Hi All,
I'm after a digital camera for underground and underwater. I have read some previous threads here and there whilst trying to make up my mind which camara to buy. Things change pretty quick in the camara field some thought I'd ask again to get some lastest info.

I read that a Nikon Coolpix 8400 could be a good choice, think this is an old model now, dunno if a newer better version is now available. Is there anything else that could suit my needs? I'd like to get an underwater housing when finances allow.. But the case for this camera is pretty steep.

Got some info off this thread
http://www.c**tplaces.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4308

U/W housing are available here. £500 for the 8400
There are cheaper housings for other Nikon camaras here, but I don't know if any are suitable for U/G work, any advice please.
http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/d_stills/nikon/index.html

Cheers
John

Depends on how much control you want in taking pictures, I mainly use a Nikon D70 underground where it is dry. But otherwise I get reasonable results from my Olympus MJU720SW compact. This camera has no manual controls but is shockproof and waterproof with no additional housings required and will take pictures underwater. Plus if you mount it on a small tripod and set it to night mode and self timer the shutter will stay open for 4 seconds which is enough time to fire flashguns manually. Otherwise I just use a Firefly3 and handhold the camera.

Hi John,

I use a Casio P700 for underground shots. It is a compact camera but can be fully manual, including focus exposure (up to 60s) and apature. It also can take extra lenses such as wide and tele and has a sync flash plug for an external flash gun. It is pretty hard to get hold of in the this country but occationally one pops up on eBay. There's one on there now for £100! Also the P600 does pretty much the same but is 6.3MP instead of 7.2MP.

It doesn't have it's own specialised waterproof housing but i've seen housings available that will fit it. Never tried one though. 

Overall it's a great compact camera for caving use and Casio do a great manufacturers warrenty. I've sent it back about 3 times after filling it full with mud, they just fix and replace most of it then send it back for free! 

Cheers for the info Rob, I'll give it a go, found some pretty nasty plastic bag sort of housings for it. There not suitable for what I need but they maybe others out there. If not I can just use it underground as is, hopefully avoiding the water, and maybe take advantage of there warranty at some time..

Overall it's a great compact camera for caving use and Casio do a great manufacturers warrenty. I've sent it back about 3 times after filling it full with mud, they just fix and replace most of it then send it back for free!  

Click to expand...

They repaired it for free? You must be lucky if thats the case, I would have thought most manafcturers would charge the earth for repairs that are clearly not defects and what they would no doubt describe as harsh environments that the camera was not designed to work in!!

Didn't win the camera on ebay. Probably gonna get the Nikon 8400 but can't find anywhere to get on as its a old model  . Could step up to a D70 or D80, but the housings for them are mega bucks.

I've got a Mendip session this weekend and one of the lads has got an Olympus of some kind, in a housing too. I'll have a chat with him to, might change my mind altogether :-\

Afternoon,

John, The camera I use is an Olympus C-5060wz, with the Olympus PT-027 waterproof case.

I made do without the case for a few years, but the rigmarole of dealing with a ‘dry’ camera in wet caves broke me and I decided to get the case before they stopped making them.

I chose the camera because I wanted a unit that had a wide and bright lens, full manual control, remote firing and the option of getting a waterproof case. The camera was also regarded as a toughie, mine has been swimming (naked in fresh water) once and lived.

The wide and bright lens gives you more scope for varying situations and light levels, manual control is essential for ‘book’ quality shots and the remote firing option enables you to use fewer people behind the camera, as well as enabling the shutter to be locked open without the worry of camera wobble.

Add to the camera and case a few slave units (Dave Gibson) some flashguns (Sunpak 383) and Aquapac bags for water proofing and my whole setup came in under £500.

For a tripod I use a homemade beanbag with a thread on it. It is not as good as a tripod but it’s much smaller, is a hell of a lot easier to carry and it keeps the camera upright.


It sounds like you had a good trip last weekend.

Guy (The lad with the Olympus of some kind).

Hi Guy,
Cheers for the info, hope you had a good trip in Swildons on saturday too, we went to sump 2 again then turned. Got on ebay and bought the same camara as you and a pt 020 case for £275, seemed like a reasonable price and a cheaper than all the other stuff I've looked at.

Hopefully I'll get them shortly and in good order.. Just got home and a bit knackered, catch up with you soon.
John

Got my camera and still working out how to use it.. Need to get a flash gun, Guy recommended Sunpak 383's, can't find much on them. Heard these could be good.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Metz-45-CT3-Professional-flashgun-with-2-battery-packs_W0QQitemZ320061645127QQihZ011QQcategoryZ15221QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Mighty meatie, but pretty bulky. And I need something to fire it. Saw these on another thread somewhere, are they upto the job? Or do I need to spend some more cash? Whats the best for reasonable money?

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_1&products_id=7850

Any advice you could could give me would be great thanks.
John

Hey John,

Did you get a manual with the camera and the software ?  :read:

My main consideration when selecting a flash was finding something that was of a manageable size, was robust and could be waterproofed easily.

I then looked at power (light  8) ) outputs of the units that met the above criteria and I settled on the 383’s.

For slave units to trigger the flashguns I use David Gibson's SLV kits, and I cant recommend them highly enough. These are available in various forms ranging from component kits through to commercial units (Firefly).

My 383’s and the slave units are then sealed in an aquapac bag for use underground or underwater. ( http://www.box-cube.com/image/slaveunit.jpg )

In the long run though the aquapacs are not really up to the job as I have had a few holes.
For diving you are probably better off looking for flash units that are either built specifically for the purpose (strobes) or at flashguns that have waterproof diving cases designed for them. For dry/damp cave flashing a slightly more technical option is to open the flash up and use a potting compound to cover and protect the internal circuits (keep away from the capacitor though) thus making the units more damp resistant.

At the end of the day, it is all a juggling act between power, size and build quality, but in my opinion that’s why snapping underground is so much of a challenge and so much fun. 

I got the manual and software, haven't installed it actually just been using photoshop elements. Got my housing too, forgotten how big there are. Going diving tomorrow in the channel, I'll take it down empty, see if it leaks.. I've got pretty good idea about what I'm meant to be doing with the thing, might be useful if we could chat about settings and stuff sometime.

I take it I can just use the standard firefly because I don't have preflash? £30 odd I think. Don't know thing there is any benefit to getting the firefly 3 though I might be wrong. Not sure about self assemble ones, hammers and welding I can do, electronics and ham fisted engineers don't mix to well. :thumbsdown:

I have used a Canon powershot (A80?) with underwater housing for ages and always been happy.  Lots of Control, and strong case.  But this is getting old, and was bulky. 
Experimenting with pentax optio w10.  Which doesnt need a case, is small and 6meg pix.  Its alwasy been cold when i have used it, so not really given it a fair go yet, but fairly cheap, small, and tough so far, with out needing lots of extras.