J.D. Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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Hi Canerino!
Your question sounds very much like one I had to answer for myself about 12 months ago.
I recently went to a very small island in French Polynesia called Maupiti and since I wanted to dive with manta rays, the question of what camera to use was high on my list of priorities.
Like you, I had a compact camera which I was no longer using much and I decided that this would be a better basis for underwater use than the purpose-built offerings from the major manufacturers. I had also heard some horror stories about leakage - obviously the biggest concern for any underwater photographer - which may have been limited to individual cases or might be of general concern.
Either way, the decision was basically made because I already had a camera which would be well suited if I could find a housing for it.
My old camera is a Canon SD850 IS, also known as the SD800 IS in the USA. Original Canon housings for these cameras are still available but cost around $250 for a new one. I decided that a used one from eBay was a better option. This was much more complicated but in the end, worth it.
It took 6 months to get what I wanted and I missed out on a lot of sales. I was starting to despair that I would have to fork out $250 and get a new one when, about a month before I left for Maupiti, a near-new WP-DC9 housing popped up for $44 US and I bought it immediately.
Research pays off with these things and having familiarised myself with the tricks of other similar Canon housings, I also got hold of a new O-ring and gasket grease, along with the appropriate button lubricant. I gave the housing a full service and was satisfied it was good to go. You need to do this every time you dive and you need to make sure you clean and rinse everything thoroughly when you get home. You also need to remove the main O-ring and store it carefully, coiled up in a zip lock bag inside the empty UW housing.
The camera was a slightly different story. I converted it to work with the Canon Hack Development Kit:
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK
and tested to make sure I could extract raw files and that they would work with Adobe Lightroom.
The results were really very satisfying, especially when you consider the effort to make it all work. The SD850/800 IS is not an ideal underwater camera because the lens is simply not wide enough. That doesn't mean you can't get good shots out of it but it makes it less than ideal. No matter, I am not an experienced underwater photographer anyway.
I also made sure the flash diffuser was attached and that I got a white balance every time I dived. The results were pretty good, all things considered. I was in about 9 metres of water and the visibility wasn't too good.
Here's the kit I used, which I also adapted to work with a GoPro slung underneath it:
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http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f356/Mirag3/untitled-0815_zpsacd5f79f.jpg |
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Here's one of many shots I took:
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http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f356/Mirag3/Maupiti/Manta1_zpsde6edeae.jpg |
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In summary, the RX100 with an underwater housing is probably a cheaper, better and more reliable option than a purpose-built job. I recommend you go with what you know and get a housing. I suffered the same viewfinder problems you had and it actually did affect my pictures to a limited extent. Me being not a very good diver also affected the results.
This is Jeff Mullins' guide to servicing:
http://www.divephotoguide.com/getting-started-with-underwater-photography/underwater-camera-maintenance/
He has also written stuff specifically for Canon housings regarding the removal of flashing which compromises the security of the seal. That may or may not be useful for Sony.
The other thing that's important to remember is that no manufacturer has a warranty on housings. You use them at your own risk.
If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them for you if I can.
Edited on Jul 29, 2014 at 12:18 AM · View previous versions
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