Waterproof camera

steveo_mcg

steveo_mcg

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Guys quicky, trying to decide on a cheap waterproof camera for mucking around at the pool with the kids on holiday.

There is a cheap resuable one for 12.50 on ebay

Or boots have a Kodak disposable on two for one @~£16.

I think the Kodak is a better option for a few quid more, I doubt I'd really use the waterproof feature enough to warrant another camera.

Thoughts?
 
I'd go with the Kodak on the grounds of there being less chance of water ingress as IIRC those disposables are sealed from the factory.
 
How about a Canon Sureshot A1 http://SPAM/oxwraah , a great little camera. I've had heaps of fun taking underwater pictures of the kids in the pool with one. Also good for taking pictures in the rain or snow.

They seem to go for around £25 on that auction site but sometimes for less.
 
Look for one with a flash a lot of the underwater disposables lack one and it is a real pain!
 
wickerman said:
How about a Canon Sureshot A1 http://SPAM/oxwraah , a great little camera. I've had heaps of fun taking underwater pictures of the kids in the pool with one. Also good for taking pictures in the rain or snow.

They seem to go for around £25 on that auction site but sometimes for less.
Click to expand...

a1ex2001 said:
Look for one with a flash a lot of the underwater disposables lack one and it is a real pain!
Click to expand...

Cheers guys, I bought the Kodak ones the other day. I didn't think about compacts that would have done. Its 800 film in Spain, I'm not sure A flash will help in the pool, I suspect I'm going to have to go deep to avoid over exposure!
 
Steven, I'm just back from Crete (further South than Spain!) and used a disposable there for the idiot behind the lens competition. Like yours, it was loaded with ISO 800 film but it worked fine (decently exposed). Shame the IBTL wasn't as good as he was last year!!!

Had I seen this thread earlier, I could have loaned you my old Minolta waterproof APS camera - after all, this IS the film & conventional area!!!
 
Cheers John Nod, that's reassuring. I had images (ged it) of basically black negatives.
 
I was hoping that my single user would be 400 at fastest but when I opened it up I saw it was 800 and my heart did drop a little! It's pretty grainy but it does seem to be reasonably well exposed looking at the negs. From experience, I would avoid using the flash underwater in the sea - there's so much scatterback of the flash so close to the lens that it'll basically flare the image out completely! In a relatively clear pool you might be OK though.

Back when I was still mainly film, I almost bought a Nikkonos kit but couldn't quite justify it to myself just for snorkelling, especially since the Minolta APS underwater camera did the job! Now use a Canon D10 for snorkelling.
 
Right next question, how the devil do you open the thing. Need to post these rolls and a couple of colour 120 and I'd rather not pay the royal mail to carry the unnecessary bulk of the cameras. Plus I'd like to try and reload them.
 
Fiddly! Especially the waterproof ones. Not sure the camera as a whole is more expensive to post than just the film. Reloading may not be an option - the spool in the one I managed to get apart (for the idiot behind the lens competition) was saw-tooth notched - something to do with it being reverse wound (advancing the frame pulled the exposed film into the cassette rather than out) at a guess. You could reload the spool but it's a PITA!
 
Cheers nod, I managed to reload the one I used last year but it was more faff than it was worth. Not sure if the whole camera will stick it up a band, who can tell with the current RM system. I take it no one knows where to look for official opening instructions for the processors?

Edit: Having typed that I realised the correct search term to get the answer. Looks like I need a special tool... Or a screwdriver.
http://www.kodak.co.uk/ek/US/en/CIS225ENG.htm
 
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