My head is spinning. 

I’m looking for a point and shoot camera and housing for casual underwater photography.  I am a warm water intermediate diver and enjoy taking pictures to remember my dives vacations and share with friends and family.

I want a camera with wide angle capability to delay or eliminate the need to buy a wide angle lens for my housing.  I also would like reasonable telephoto capability for topside vacation/landscape pictures.  So I want a camera that will do it all and still in the point and shoot family to keep down size, weight, and cost.

By choosing a smaller point and shoot such as the Canon SD870 or Nikon S600 or Panasonic FX35 (others?), I will meet my wide angle requirement but am very limited on telephoto so would feel the need to take my older Nikon Coolpix 8700 (no housing available) for better distance capability.

I got excited by the extended zoom class of cameras, but most don’t have housings.  I’ve only found the Olympus SP560 UZ with wide angle capability and an available housing (Olympus only).  I was on the verge of buying this camera (getting hard to find. I would wait for the new SP565 UZ but it will most likely not have a housing – no underwater mode), but read in dpreview that it takes 9 button pushes to change white balance on the 560.  I am truly an idiot user so I don’t really know why I should change white balance but I know it’s important for underwater photography so someday I’ll grow and want to use that feature.  Are white balance challenges a deal breaker for the Olympus 560?

Any comments on the cameras listed above or any other suggestions??  Am I expecting too much in one package?  I’m going to Dominica in 2 WEEKS and was hoping to leave my lousy SeaLife behind.  Please HELP!

Tonya

Hi,

My aunt had the same problem, but went for the Panasonic TZ series (10x optical zoom) + 28mm Wide built-in and came back from Lembeh Street with very nice (underwater) pictures.
I think you’ll have a complete setup for < 450 euros.

Cheers,
Jaap

Thanks for your suggestion. 

I looked at the Panasonic TZ5.  The zoom was good at 28mm-280mm.  But the aperature was 3.3-4.9.  I was thinking I’d be better off with aperature of 2.8 for more light.  Is that an issue or am I just confused?  Obviously, I should use a strobe, but in case I don’t for now, will a lower aperature be better?

Hi

What you say is all correct in theory:  f/2.8 will let in more light than f/3.3, however, the difference is approximately one stop (there is a formula to work it out exactly, but I don’t have it at my fingertips).  I don’t think you will find that one stop difference to have a major impact underwater.

I think you will have some difficulty getting absolutely everything you are looking for in one package.  The extreme zoom point and shoots cater for the telephoto end quite well, but as you have discovered, there aren’t very many of them around with housings.

You may need to compromise a little on some of your requirements if you want one camera to do it all, or you may need to look at two cameras, one for u/w use, and one for topside.

As the film said, why have one ludicrously expensive item, when you can have two at twice the price?

As the film said, why have one ludicrously expensive item, when you can have two at twice the price?

LOVE the way you think, although your comment did get a groan from my husband

I really appreciate your suggestions. After deciding the Panasonic TZ5 would be a decent choice for now and a good little tote along camera anytime, I found the housing is backordered until mid-Oct. Not one to be found in North America, so it would seem!

I think I’ll just “suffer” through my upcoming dive trip with my substandard SeaLife and topside Nikon p&s;. By the time I get back, the G10 and Nikon p6000 should be out, plus the TZ5 housing should be available.  Not to “chase technology” but the new ones are soooo close. So, I’ve decided to wait until I return so I can agonize a little longer AND have time to be better prepared for the next trip!

Many Thanks!
Tonya