much more of a ringing endorsement for robustness than that!

[atthec44]

About 3 years ago my wife and I bought an Olympus Stylus Tough that is waterproof to 30ft(might actually be 33 feet). It worked fine when we went Scuba diving on our honeymoon in Jamaica. Since we we’re not experienced divers, we weren’t allowed any deeper than that.

Our dive instructor took this pic for us.

[Preeb]

The best bet is a good P&S and an underwater housing. I bought a housing for my Canon A720IS for a trip to the Philippines and it worked ok. It doesn't really compare to the Nikonos 35mm with strobe that I rented in 1990 and 1991 at Little Cayman, but the whole setup was only about $500 too. The flash doesn't have much reach underwater (it is good for closeup shots though), but the housing is rated to 40 meters. Here is a link to Canon's Housings. The one that's compatible with a G11 and G12 costs $299 US, which I think is the same as I paid for mine several years ago, so they all seem to be about the same price and they have quite an array.

This is a photo I took of an Orangutan Crab nestled in it's anemone.

[NgaiHill]

Originally Posted by Rigu

I wouldn't be surprised if Olympus wanted to use this post as promo for their cameras, you don't get much more of a ringing endorsement for robustness than that!

You'd like to think so. Lots of people told me to tell Olympus my tale and I did email them about it at the time I got the first camera back. Haven't heard a thing!

[andrewdt]

Something maybe worth a look at is the GoPro camera. There are many functions it obviously does not have compared to a stills camera but is small, water/shock proof, good quality stills and great HD video. Also quite cheap for what it can do.

[mrteacherdude]

These look like they have potential too...

Sealife Cameras. Some of them are rated to 60m. I didn't check out all of them for specs; just noticed that LensRentals is carrying one of their models, and I just got a newsletter from B&H announcing a new one from this manufacturer.
SeaLife Mini Elite II is a camera and light system for about $500 US. The manufacturer's website states waterproof to greater than 30m.

Another possibility is Cameras/Housings from Sea & Sea. They've changed some of their product lines since I last looked at their site, but I know they had cameras/camera systems before that were capable of the depths you mentioned, and some were capable of shooting RAW.

I personally haven't tried any of these products yet as I still have not gotten around to getting SCUBA certified (so the shallow water cameras work fine for me), but the reviews seem good.