If you are looking for decent underwater photography from your snorkeling or diving adventures, take a look at Canon’s line of digital cameras and their underwater cases. I wanted something better than a disposable film camera and considerably less expensive than a pro level, purpose-built underwater camera. I think I found a very good compromise in the Canon SD700IS with Canon’s WP-DC5 underwater housing. The housing was about $160 which seems pretty reasonable considering the cost of underwater camera equipment. Canon has a lot of good info on their site.

There’s not much to the setup. Just follow the simple instructions for installing the o-ring gasket, drop the camera in and close the door. Make sure you know how to use all of the camera’s buttons before putting it in the case. You can’t really see the button labels after the case is on. I set the camera to manual mode and jumped in. The Image Stabilizer (IS) seemed to help out since your always sloshing about in the water. Some of my shots had a bit of motion blur, but most came out better than I expected. The SD700IS has just enough settings in the manual mode to match the conditions. It doesn’t support the RAW format which would make post processing a bit more dynamic.

I found that it takes a bit of practice to properly operate the shutter release underwater. Some of the sensation is lost from pushing on a spring loaded button compared to having your finger directly on the shutter release. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be set. Watch for the focus lock and then shoot.

Getting close to your subject also helps make the underwater photos look better. I’m not talking about micro close; just swim down a bit to fill the frame and show off some of the colors and detail. Steady yourself the best that you can and fire the shot. I found it difficult to see the screen while underwater. I could tell that there was an image there, but I couldn’t use it to critique my shot.

I wasn’t impressed with the performance out of the water. It worked, but not as well as I would have liked. My wife and I went on a kayak trip and I took it along. The main problem was that the lens housing would get water spots on it and the photos looked a bit off. If you can find a dry square of cloth to dry the lens first, it would make a big difference. I’m thinking that a dry bag is a better option for kayaking and fishing activities.

Overall, I think the SD700IS and the underwater housing is a great budget setup for snorkeling. It is a good compromise between cost and quality. Canon claims that the housing is good to 130ft, but I didn’t have an opportunity to test it at depth.

Take a look at my underwater photo gallery and judge for yourself.