Good underwater camera?

The wife and I are going to Hawaii later this year and figure that an underwater camera will be good to have since a lot of the stuff we are doing will be in/on/under/around water and that's no place for the 5DII.

Anyone have any good advice other than "get a housing for the 5DII!".

I know Canon has the D20 but other than that and some Olympus cameras...I don't really know who makes the best or whatever.

I take my G11 with Canons wpdc34 case when I go to Hawaii. I could sell you both for $475 shipped if you're interested.

The D20 is a great underwater camera.

The Nikon AW100 is quite similar to the D20, but costs much less.

The latest and greatest waterproof camera is the Olympus TG-1,
which has not only a wide 25mm lens (matched only by the Sony TX20 & TX200V and the Panasonic TS20),
but an unprecedented f/2.0 max aperture setting. For a waterproof all-arounder, it could be excellent.

Just for comparison of the best out there, you can look at the Panasonic TS4 and the Fuji XP150 (or XP170 for wi-fi) as well.

-eyalg

The Olympus TG-1 is the P&S I'm eyeing for niagra falls. I've read quite a few good reviews on it.

TG-1 has the best specs, but Olympus reliability has been spotty if you look at the reviews on their previous models.

I've tried the d20, ts20, aw100 and ts4. Right now I'm with the TS4...

botw wrote in post #14673723
TG-1 has the best specs, but Olympus reliability has been spotty if you look at the reviews on their previous models.

I've tried the d20, ts20, aw100 and ts4. Right now I'm with the TS4...

How is the battery life on the TS4?

gopro 2 ..pics & video underwater

Numenorean wrote in post #14676203
How is the battery life on the TS4?

Seems comparable. As with all of them, GPS drains it much faster.

12Rock wrote in post #14676266
gopro 2 ..pics & video underwater

Uh...from what I know of them, no zooming, etc. Not really a stills camera.

I just wish camera manufacturers would stop trying to make their underwater cameras cute. Bright colors on a camera aren't for everyone.

Sony TX10

I pressume you will bring the camera for scuba diving, not snorkling. If so:

An option is to get:
- G12
- G12 UW house
- Good strobes. How many strobes, really depends on what you are shooting. If only macro photos, one is enough. However, it's a bit tricky for wide angle photos. I recommend you to buy 2 strobes.
- If you plan to have night dives, then you need a reasonable quality torch.

The key here for UW photography is the strobes. Regardless what camera you bring, without good strobes, the pictures will turn blueish color.

I own an older version of Olympus Stylus 1030 SW and it worked okay. I recently ordered the Pentax Optio WG-1 GPS . Looks like a pretty cool camera and also has GPS functionality.
Has good reviews on Amazon and other sites.

SOX 404 wrote in post #14695634
I pressume you will bring the camera for scuba diving, not snorkling. If so:

An option is to get:
- G12
- G12 UW house
- Good strobes. How many strobes, really depends on what you are shooting. If only macro photos, one is enough. However, it's a bit tricky for wide angle photos. I recommend you to buy 2 strobes.
- If you plan to have night dives, then you need a reasonable quality torch.

The key here for UW photography is the strobes. Regardless what camera you bring, without good strobes, the pictures will turn blueish color.

So what options are there with canon s100 and underwater housing? I am getting the s100 tomorrow and in a month or so before I go to Lanai will grab the housing.

Will only be snorkeling in 8-12ft of water.

Suggestions? I also have the waterproof sony dsc-tx10...

I have both the G9 and G11 with underwater housings and they work really well, especially at the shallow water depths you mention. You start having problems when you have to push the ISO higher than 200, and if you go a little deeper you will probably need to have a higher ISO, especially if you take pictures of quick moving fish etc... Strobes will help of course, but that is probably out of your budget. If I were to do things again, I would choose the S100 with the Canon housing. The faster lens and better ISO performance should make it an excellent choice for what you want.