First came the camera. Then there was the underwater
camera. After that came the digital camera - and now
we have underwater digital cameras. Underwater digital cameras
are ideal for capturing the beauty of the undersea world (or
the bottom of your swimming pool if you have that special
artistic eye!). They are used by both scientists and scuba
divers. Digital cameras come in many well-known brands
including Kodak, Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Olympus. Surprisingly
enough, the cheapest brands cost less than $200, although
prices rise quite steeply for the highest quality cameras.
Some of the advantages of underwater digital cameras
include:
- You can plug them into a TV.
- They are smaller and lighter than film cameras
- Bad shots can be easily deleted
- They can change resolution, which is useful for
wide-angle photography in low lighting conditions
underwater
- They produce better high-resolution shots
- They never run out of film (because they don't use
film!)
- They have better depth of field (up to 4 times that of
film cameras)
- They feature strobe shutter speeds as fast as 1/800th
of a second, much faster than even the best film
cameras
- Applications include sea mode, land mode, and external
flash mode
Here are some examples of the best underwater digital
cameras:
1. The Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z1000
It has a 2. 8 inch LCD screen and 10 megapixels. Housing
is required. Up to 3,2000 ISO. 3x optical zoom lens, and it
even includes an anti-shake feature.
2. The Pentax Optio
It has a 2.5 inch LCD screen and 7 megapixels. It
requires no additional housing. Usable for up to half an
hour in depths of up to 5 feet. It can even be used for
shooting underwater videos. Up to 1,600 ISO.
3. Fuji Film FinePix A400
Complete with waterproof housing, 4.2 megapixels. What's
more, it's CHEAP - under $200 at the time of this
writing).
4. SeaLife DC500
Includes both Land and sea flash modes. 5 megapixels, 3x
optical zoom. Features an anti-shake function that
compensates for movement by either the photographer or the
subject.
The foregoing is only a small smaple of the total range
of brands, cameras, and features available for
photographers of almost any budget and any level of
sophistication.