AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye diving buffs camera question

BNBelize soon, You will have excellent shots with a digital, thats without a doubt. You will have alot more flixibility with your digital. I have taken hundreds of underwater shots in Belize, some with film and others digital and can tell you the digitals were by far the best quality. Do have a flash, and just review your shots as often as you can to re-adjust the position an angles your shooting at. Make sure to stay off the bottom, the corals are very fragile, take forever to grow and should not be touched.

check bhphoto.com or leisurepro.com web site - cheapest prices on underwater housings I've found, and I live in the photo district. Probably on underwater cameras as well. The housing for the Canon s400 is only $169.

After years of going through as many as 6 hand inspections in 3 airports RTP for a 1 week trip with 800 ASA film for underwater camera I AM DONE! $169 for the housing well worth it to me!

Hey Zagnut,

I'll put up my photographs taken with my Nikonos-V against your snapshots you get with your Reefmaster any day. I'm not filthy rich, but I do demand quality results from a camera. If I'm willing to spend thousands on dive trips for my family I want to produce quality photographs, not ones that have a greenish/bluish color tint or under exposed, and even blurry and everything those cheap cameras/housings produce. Like I said I'll put mine against yours any day...

My Nikonos has not flooded/leaked at 150' and even worked as smoothly as if it were at the surface.

Have a nice day

Thanks to everyone for their input! Since MickeyO and I only snorkel and don't dive - not sure if it would be worth while to invest in an underwater camera - as the disposables have always provided great pics. Sounds as though most of you dive. Guess we have 3 long months to decide ...

The housing I am looking at is about 150.00, the strobes are quite expensive. We are relatively new scuba divers but I am very comfortable in the water and would really like to take some pics. I can probably swing the housing but not the strobes at this time. Can you just rent the strobes I wonder? The housing would be great too since we will snorkel and do the cave tubing. I have a 256 mb card so lots of room for practicing. is it possible to get good pics 60' w/no strobes?

oh ya, and thanks to everyone for answering my questions too. you are all awesome and i can't wait to get to belize....

"is it possible to get good pics 60' w/no strobes?"

No, but you can get good results shooting upward for a silhouette shot if you can position yourself below your subject and the sun above.

You can get fair to good pics to the depth of 10 to 12' on a sunny day (water filters the warm color), but make sure the sun is to your back and lighting up your subject.

But then again, everybody has a different definition of 'good'...

Idaho, I've seen your pics and they are definitely better than mine. Satisfied? I do take some consolation in the fact that I enjoy myself and whatever I do, wherever I do it, without going totally anal.
Have a nice day.

Sorry Bobber,

You say "I am perfectly satisfied with it" and "Pics are loaded. I will apologize for the quality of the underwaters, I was trying a faster film that didn't pan out."

So what is it, you are 'perfectly satisfied' or apologizing for the quality? Faster film to try to improve the inadequacy of the camera is proof you don't know what you're talking about.

Again, "Hi Nancyo. I used a Sealife Reefmaster with strobe. About a $400 dollar outfit. I am disapointed with these pics, previous ones were much better. I used a faster film this time and the results weren't as good as I've had with slower film"

Rolling my eyes...

"Take a look at the pics. The faster film needed more light, which the flash and ambient couldn't supply unless I was really close. The current pics are pretty faded."

Now I'm laughing my a$$ off, faster film requires less light, 400iso/asa is 2f-stops different than 100 iso/asa or the shutter speed difference of 250 and 1000 per sec. Does EV mean anything to you? (exposure value)

You also say "as I have a problem remembering what I did between when I did it and the film comes back"

Sounds like to many beers to me, do you suffer from blackouts as well?

And, "When you use something once or twice a year, it tends to get dicey."

Don't give photo advice, Nuff said...

Zagnut,

Here's some of my stuff.
http://community.webshots.com/user/idaho_diver

Sorry to sound anal, but some shouldn't give advice when they don't know what they are talking about...

Full of yourself aren't you? I would hesitate to suggest a very expensive camera to a snorkeler. I do a lot of things just to see what would happen. If it doesn't turn out, I don't go catatonic.
Just real glad I'm not you, and my state doesn't begin with a vowel.