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Scuba Forum / Scuba Equipment / February 2004Newbie Camera Q
I am looking at getting a "universal" housing for a el-cheapo digital point-and-shoot I picked up for $30 at a pawn shop. But first I have a question - what effect does the "lensing" effect of water have on the focal length of the camera. One of the nice features of this camera (besides it's price) is it's focal range - without a specialized macro mode (or for that matter a zoom lens) it can focus down to slightly less than 1m. I'm wondering what effect the "lensing" of the water will have on this range. Bryan >I am looking at getting a "universal" housing for a el-cheapo digital >point-and-shoot I picked up for $30 at a pawn shop. ... What "universal" housing do you have in mind? (I don't know of any.)  SignatureCharlie Hammond -- Hewlett-Packard Company -- Ft Lauderdale FL USA (hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com -- remove "@not" when replying) All opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily my employer's. >What "universal" housing do you have in mind? >(I don't know of any.) Came up last week on rec.scuba - fits my price range (total comes to ~$100CND) and is a damn sight better then the piece of crap I have now: http://www.fuertecases.com/CameraShield.html Fits most "point and shoot" type cameras, although you only have access to the shutter button. Even so, they've received good reviews and the pics I've seen look good. Not professional quality, but definitely better then what I get now. I forget the exact model of camera I bought, but it's a 2MP canon something or other. Fixed focal length, and small enough to fit this package. With my 256meg memory card I figure I can get ~600 full resolution pics per dive, assuming the battery (and my air) hold out... Of course there is no external trobe, no ability to change settings in-water, but for the budget diver (me) it's a real steal. Bryan >>What "universal" housing do you have in mind? >>(I don't know of any.) [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >http://www.fuertecases.com/CameraShield.html Ah, yes. The glorified ziploc bag system. The better ones are a good splash gaurd for cameras used in wet or potentially wet conditions. e.g. white water rafting. This is NOT one of the better ones; the better ones have an bit of hard lense over the camera lense so that they can take an undistorted picture. But none of them work for diving because once you get a couple feet deep, water pressure colapsed the baggie and you cannot work the camera's controls. They also do not protect the camera from pressure, which can damage or completely crush the camera. SignatureCharlie Hammond -- Hewlett-Packard Company -- Ft Lauderdale FL USA (hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com -- remove "@not" when replying) All opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily my employer's. > >>What "universal" housing do you have in mind? > >>(I don't know of any.) [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > camera's controls. They also do not protect the camera from pressure, > which can damage or completely crush the camera. It's garuanteed waterproof for diving to 100 feet, just like my Canon housing. This thing looks like it's made of lexan or some polycarbonate and looks to have a fairly beefy sealing system. I can't imagine why you'd think it would crush a camera or anything like that. The front appears flat, and you may get some distortion in the picture from the optical quality of the plastic, but it should be good enough for snapshots. >It's garuanteed waterproof for diving to 100 feet, just like my Canon >housing. This thing looks like it's made of lexan or some polycarbonate and >looks to have a fairly beefy sealing system. I can't imagine why you'd >think it would crush a camera or anything like that. The front appears >flat, and you may get some distortion in the picture from the optical >quality of the plastic, but it should be good enough for snapshots. If I correctly interprted the picture on the web site, this is NOT a rigid case. It is a flexible material -- like a "high quality" zip loc baggie. Since it would flex, it would compress the air inside the bag, and compress the camera also. Camera controls do NOT work with the bag pressing against them. Camera bodies are not designed to withstand pressure; they can break/crush. Underwater housings are usually made of ridgid plastic or metal to resist this pressure and protect the camera. Did I miss-interpret the web site? I didn't keep the URL; send it to me and I'll look again. SignatureCharlie Hammond -- Hewlett-Packard Company -- Ft Lauderdale FL USA (hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com -- remove "@not" when replying) All opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily my employer's. According to the site the case is made of polycarbonate and is a rigid product, not a zip lock. It looks interesting for snapshot type pictures. I don't think that it will be very good for higher quality shots. Brian >According to the site the case is made of polycarbonate and is a rigid >product, not a zip lock. O.K., I looked again and I stand corrected. It obviously is rigid --- or perhaps semi-rigied is a better term -- they show you how to set it up to anticpte the amount that the case will be deformed under pressure. >It looks interesting for snapshot type pictures. I don't think that it will >be very good for higher quality shots. For that price you can be sure you will not get "higer quality shots". I suppose the snapshot quality will be similar to any cheap camera. In spite of the web site claims, I still wonder how well it will work as the case deforms under pressure. Whatever. For the price, you aren't out much if it fails. If you give it a try, let us know how it works for you. SignatureCharlie Hammond -- Hewlett-Packard Company -- Ft Lauderdale FL USA (hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com -- remove "@not" when replying) All opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily my employer's. You can look at some samples now if you want - the person who originally brought this case to my attention has a webpage of photo's he took with the case and a low end digital camera. His pics are pretty good, especially compared to what I get now (I'm currently stuck with a "snap sites" semi-disposable). Of course I would love a better system, but it's hard to beet the $100CND price, especially on grad school wages... Any way's, here's his page: http://spectregunner.freeservers.com/ Bryan > but it's hard to beet the $100CND price, Yep, grad school is really paying off. I have a $100 vegetable! That should have read "beat". Bryan If I could spell I'd be using paper instead of a computer with "spell check"! Al > > but it's hard to beet the $100CND price, > > Yep, grad school is really paying off. I have a $100 vegetable! That > should have read "beat". > > Bryan |
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