Underwater Photography tested dozens of point-and-shoot cameras, ranging from affordable to more advanced ones, and reported their finding in the latest issue of the online magazine.
Buttressed with housing sets and strobe combos, they took the camera underwater, among the corals and teeming fish, and examined each of them in terms of ease of use, image quality and affordability.
Olympus FE360 Package... Source: Underwater Photography
Among the finalists are the Olympus FE-360, Canon SD-940, Sea & Sea 1200HD, Canon G11, Sea & Sea DX-2G, Canon S90.
Ironically, none of these compacts are element proof cameras and they had to be encased in housing sets before they could dive under.
The Sea & Sea DX-2G, by the way, looks very, very similar to the Ricoh GX200, a 2008 camera which is about the same size as Ricoh’s highly-acclaimed compact, the Ricoh GR Digital III.
Meaning, of course, there is a possibility that you can use the same combo on a GR Digital III.
So, if you already have the GR III, or other cameras mentioned in the report, you only need to buy the casing and the strobe system and you are down and diving in no time.
Does that mean that element proof compact cameras are not quite up there when shooting down under? One thing is for sure though, cameras that are good above water are equally as good under it.
Download the latest (May/June 2010) issue of Underwater Photography magazine here [in PDF]. The article should also serve as a good guide on how to set an underwater photography system without breaking your bank.
