Advice on underwater digital cameras

[JamesW]

I bought the Fuji F50fd at the dive show I haven't used it underwater yet but have used it as a normal camera and it works well.
Best of luck with your choice.

Originally Posted by toptribefan

There is a Fuji F50fd on there at the moment for £155.95 new and the case for that should be no more than £130 (see here)

Thats an extra 4MP for a grand total of £50 more - seems like a good deal to me!

[Roz]

If you want some sensible advice, (with no hard sell) go and talk to Duxy at Cameras Underwater inside Ocean Leisure, Embankment, London. www.camerasunderwater.co.uk He will take into consideration the kind of diving you do, and what you are looking to achieve photographically, and will give you straight forward information.

[tom00_uk]

thanks for the advice,

im a aquatic biology MSc student at the moment, so spend a good deal of my time on near or under the water. This on top of enjoying kayaking and having a camera on me at al times to take those images you stumble upon. Knowing that you not going to break the gear in your bag whilst its not in use.

[ChristianG]

Originally Posted by toptribefan

Thats an extra 4MP for a grand total of £50 more - seems like a good deal to me!

For heaven's sake don't fall for the "more MP is better than less MP" syndrome, it isn't!

All Point & Shoot cameras are restricted by the size of their sensors, which universally are either 1-2.5 or 1-1.8 inch (25.4-63.5 or 25.4-45.7 mm). That's ignoring the Sigma DP1 which is still vapourware anyway.

More MP simply means more noise but it's a fact that most people seem to think that more MP means "more betterer". Not so. Absolutely not so.

In the case of a Point & Shoot less MP is significantly better than more MP.

That's why, in the case of Fuji, I would always take the 31 rather than the 40 or 50. That way you'll spend a lot less time in Photoshop getting rid of all the cr@p (noise).

[ChristianG]

Originally Posted by tom00_uk

has any one used any of the OLYMPUS SW STYLUS range?

do they rate?

i like the hard case idea, as i also ski and kayak and want to take shots in these situations as well as diving

Olympus make some great P&S cameras and their lenses are not half bad either - given that segment of the market.

For Ski and Kayak you could also look at Ewa-Marine (grief, I'm actually recommending them?) as a low cost solution. Do not consider any of their solutions for Scuba.

You may also wish to visit this site for a pretty good idea of what is available for what.