Decided to invest in an underwater digital camera for snorkling. After returning from USVI, the disposable waterproof camera just didn't do it for us. Anybody have any recommendations?

We want digital, not 35mm, no housing - we want a fully submerable camera, if it can be used in and out of the water that would be ideal, so I don't have to drag my non-waterproof digital to the beach and boating trips, do not want to spend a mint. Maybe less than $350. I've looked around on Google, Best Buy and Circuit City, but nothing stood out. We are not in a hurry, but would like it for our trip to St. Lucia in Novemer. Thanks

I'd look for a Minolta or a Nikon, both are known for the best lenses, durability and quality.

We actually have both and probably use the Nikon most often.

I've looked into this a little bit, as I too found that the disposable cameras don't cut it.

From what I've seen, there's isn't a digital camera that can be used underwater without a housing. Even the ones specifically designed for underwater use come with waterproof housings.

So, one option is to buy a housing for the digital camera that you already have. I have a Canon camera, and Canon makes housings for pretty much all of their digital cameras, as far as I can tell. From what I've read online, most of these work very well, but after a while, seals dry out and they can leak. So one always runs the risk of damaging one's camera. For that reason, some people recommend testing the housing in the sink, now and then, without the camera in it.

The other option is to get a digital camera that's specifically designed for underwater use. In your price range, I've seen some made by Sealife, which I found on the website of my favorite camera store: www.bhphotovideo.com. Even these have a removable waterproof housing, and they can be used without the housing outside of the water. I haven't used one of these, so I'm not sure if they offer any real advantage.

You might want to start by browsing around B&H's site, or that of Sealife (www.sealife-cameras.com).

I did review Sea Life and found a Sealife Reefmaster DC-310 3.3mp for around $500. Not in my price range. That was the only underwater digital I could find.

They had others that were 35mm for much less. We'll probably have to go that route. I definatley do not want a housing. Thanks for the info.

I have a Nikon Cool Pix 3100 which I think goes for about $200-$250, and a housing for it from Fantasea about $150. You can check out the pics I took with them above and below water here http://community.webshots.com/album/290383226qnGKBH
jofus

On the B&H website, the Sealife DC300 is $255, and the DC310 is $350. Again, I can't endorse these cameras, as I've never used one or even seen one in person.

medhead, Thanks for the web-site. I think the Sealife Reeefmaster DC 300 is what I'm looking for. I also searched Bizrate and found it for $245.

I'm not familar with memory cards. I have a Sony Mavica that uses 8cm CD disc. How many pics will a 128MB card hold? My disc are 156MB and at 3.3mp can get about 80 pics. The memory cards are quite expensive than the discs. I purchased 10 discs for $10. One memory card is about $18. Yuck!

Well, it looks like the Sealife cameras use SD memory cards. That's what my new Canon uses, too. The SD cards are tiny. There's a picture of one here:

http://tinyurl.com/dc9bb

(The card itself is the tiny thing being held between the person's left fingertips. The larger thing in the person's right hand is some card reader that SanDisk makes).

The Sealife cameras seem to have 3.3 megapixel resolution, so you could expect similar picture capacity to what you get with your CD-R, I guess. Maybe about 77 pictures on a 128 MB card. Cards are also available with much bigger and smaller capacities.

The thing is (forgive me if I'm stating the obvious) SD cards are rewritable, and I think the CD-R's that the Mavica uses are not re-writable, right? So with the SD card, you only need to buy one memory card for as long as you own the camera. Every time you fill up your card (or before it's totally full, if you want), you transfer the pictures to your computer, erase the card, and start over again. If you don't mind having a small-capacity card, you can just use the one that probably comes with the camera, and you won't have to buy one at all.