| You have several options. First, you
could purchase an Ewa Marine bag for a camera you already
have. These bags are quite secure and will accommodate most
SLR cameras, as well as most of the "point and shoot"
variety. There are Ewa models that accommodate a flash, as
well as lenses to about 210mm, and there are even bags for
video cameras. Retail prices range from about $105 for a bag
accommodating a compact point and shoot camera to around $210
to $240 for SLR cameras to as much as $359 for a deluxe bag
which will house an autofocus SLR. Video bags range in price
from $369 to $465. All models have an optical glass port and
can enable you to get decent images underwater. Bags for the
"point and shoot" still cameras and the video cameras
have operating depth limits of thirty feet. SLR bags have
sixty-foot limits, and the deluxe bags for the autofocus SLR
cameras operate to 100. It’s questionable whether these
models would meet the requirements of most scuba divers.
Ikelite Underwater Systems manufactures a housing for several
of the Kodak and Fuji "disposable" flash cameras.
The housing is rated to about 150 feet. The cameras cost about
fourteen or fifteen dollars and provide twenty-four to twenty-seven
shots. If you’re satisfied with the photos these cameras
produce on land, you’ll be equally pleased with their
underwater performance. However, remember that although the
housing, which retails at $69.95, is quite inexpensive, the
film is not. Since you’ll dispose of a camera for every
roll of film you shoot, the roughly ten-dollar extra cost
of cameras adds up fast. But if you want to take a few rolls
on a trip, the economics may work for you.
The next step up is to the Motor Marine Cameras which are
manufactured by Sea & Sea. The most basic model is the
MX10 which retails at 3999.95. This is a simple box camera
with a built-in flash, aperture adjustment, and a fixed focus.
The MX10 is rated to 150 feet and is capable of delivering
sharp images. Sea & Sea makes a higher end model, the
Motor Marine II, which features built-in flash with TTL metering,
adjustable focus, aperture selection, and a close-up lens,
that retails for about $585. Among the available accessories
for these cameras are more powerful remote flash units which
will provide more effective lighting and will help to reduce
the snow-like backscatter which usually results from using
a flash which is fixed close to the camera lens. All of the
systems mentioned above have the flash located no more than
several inches from the lens, and the strobe light will reflect
back into the lens off of every particle in the water between
the camera and the subject to the extent that in all but the
clearest water, the overall quality of the photos will be
severely reduced. Once you start adding accessory flash units
to these systems, you might want to stand back and take a
hard look at what else you might be able to buy with about
the same money. You might also just want to ask yourself at
that point just how much money you want to tie up in a system
which is limited to the performance of the camera at its center.
By the time you buy into all of the accessories needed to
take the kind of photos you want to take, you might be able
to put together a basic Nikonos V system or underwaterize
your present land camera complete with proper housing and
strobe. You might also want to consider renting. A basic Nikonos
system capable of producing excellent quality fish portrait
and macro photographs can be rented for under $150 for the
first week, and at a reduced rate for additional days. You
could rent a housing for your video camera for under $300
per week. If you don’t dive year around, this might
be your best value when the cost is figured against much better
results.
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