jeanne, i just got done checking into all options for a new underwater camara. and by the time your done buying the underwater housing unit to fit the new camara, your looking at 500. i was pretty disapointed. because thats way to much money. then i found out about the new pentax wpi underwater camara. it costs around 300 to 350. and its made for underwater. its very tiny for travel also. i found mine on shopping.com for 250 shipping included. we haven't tried it yet except at home, seems good to go. it says it can only be in the water for 30 minutes at a depth of 5 feet under, that would be the only downfall i guess. i don't know if your snorkling and on top of the water if it can go longer or not. ritz, and national camara have them also. i asked ritz about them and they said its a great little camara, no complaints so far. hope this helps, scooby

Oh wow - something I can actually HELP with!

Canon and Sony make decent digital cameras, but for underwater use, I would go with the Canon. I personally own an Olympus, but the whole setup for underwater ran me about $700 - camera, housing, extra card and rechargeable batteries (this model takes AA batteries)

I would stay away from Fuji - theirs seem to be rather unpradictable. Olympus also has several affordable camera/housing combinations - check out www.wetpixel.com or www.digitaldiver.net for different camera reviews. They also have websites with more info as well. www.dpreview.com is a good site to use if you have a couple models you want to narrow down - they have a 'side by side' comparison you can do. Beach Camera usually has affordable housings - can't remember if it's 'beachcamera.com' or 'beachcameras.com'.

If you get stuck, let me know. A powerful internal flash will be a positive feature. You will want to get relatively close to your subject - as underwater the light only goes so far. If you want tips on shooting pictures underwater, drop me a PM or email and I can give you more detailed information.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the advice scooby and Manta!! I checked out the Pentax you mentioned scooby but the limitation of 5 ft and 30 minutes makes me a litte nervous. We'll be doing a lot of snorkeling and my husband tends to dive down when he snorkels which would prevent him from being able to use that camera. It's SO hard to decide what the best option is!! Manta, I have actually been looking mostly at the Canons...I looked at the A520 and along with the Canon housing that goes with it it's about $375 which isn't too bad (still a little more than I want to spend though but I may have to give in!!). We're also just novice photographers which adds to the difficulty of finding the appropriate camera for underwater photography.

Canon A520 $199 at Target this week.

The Canon A95 is a better-performing camera than the A520, and because it is an older model, it's cheaper. I have one and absolutely love it. The underwater housing was expensive, but I love that, too. The camera is fully functional with the housing, you can operate all the controls including the zoom lens. I will be bringing my A95 to St John in May and expect to get some amazing underwater snorkeling shots.

Here's a great website resource for you with extensive, unbiased and up to date reviews: www.dcresource.com.

Good luck!

Other than the pixel difference (3.9 versus 5) they seem to fairly equal....they have the same macro distance - 5CM, which is fantastic!

they also take different media cards - SD for the 520 and CF for the A95. Jeanne I think said she already had the SD cards - which is a plus. Both cameras take AA batteries - check out www.nimhbatteries.com to get GREAT deals on batteries and fast chargers. Do realize that the higher the mAh the more heat will be generated inside the housing. I HAD that problem but found some really great dry paks for mine.

dpreview doesn't show the $199 Target price, but shows these:

$199.00 at Toshiba
$199.99 at CompUSA
$173.95 at Buy.com
$199.00 at Willoughbys Est.1898
$169.15 at Dell Home & Home Office
$179.99 at Crutchfield
$199.95 at PC Connection
$194.99 at TigerDirect.com

Housings - I found that the housing fits the 520 as well as the 510... it's listed for less than $200 at B&H photo ... http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&kw=CAWPDC60&is=REG&Q=&O=productlist&sku=367063 (who is an EXCELLENT seller....been around forever)

So it looks like you can get the A520 as well as the housing for under $500 - and get some spare batteries to boot!

Scooby,

When are you headed down? I bought that camera, too, and am anxious to hear how it works! Please post after your trip (maybe some sample photos??)

I'm looking pretty seriously at the Canon A610 now and I can get it on beachcamera.com for $222 which seems like a great price (plus free shipping). The housing is $190 so I would have a little over $400 invested. It takes an SD card and we already have several of these for our Kodak. All the reviews of this camera on dpreview are very positive with the exception of the flimsy USB port cover. Here are the camera specs in case Kim or any of you other camera experts have anything to point out (I'm an amateur!!).

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a610.asp

I think you'll like the flip out LCD screen on this - I have it on the A80. Lets you shoot stuff from all different angles, allowing greater creativity and very practical in other situations.

only 2 days to go, will write a review when we get back. thanks everyone for all the helpful info! scooby

jay - I got my A610 yesterday and you're right, I love the flip-out LCD!!

I was able to get the housing from Amazon for $170 and the A610 was down to $218 by the time I bought it from buydig.com so I only have $388 invested (still need to buy rechargeable batteries though). I really like the camera so far and we'll probably leave our bulkier Kodak right at home...now I just have to wait patiently for June to get here to try out the housing in St John!!

scooby - Looking forward to your review and to hearing how you made out with your Pentax camera.

Very cool. You got some great deals.

Since you saved some money there, maybe one more thing to consider - a filter kit that includes an adapter and polarizing filter. Think sunglasses for your camera. Really makes your pics of that Caribbean water "pop". Cant remember what I paid but think it was around $30 from jr.com or B&H (?) Your model probably takes 52mm size.

Betcha that model Canon even has an "underwater" setting that helps with the white balance in that environment, although you may find that the main auto setting works best at shallow depths.

jay - yes, the filter kit is definitely on my list of accessories to get before our trip. I'm somewhat of a novice and I never knew about the polarizers until reading these wonderful boards. The A610 does have the underwater setting but I'll take some pics using the auto setting also to see if there's any difference in picture quality...thanks for the suggestion.

Hello everyone!

I've scoured the net looking for information specifically on the A610 with the underwater housing as I'm going to Cozumel next week and wanted to go digital. I have only found this board and one other mention of it so far. The other eval I found was not encouraging - the user has moisture/humidity problems with the LCD screen and when he talked to Canon they told him it was not covered under warranty. In the instruction book it says to keep the camera well ventilated, but how do you do that in a sealed housing? Anyway, I decided to take the plunge and bought the setup, which should arrive today. If your interested, I'll let you know how it performs when I get back.

I let my brother borrow my new A610 and housing for his trip to Belize last month. Other than having a hard time seeing through the LCD at times while snorkeling (due to the bright sun) the setup worked fine for him. He bought some of the moisture pacs but he said they didn't fit in the housing along with the camera. He took the camera out of the housing each time he was done snorkeling because he was worried about it heating up. I was also a little concerned knowing that Canon doesn't guarantee the housing but I feel better after my brothers experience with it - you just have to be careful about keeping the o-ring free of any sand or anything else that could cause a leak.

Enjoy your trip to Cozumel!!

Thanks for the info. It's funny, I was planning on getting the desicant packets to put in the housing as well! Great minds... How did he like Belize? I was there two years ago and it was so windy and rough the boat could only take us out twice. Worst dive vacation ever.

My brother and his wife LOVED Belize - they stayed in Placencia. They're actually very seriously considering moving there and had been before they even went there on vacation. My husband and I were in Belize for one day last January on a cruise and we did a snorkel excursion - it was rather windy the day we were there and we weren't able to snorkel as close to the reef as we were supposed to because the water was too rough so the snorkeling was only satisfactory.

We stayed on Ambergris Cay, but made a trip to the mainland to tube down a river through a cave system. That was a very memorable experience and well worth the trip. I just saw a program on HGTV called House Hunters International yesterday where a woman from North Carolina bought a house on the coast in Belize and moved down there permanently, running her real estate business from there.

Hello to all.

I thought you may find my experience with underwater case helpful and informative. I have had two dig. cameras stolen in 4 mos. Ouch! That said, I have just purchased my third , canon A620, and will get the case for my St John visst in late June.

That said, I had a SD400 and the Canon case. the case is first class construction! I used it for snorkeling, great family pics in the pool and simply general protection while hiking in and around the water and rain in hawaii. There is a couple of very important things to remember to make your life easier.

First The O-Ring MUST be kept lubricated with the silicon lube. Do not simply lube it while in the case. Instead, remove it a nd lube it fully. The seal will be better.

second, When closing the case ve very carefull to not crimp the O-Ring. Some times I needed to uase a credit card to push it back on the groove it resides it.

Third, the O-Rings are expensive, but, get a couple of extras to take along. Once the O-Ring becomes stretched or crimped at all the seal will be almost impossible to get again.

Last - amd most important, about the condensation. The real secret here is to put your camera in the housing in an airconditioned car or room. When you open the case in a humid area and then close it again, you will always get the humidity inside the case. This is not a problem until you take it underwater where the temp is much cooler than the outside air. when you go under water, the himid air inside the camera housing (and maybe camera itself) will cool quickly and codensation will form on the inside. This happens - espicially on the housing lense cover. Your pics will all be cloudy!

All this said - Have a great time and remember, fish pics will be interesting probably only to you. Get underwater pics with your family in them. they make much more interesting pics.

link to pics : http://home.comcast.net/~lkniess/underwater/

enjoy!
Larryk