waterproof p&S

[the_game22]

Does anyone have any experience with the olympus 850SW. It is supposed to be waterproof to 10ft. My daughter wants to buy this for our trip to mexico, to take pictures while snorkeling. I don't want to let her buy it (she's using her own money) if it is a piece of crap. However she is 12 and is showing a real interest in photography and I do want to encourage that. Thanks in advance for any opinions on this camera.

[justincalgary]

I bought the 770SW last year for our trip to Mexico and I thought it was awesome. The only bad thing I could really say about it is that when you are underwater it is kind of hard to see the lcd screen. Most of my pics were just lined up at arms lenght and crossed my fingers. Just make sure to only go in for an hour at a time in salt water and when you get back to your room, fill the sink with water and put the camera into it and turn it off and on a couple of times to clean it out.

[Mitsu3000gt]

With the Olympus SW stuff, you are most paying for its durability and water proofing. As a camera it's pretty average.

A far superior combo for underwater would be a better camera + an underwater enclosure. It might be a bit more expensive though. I think I paid around $150 for an underwater enclosure for my P&S camera, so depending on what camera you pair it up with the cost will vary a lot. All controls are still accessible, and it's good to around 150 feet so there are no worries there.

I would suggest pointing her towards something that includes full manual controls if she is showing an interest in photography (so she has the option), and adding an underwater housing.

All that said, if she is hard on her stuff and/or can't be bothered to use a separate underwater enclosure (you need to maintain them properly, its not something you just use then throw in a closet for a year until your next trip), then maybe for now something like the Olympus will be the best bet if she really wants some underwater shots.

[Hoagie]

if you already have a camera I suggest getting this camera bag

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302700553&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442618542