Kathy, the quality of a good camera far exceeds the picture quality of a disposable. Besides, disposable have fixed settings.

It may not matter to the average person on vacation , but to anyone that takes photography seriously...it does make difference

Like I said I have an award winning Canon AE 1 and Hawaii's colors came out more brilliantly on the disposable underwater.

Sarah, I'm confused.

The AE-1 isn't meant for underwater....but you are comparing it to a disposable underwater camera.

Are you saying that the underwater disposable is taking better pics (out of the water) than your AE-1?

If that is the case, you might be having a problem with your AE-1.

No I keep regular maintenance on the AE 1. I was talking about the 800-speed film, it is brilliant for taking sunsets. Also on bright day shots taken in but not under the water with the green Mountains in the distance the greens were not washed out. This was a problem with the 400-speed film from the AE 1 and I had them developed at several different professional color labs in NYC. I just did not want to be bothered with a heavy camera outside of hiking. I found out by accident that it took wonderful pictures in all types of light. I like to have both save the good camera for road trips and hikes.

I am sure the AE 1 would have taken the same with 800 speed film and I do have some great photos captured with 400 speed film ( but also some faded or too dark). I just don't see the need to carry it to the beach if I can buy a disposable that will produce equally beautiful pictures. Reluctant to tell you to keep the good camera at home for the entire trip as I only saw this with one roll of film.

I thought the 800 would not perform in bright light, they are supposed to be grainer. I did not see this.

Of all the things I packed for our recent trip to Kauai and Maui the most useless was the special waterproof pouch I purchased for the trip. We never needed it once.

PS I did not take any pictures underwater and that is the beauty of of my discovery!!! These cameras work great everywhere outside.

I would buy them in Hawaii in Wal-Mart or K-mart I would think they would move too slowly in mainland stores and you might get older cameras.

Sarah, thnaks for the explanation.

I've had pretty good luck uisng a polarizer at the beach and using filters to enhance sunsets.

I hadn't thought of using 800 speed in bright light, but wil try it. By increasing the speed, you increase the shutter speed so that contributes to a clearer pic.

Thanks Dick what does the polarizer do?

Sarah,

In my opinion, if you get only one filter..it should be a polarizer.

The polarizer can reduce glare and incres color intensity in bright light situations.

Check out this site for a more complete explanation.
http://photographytips.com/page.cfm/34

Please listen. I learned the hard way. On Cocoa Beach in Florida I turned around for literally 1 second, and my bag with everything was gone. I'm embarassed to say just how much cash I had on me and all my credit cards etc. They even stole our clothes!
One of the local police drove us back to the hotel. My son (8 at the time ) liked the police car.
The worst part though, was that there were prescription medincines in the bag and we're Canadian. So it was a bit of a nightmare!

I don't know if it just me but I cannot fathom why any sensible person would even ask this sort of question. I mean, it just makes plain sense (to me at least) that any items of value that you take with you to the beach would stay on your person at all times and if that is not possible, they would be left in your hotel room (in the safe if necessary) or in your rental car locked up (if you have one). Why someone would think about leaving an expensive camera in the sand while in the water is beyond me...anything can happen - even if you asked someone to watch them for you. The idea of using a disposable camera at places such as the beach is a good one - the bottom line is they do take very good pictures. That said, I have left small items such as my watch wrapped up in clothing on the sand or in a beach chair at beaches on islands such as the British Virgin Islands and other Caribbean islands without incident. I guess some of it ultimately depends on where you are. But on crowded beaches in Hawaii I would think twice about doing something like that.

Nicole,
Though I don't live in one, I'm sure there are still places in this country where people don't lock their cars or homes. It's sad that we would think of those people as not sensible.

I don't think that anybody is calling people unsensible who live in safe areas and leave their doors unlocked at night - those people know their surroundings and know which precautions are necesary and which aren't. I would guess that in those areas where people don't lock their doors, they know everyone around and strangers are rare.

On the beach in Hawaii there are thousands of strangers. It seems obvious to me that leaving your stuff unattended amoung strangers is a bad idea. I would think it would be obvious to others as well.

Saddened, I am not sure I understand your point. I am sure that there are places, though not alot, in the US and elsewhere, where you can leave your house/car unlocked and rest reasonably sure that all will be well. But my comment was speaking specifically of the beaches in Hawaii and elsewhere! That I think it is somewhat foolhardy to leave your valuables in the sand on a crowded (or even uncrowded) beach (ie, a public place in open view) in Hawaii and hope to come back and find them there. My point was that it would be safer to leave an expensive camera in your hotel room or in a locked car and use a disposable camera instead. That's it!

It is NOT at all a good idea to leave valuables in a locked car parked at a beach, trailhead, etc in Hawai'i. Car break-ins are frequent.

Wow. I grew up in Southern California and always left my stuff on the beach when I went for a walk or dip in the water. When I moved to Miami, I did the same. On vacation in Hawaii, I didn't think twice about leaving my nice camera behind - along with my wallet, car keys, etc - while i went snorkelling.

Have I just been lucky my whole life?

Hey Traveller, let me know when and where you will be on the beach next. I'm in the market for a new camera. I could also use a little extra cash - do you carry cash or traveller's checks?