Experience on snorkeling / scuba diving with EOS?

Hi all,

I am planning a trip to Thailand in few months, and would like to go scuba diving - snorkeling. So, i have a 40D and some lenses and i was wondering does anyone have experience on those diving bags that let you shoot underwater? And i am not talking about those +1000EUR ones, something 50-150€ would be closer to what i can pay for such thing.

So i guess what i want to know is, is there any point in using your DSLR underwater, or should i just get one of those D10's or Olympus Tough's?

Experiences on something like these:

http://stores.channela​dvisor.com …050D%2040D%2045​0D%201000D

http://stores.channela​dvisor.com …bel%20XT%20XTi%​20XS%20XSi

Don't bother. The quality of the images is dreadful and the integrity of the "bag" systems is worse. You are taking a major risk by placing over $1000USD in a plastic bag.

If you are interested in underwater photography, you are going to have to lay out some money. The entire underwater kit I have costs way more than the camera/lens I am using (30D with various lenses). But I am 100% confident in the integrity of the housing. If there is a failure, it will be because I failed to seal the housing correctly, not because the housing failed.

If you only want a basic set up, buy most any of the small Canon point and shoot cameras for which Canon makes an underwater housing. The G-series cameras make pretty nice underwater systems in a Canon housing. I have both a G-7 and G-9 in Canon housings. They aren't up to the caliber of an SLR in a housing, but especially for snorkeling, they are great. Any of the other small Canon's would probably work well, too.

The Canon housings sell for about $150USD here in the US. Add the price of the camera and it will probably set you back $400-500USD or around 350 euro.

Best advice? Don't use one of the bags. Get a camera with a proper underwater housing.

EDIT: Was just looking at the Canon D10 and the Olympus Tough series. Found several good reviews of the Canon and people seem to like the Oly cameras as well. If you are going this route, get a camera rated to at least 10 meters. You can surface dive to greater than 3 meters easily, and those devices only rated to that depth will surely give up and leak. I still think a point and shoot with a proper housing is a better choice, but the D10 looks pretty good.

Looking at your gear list, get the Canon housing for your 860 IS. It's in your price range and rated to 40 meters.

*cough*

There are also some decent point and shoot models rated down to 30 metres if I recall - easier than a housing. Would only use bag-type system as splash protection and not for diving.

Too risky and expensive for me to put a good DSLR camera in a housing. I used a Nikon P&S in a housing for 2 years and it worked fine down to 90 feet. The third season I used it the gasket leaked and ruined my camera. It wasnt a huge loss, but enough for me to scrub using my good cam. I bought a cheap Olympus water proof camera and have used it to 40 feet with no issues. The rate it at 33 feet. The new Canon D10 rated at 33 feet is really good and is what I would like to buy before my next trip.

Here are some snorkle pics I took with the cheap Oly underwater cam.

point and shoot all the way

get a nice one with a nice housing and save yourself some money and hassle.

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double post..

Had the same dilema for my trip to Galapagos islands. Based on advice here left the 40D's dry and got the Canon D10. Good to 30 feet and was very easy to use underwater. Very nice camera. "Underwater" mode did a nice job of filtering to get true colors.

Thanks for the great advice to all!

I am still a bit torn here, i found some pretty reliable looking housings from Eva-Marine,
these cost aroung 250€, and seem to be reliable. http://www.ewa-marine.de/index.php?id​=49

I have read some good review of those, but i am a little worried about the bulkiness and hassle involved.

I probably should get a housing for the my 860 is, but it kills me to put out 100-200€ for a housing for that camera, when you can get a D10 for 250€.

I might just take the D10 route, but i am a little worried is the lens wide enough for close-up underwater photography? I would love to take my 10mm underwater with my 40D

You can read this thread and get some eat ideas:

http://www.surfphotogr​aphersunited.com …/index.php?show​topic=1949

I do not know if you will need a membership to see the thread,
but the jist is there are used film camera housings that (might) accommodate your camera ... if they do you get a killer deal with some DiY

What about an HD underwater video camera that also takes pictures? There is a new one made by Sanyo and it cost only $317.00 from amazon. Here is the article about it. http://www.surfline.co​m …-cam-with-hd-video_30867/

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

crn3371 wrote in post #8777988
Looking at your gear list, get the Canon housing for your 860 IS. It's in your price range and rated to 40 meters.

The WP-DC17 costs about 200€, and the 860 IS is not exactly the latest model, do you think this setup would still be better than just getting a D10?

Saint728 wrote in post #8789013
What about an HD underwater video camera that also takes pictures? There is a new one made by Sanyo and it cost only $317.00 from amazon. Here is the article about it. http://www.surfline.co​m …-cam-with-hd-video_30867/

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

That looks sweet Would love to shoot videos with that thing, but the 2Mp stills are putting me off a bit - i am into still photos mostly after all

And wouldn't you be able to shoot decent video with a d10 also underwater? Sure, not HD, but decent?

i've always wondered about those diving camera bag.

what i never seem to make sense is that -my thinking- is that few metres deep the pressure would be enough to press the plastic on all the buttons, rendering all the button useless... not sure if this is true though, well..someone invented the bag, i suppose it's good for something rite?