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Scuba Diving Reviews
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| Underwater Camera Housing Reviews |
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Underwater photographer Karin Brussaard
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Last updated : December 7th 2008
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| Olympus PT-E05 |
BS Kinetics Gibson |
Subal ND30 |
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Destination Austria, Attersee
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Destination Norway, Spitsbergen
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Destination Cocos Island, Indian Ocean
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| Olympus PT-E05 Housing review |
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Sony Alpha A350 Housing review |
Nikon D300 Housing review |
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At the end of September I find myself heading for Austria to go scuba diving in mountain lakes. Naturally, there's a digital camera packed in my suitcase to take some nice underwater pictures. I decided to take along the Olympus E-520 digital SLR camera including the Olyumpus PT-E05 underwater housing. For two weeks, I stayed nearby the Attersee in Austria... (To be posted soon!).
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The Live View of the Sony Alpha 350 is the fastest I have ever seen on a digital reflex camera, and can certainly be used underwater. I do regret the monitor not offering a 100% view. The dual anti-dust system is well thought-through because the shake mechanism is activated after every change of lens. And that is exactly when the highest risk of getting dust occurs. The Sony Alpha DSLR underwater housing from BS Kinetics is extremely pleasant to hold and operate, also with large dry-gloves. Regrettably, the Gibson underwater housing does not offer an on/off button. |
Although it is easier to make the journey today than it was 20 years ago, it still costs me four days to reach Cocos. The journey takes me from Amsterdam to Atlanta, then to San José, capital of Costa Rica. I spend the night in San José to prevent delays with the plane and problems with the luggage. The next morning, I travel to the harbour city of Puntaneras by car and board the Sea Hunter. Only a 36-hour boat trip stands in between me and my dream island of Cocos. The combination of the Nikon D300 DSLR camera and the Subal ND30 underwater housing is a dream pair. The Nikon D300 SLR camera is super fast, has many setting possibilities and the 3D auto focus is superb. The Subal housing is of extremely high quality, neatly finished with a good hand-fit. |
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| Hugyfot HCF-40D |
Nexus E3 |
Sea & Sea 860G |
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Destination Panama, Coiba, Pacific Coast
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Destination Egypt, Senai desert, Red Sea
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Destination Netherlands, North Sea
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| Canon EOS 40D Housing review |
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Olympus E-3 Housing review |
Sea&Sea 860G Underwater camera |
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| The Canon 40D is my companion on this trip to Coiba. It is the successor to the 30D. A striking feature of the Canon EOS 40D compared with its predecessor is the introduction of Live View. Also almost inevitable is the increase of pixel amount on a new camera. This is also the case with the Canon 40D. The underwater housing that will take the Canon EOS 40D underwater is the Hugyfot HFC 40D. Characteristics of the Hugyfot housings are their round curves. This goes for the HFC 40D as well, it has a nice round shape and the housing looks more than sophisticated. Besides that the housing is astonishingly small. It fits the camera like a glove. |
The Olympus E3 is the new flagship based on the Four Thirds standard E-System. The E3 is an extremely advanced camera that can be used for every assignment and fully complies with the strict requirements of DSLR photography. I was given the opportunity to try out this digital camera underwater. For the underwater housing of the E-3 Olympus have sought to cooperate with Nexus. Nexus has a lot of experience developing underwater housings. And you can tell by the Olympus E3. The underwater housing looks neat and well thought-out. The Nexus E3 housing is suitable for a depth up to 70 meters. |
The Sea & Sea 860G is a compact and light weighted 6.2 Megapixel digital camera with a 2.5-inch LCD monitor. It is a piece of cake to operate the Sea&Sea 860G digital camera and it strikes me that the photos are of extremely good quality despite of the limited setting possibilities. The Sea & Sea DX860G underwater housing has been made of polycarbonate and is waterproof up to a depth of 45 meters. The housing is equipped with a mount for a wide angle lens that offers an angle of view similar to a 20mm lens and a close-up lens that enables focusing as close as 5cm from the camera and at the same time enlarges the object. |
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| Sony Marine Pack |
Panasonic DMW-MCTZ3 |
Sea & Sea DX-D80 |
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Destination Egypt, Dahab, Red Sea
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Destination Netherlands, Oosterschelde
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Destination Bahamas, West Palm Beach
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| Sony Cybershot W200 Housing test |
Panasonic Lumix TZ3 Housing test |
Nikon D80 Housing review |
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| The Sony CyberShot W200 is a compact camera that is a joy to use. Thanks to its small size you can easily carry it with you in the pocket of your trousers or jacket. This is particularly nice when travelling. The performance is excellent and pictures can be taken in HD1080 quality. Also the incorporated image stabilizer works very well. The Sony MPK-WB Marine Pack lets you operate every function underwater. The housing is well-secured against opening it accidentally and the large wrist strap is pleasant to work with. I did however encounter some problems with the flash. The Sony Marine Pack underwater housing can be used to a depth of 40 meters. |
The Panasonic Lumix TZ3 offers 10x optical zoom and a 28mm wide angle. Often cameras with large zoom ranges, such as the one on the Lumix TZ3, are also of a large size but Panasonic succeeded in keeping the camera quite small. This makes the Panasonic TZ3 Traveler Zoom camera perfect for underwater shooting. The Panasonic DMW-MCTZ3 underwater housing has been made of polycarbonate and is waterproof until a depth of 40 meters. Nearly all the functions can be operated underwater. The camera slides into the underwater housing with ease and opening the housing is also effortless. The same underwater case can be used for the Panasonic TZ2. |
The 10.2 megapixel Nikon D80 has a lot of the same technology as the D200, as well as the professional D2X. The autofocus is extremely fast, it only needs 0.18 seconds to start up and the shutter release is about 80 milliseconds. These are characteristics that I really appreciate when shooting underwater. The underwater housing is comfortable to handle. An ergonomic hand grip ensures that even small hands can operate the camera easily. The shutter release button on the housing is large. The button can be pressed halfway to focus and then pressed all the way to shoot. You can even hear it click underwater. I really like this typical SLR feeling, it is a pleasure to photograph with. |
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