Which underwater camera should i buy 2017

It's also an amazingly affordable price for the level of image quality it offers. So what makes this camera special? Two things. The second thing is the lens selection. There's only one housing option that we recommend and it's Ikelite's. The Ikelite housing has built in TTL that sync wonderfully with Ikelite strobes to make a phenomenal package that perfectly exposes any shot.

It's makes for quick and easy shooting. We love the ergonomics of the SL3. It's designed so that anyone new to DSLR or professional level, manual photography can learn the ropes. The camera almost teaches you. Bluewater photo offers an excellent camera, housing, and lens package for the SL3 that's perfect for anyone getting started. Ikelite Canon SL3 Housing.

The Nikon Z50 is the latest mirrorless option. With both Nikon and Canon fully engaged in the mirrorless game you can count on an increase in innovative features being brought to the market at speed.

It's an exciting time for mid-range mirrorless cameras. Technology continues to improve, with many manufacturers coming out with smaller and less expensive bodies, while lens choices expand and evolve. This camera is definitely worth a serious look. Its well suited to photographers who are looking for speedy, seamless integration with their smart phones and for use with social media.

While Sony cameras may have better specs they can be a little pricey. It uses an APS-C sensor rather than full-frame. The lack of native Z-mount lenses is a weakness, especially while this type of system is so new. This could make Olympus or Panasonic cameras better options. There's a different tool for every job. As an E-mount camera, the a is compatible with all the excellent lenses currently available to other E-mount systems such as the a7, a9, and NEX series.

If mirrorless systems are new to you, or you are upgrading from a compact underwater camera , this camera is bound to surprise you! While the camera shouldn't be considered a significant upgrade from other cameras already available in the a line, the additional options available in the camera will surely be welcomed by underwater photographers.

If you already own a Sony a , a, or a , it is probably not worth upgrading. Albeit, if you are thinking about buying an APS-C mirrorless camera, then the a should be one of your top choices. The Sony a camera line has always been a unique option for underwater photographers in that it offers outstanding aps-c mirrorless options with lots of housings to choose from, all at a low price point. For photographers looking for pro and semi-pro image quality at an affordable price, the a range is often looked at by underwater photographers.

If you are on a budget stick with the Sony a, or the a The zoom and optical quality of the new lens produces stunning, detailed macro and super-macro images. The addition of wet lenses helps expand that capability.

Autofocus speeds have improved down to 0. The improved autofocus makes shooting macro a breeze. This places the RX VI among the fastest compact cameras on the market. The camera is an impressive tool for wide angle action shots too. RX VI has been upgraded to be able to shoot 4K movies. It offers high quality 4K video, and is capable of some impressive slow motion video.

A vast selection of underwater housings and lenses give photographers a plethora of options that cater to a range of budgets, and intended uses. This makes the Sony RX VA a versatile choice for underwater photographers and videographers who want the most from their compact rig.

In the hands of a competent shooter the quality of the images from the Sony RX VA rival those from more expensive, and bigger mirrorless systems. The Olympus TG-6 is a great choice in the low-budget compact camera world. Enthusiastic snorkelers will love this camera. The TG-6 is a fool-proof camera. The Olympus Tough line of camera is well known for an great image quality to size ratio, highly durable design, beautiful macro capability, and excellent choice of underwater accessories.

It is waterproof on its own to 50 feet. If you are planning on going deeper than that we strongly recommend you putting it into a housing. Snorkelers and underwater photographers will be very pleased to know that the few updates that have been made from the Tg-5 are mostly geared with underwater use in mind.

The controls and their ergonomics on the TG-6 are the most noteworthy upgrades from the TG A great little camera, and very capable, and it won't break the bank. Robert has worked professionally on commercial television sets doing production photography, shot modern dance for the art department at the University of Calgary, and has worked in a freelance capacity shooting a variety of subjects. He is still an avid diver, and never dives without a camera. He moved to Europe in the late s and now resides in the UK.

Robert has enjoyed success in both national and international underwater photography competitions over the years. With the optional GoPro Plus subscription service, you can transfer photos and video wirelessly for quick sharing, editing and cloud storage. With an ultra-fast autofocus and a 0. Scuba Diving for iPad included. Gift subscriptions available. Depth rated to feet, the Wi-Fi-enabled imaging system features a builtin fisheye lens and large, user-friendly piano key controls.

Plus, it switches to HD video with a single button. It can capture images in RAW and has a microscope mode for crazy-close macro images without an accessory lens. This tough polycarbonate housing for the new HERO5 has divers in mind with a deeper rating than most of us can handle.

I would like to help to try and take some of the mystery and confusion out of this process by giving you a few tips. For this article I will tackle wide angle — marine life and divers since this is what I know best from my work. If you know how to work with your camera in manual, understand composition and have great buoyancy then this is mostly true. The exception to this, whether you are going: point and shoot compact, mirrorless or full frame DSLR is both :.

Two very important factors, if not the most important when it comes to wide angle underwater photography. Field of view is a way of determining how much area around the lens can be captured.

This typically relates to a lens with a fish eye type curvature more about that later similar to a GoPro. Wide angle is measured in degrees such as rather then mm. One 16mm lens might have a wider field of view than another capturing more of the scene but that world typically cause barrel or pincushion distortion as the lens is bending the image like a bowl e. This can be desirable or undesirable depending on the look you are going for.

In my opinion when dealing with human subjects it can be unflattering for the subject to have hands, legs and dare I say stomach stretched with too much distortion. This is where the classification of a rectilinear and curved lens comes from. A rectilinear lens is a photographic lens that yields images where straight features, such as the walls of buildings, appear with straight lines, as opposed to being curved.

In other words, it is a lens with little or no barrel or pincushion distortion. When photographers talk about distortion in a lens it relates to this phenomenon. This can be somewhat corrected in post-processing. Fisheye corrected with software RectFish By H. I know pros who use both well but there is a larger learning curve working with a fisheye lens. Comparing between rectlinear distortion on the left and fisheye distortion on the right.

The other factor to consider when choosing a wide lens would be corner softness. Without getting too technical, corner softness is when the edges and corners of an image become blurry or soft.

This happens more so at wider apertures lower f-stop and with lower quality lenses. This is due to the design of the lens and optics. Shoot for a lens that is sharpest from edge to edge within your price range. Here are a few examples below of soft corners. If price is a concern for you and you need to sacrifice somewhere make sure you get the best strobes you can afford, even if you only start with one. This is the one piece of equipment that can follow you as you upgrade rigs and will give you the most impact on your images.

This is what will make your photos shine! As we all know from our open water course light does not travel far underwater.

This is what gives underwater photos especially of colorful reefs and people their amazing ultra realistic look. Regardless what brand you choose I would recommend going for their current flagship model. You will be much happier now and in the future and your photos will get the proper amount of light they need. If you can only afford one, no worries! To give you a little comfort in that decision look at my instagram photos from In-fact in some situations such as low visibility it is actually better than using 2 strobes.

Ok, so the big question is what camera should I get.