Waterproof Cameras Plus

Should I consider an underwater camera bag?

With waterproof cameras being a craze nowadays what do you do if you cannot afford dedicated underwater camera or water-resistant camera to take to the beach?

Well one solution is an underwater camera bag. These waterproof bags have sealing zips so you can be sure your camera is going to stay dry.

There are many types on the market – everything from those designed to just keep the rain off to more substantial offerings that are good down to 15ft below water. Some are designed to fit a specific camera while others are generic. Either way, it’s an affordable solution when you want to take your camera to those wet places such as the beach or on that hike, or other outdoor activity but don’t want to risk ruining your camera.

Is it the best solution for a serious diver – no, not really. There are so many good and affordable underwater cameras available today even for a recreational diver. Just check out the store at www.underwatercameragear.com.

However, these small underwater camera bags, which look similar to a pouch bag can allow the casual user the freedom to take their camera almost anywhere and capture that ‘never-to-be repeated’ moment.

An Underwater Camera Bag can be the answer

If you’re a mountaineer or a scuba diver, or simply just a photographer who loves to carry around his/her camera to take pictures of their adventures and the memorable places you’ve been to, an underwater camera bags is certainly an option to consider.

… but when you’re ready for a real underwater camera – let us know!

We have unfortunately run into a snag with the Sony T90; we can’t get any waterproof housings for this credit card size power-house of a camera.

However, we do have the Sony W290 camera! Yay!!
Like the Sony T90 kit this comes with a waterproof housing good down to 130ft.
There are 2 kits – one with an underwater strobe, the other with an LED video light. You may wonder why we offer it with a video light – well the W290 is capable of recording 720P video. OK it may not be as versatile as an underwater camcorder (we sell those too) but if your predominantly shooting stills but want to capture the occasional video then this is a great choice.
Check it out (with our special pricing) at http://bit.ly/9qskFU

I went out looking for a waterproof digital camera the other day, and I wasn’t disappointed with what I found.  The Sony T90 is an underwater digital camera straight out of my dreams – it’s powerful, it can go anywhere I can, and it has all the features I’ll need to grab the best shots I can imagine.  I’m not a professional photographer, but the T90 lets me pretend I am.

My biggest requirement for an underwater still camera was that it has to be easy to use.  Obviously, I’ve got enough on my plate just carrying it down there while I’m in scuba gear.  At a moment like that, I don’t want to have to be wrestling with my camera and trying to remember how to perform all kinds of complicated functions.  I just want to get my Jacques Cousteau on – the best pics I can find out there, snapped up for posterity (starting with my Facebook page).  And the T90 is absolutely perfect for that – just point and shoot, couldn’t be easier.

But for an underwater digital camera, I need more than just ease of use.  It has to be powerful.  This is why I was shopping for a waterproof digital stills camera, instead of just one of those “one off” film varieties you can buy at a drug store.  I’m a child of the 21st century, after all – I want to take a pic and see it RIGHT NOW.  If I didn’t get a great shot (or if I accidentally got my thumb in it), I can just take another one.

The T90 is perfect for making sure my shots are as close to pro quality as humanly possible.  It’s got a 12 megapixels image sensor – that means it can turn what I see with it into twelve million pixels – I could make posters out of less resolution than that.  And keep in mind that it’s still an underwater digital camera, so I can get awesome shots even when I go scuba diving.

And I don’t know about you, but I was a little worried at first that the T90 wouldn’t be able to go too deep.  After all, a lot of waterproof digital cameras are only good down to about 10 meters (if even that).  But with the T90, I’m good down to 40 meters!  I don’t even dive that far most of the time, but I’m going to challenge myself now.  With the included underwater light, who knows what kinds of pics I can bring back with me?

Simply put, if you’re looking for a waterproof digital stills camera, the Sony T90 Waterproof Camera is your best bet.

Popular Photography magazine

If you haven’t seen this July 2010 Popular Photography then try to grab a copy. The HOW-TO this month is an Underwater Photography Special.

3 articles by leading underwater photography pros…..

If nothing else it will make you want to get into the water with a camera!

In part 1 of what to consider when selecting your diving camera we looked at the options of  Video or  Still. In this post we consider:

What is Your Level of Experience?

Unless you are a professional diver, you must consider how having an underwater camera will affect both your diving experience and the diving experience of others. If you are a recreational diver who is perhaps diving for the first time on vacation, or even someone who has done underwater diving a few times but is not a professional, it is important that you have an underwater camera that is easy to use. If you purchase an underwater digital camera that is complicated to use it will impede your enjoyment of the underwater environment. Trying to get just the right lighting and focus for shooting a video with your underwater camcorder will not only prevent you from focusing on your adventure, but might be stopping those around you from seeing the wildlife in the area.  Having to focus on difficult technology can even create a dangerous situation underwater.

In order to prevent these problems, consider certain features of underwater digital cameras and underwater video cameras that make them simpler to use.  Choosing a camera with a large display screen and an easy to navigate menu and flash option will help you to take video and photos with ease. The equipment that is used by underwater divers can inhibit your range of vision and mobility. Be sure that the camera you purchase is not one that will cause you to lose concentration due to overly technical or too small parts and displays.

There are so many great underwater cameras out there today! Advances in technology has meant that some of the simplest cameras to use, are capable of producing incredible results, so it’s never been easier to get an affordable underwater camera to record those great dives.

There are many wonderful things under the ocean that seem to beg for documentation on camera. If you are an avid diver or snorkeler, or are just going on a one time excursion during a vacation you will surely want to remember the exotic plants and animals that you were swimming with. Two considerations about which underwater digital camera to choose is what you will be using it for – stills or video – and what your level of experience in underwater diving actually is.

Video or Still?

Waterproof cameras come both as still-shot cameras and as video cameras, or as combinations of the two. If it is your primary mission to buy a waterproof camera for still shots, then a camera that is optimized as an underwater video camera is not the best option for you. The Sony T90 digital still camera could be your best choice for an underwater camera, as its primary use is for still photos, but it is still able to take video if you want to. You will have a choice of the type of media you take, but the underwater camera will be best used for still photos.

If video is what you intend to shoot, then buying an underwater video camera rather than one that is primarily for still photos is in your best interest. An underwater camcorder will usually have the capacity for still photos as well, but the camera’s ability to take quality video will far exceed that of any other underwater camera that is primarily used for still photos. The Bonica video camera and the JVC video camcorder are two types of an underwater video camera that can give you the results you want for video of your underwater adventures.

Many underwater digital cameras and underwater video cameras use flash memory cards to record images and video. While these have been found to be incredibly reliable and robust occasionally the unimaginable happens – the data becomes corrupted, or you ‘accidentally’ reformat the card before you downloaded the images.

Well don’t panic (yet!) help is at hand. It’s possible that the card came with some software on it for just these occasions or there are some great programs available for purchase.

The Free Stuff
Most Kingston memory cards come a bonus download for data recovery software from MediaRECOVER so you can recover lost or deleted files and restore corrupt files on Windows or Mac systems.

Lexar cards come with Image Rescue 3 software, or at least its available for free download with purchase of a card. This is the one I use personally.

Then there are the paid versions. Lexar has a version of its rescue program for sale  Lexar Image Rescue 4 which for less than $35 can be a life saver.

There are other program out there too, some are shareware. But when you find one that works well for you hold on to it. You never know when you’ll need it.

The great thing about these programs is that thay can often recover imnages and video even if the card has been accidently re-formated. That said the worst time to have have to test your recovery system is when it’s a real emergency. Instead, after you have safely downloaded all your images off your camera and backed them up try re-formating the card in your camera and THEN try recovering the images. You will know what to do when the emergency really arises.

Welcome to the world of underwater photography and videography.
It’s a strange world sometimes and none can be stranger or more exhilarating than the world found below the water’s surface.

With diving having become so affordable more and more people have started scuba diving and snorkeling. With that has come the desire to capture those dives and that’s where we come in. At UnderwaterCameraGear.com we specialize in in just that – finding the right camera and gear for divers so they can record, remember, re-live their dives and share those dives with friends and and family.

Our goal with this blog is to bring you information about new gear, and give you tips and tricks so you can get the best out of your diving and camera gear.

It’s going to be fun so stop walking around the house in those fins and that diving mask for a minute and consider becoming a fan on our Facebook Fan Page, or bookmark this blog or subscribe to the RSS feed or sign up to receive SMS/Text messages so you can be amongst the first to learn of updates!