Recently I went to Bora Bora. Before going I ordered this fairly inexpensive water-proof digital camera off of Amazon.com. $70 bucks. Figured I might as well. It turned out to be great! Here is the Amazon link for the: Waterproof Camera.
Note: Allow me to be up front. I am trying out Amazon Associates program for the first time. It means I get like 15 cents, give or take some pesos, if you order from Amazon using one of the links I post. (Like the one above.) I have been using Amazon for most of my purchases lately, so I figured I can review stuff I buy that I really like. I will fairly review stuff I buy, listing both pros and cons. I won't promote something I didn't like!
Pros:
- Very affordable price.
- Pictures are surprisingly nice both above and below water. (see below)
- Water-proof. Obviously.
- Has option to view taken photos, like normal digital camera.
- Takes regular double-A batteries, so no waiting on it to charge.
- Not having to pay for disposable water-proof cameras.
- Not having to pay to have the above developed at Walgreen's.
- Although video has a decent frame rate, the resolution is very small: 640x480.
Not too good! But, I figured I would get it for the picture-taking capability. The cheapo videos it takes is just a bonus. - Not shock-proof like some other more expensive waterproof cameras on Amazon.
- Sometimes photos are blurry. I think this is when there is not enough light. So plan to take these with bright daylight. Not at dusk when underwater because the light doesn't seem to get around enough for a sharp picture then.
- LCD screen can be a little hard to see under water sometimes. Overall though, it worked pretty well for me.
- Some negative reviews on Amazon. Maybe I just lucked out with the one I got! :-)
Speaking of which.... I take no blame if you order one and it doesn't work right for you or gets completely broken!! I ordered mine and I personally did not have a problem. Order at your own risk!
Memory Card
You need a memory card for this camera. I ordered the following one for only $6 bucks. It was compatible with this camera and served me well. Here is the one I ordered on Amazon: 4 GB Memory card.
(There is also an 8 GB Memory card for only $12 bucks. I did run out of space on my 4 GB after taking too many videos, so perhaps the 8 GB is advisable.)
Awesome yellow floaty strap
Additionally, I highly recommend this wrist strap / flotation device! Also only $9 bucks --> worth it. I could literally chuck my camera into the water and the strap would float at the top of the water, the yellow color making it highly visible. Furthermore, it was comfortable to wear on my wrist while snorkeling. Here it is on Amazon: Floating camera strap.
And now sit back and enjoy my photos, demonstrating how the camera performs... and showing my cool trip to Bora Bora! (NOTICE: You can click on any of these photos to see original size. Nice!)
Me eating some delicious grapefruit. This one came out nice and sharp.
This is one of the mediocre underwater photos I included to be fair. I guess there wasn't enough light on this one.
Jet ski!
Tearing up the waters like a boss. (Am I allowed to say that about myself?)
So blue it was like a swimming pool!
Some sand and trees. You're welcome.
Coconut is here.
Here is a prime example of a blurry photo from taking underwater picture at near-dusk time. I recommend only taking underwater photos when you have lots of light! Otherwise you might get some of these. :-(
Nice and crisp photo. These images have been reduced to fit on here, but the original images are very sharp. Click on any of these photos to see original size version.
These are my back muscles. Enjoy.
So-so photo. Pretty good.
Pretty decent photo.
Nice and bright colors.
Medium-good photo of fishies.
Really nice shark photos!
More sharks.
Shark overload!!
Sting rays molesting some girl.
Reach out and touch some sting ray.
So-so picture of coral reef.
Conclusion:
I took pictures with several different cameras on the vacation: this waterproof one, regular one, and camcorder. I actually didn't realize until now just how many of my good ABOVE-WATER vacation photos came from this dinky waterproof camera! It was especially nice because I could bring the camera to the water-related activities without fear of it getting wet, even if I ended up using it for the regular above-water photos.... as you can see above.
That is all for now! I have already spent too much of my evening on this post, and not enough time letting my brain slowly rot in front of the TV.
Time to chilax (or possibly just take it easy). Bye bye.
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Added note: There is another slightly more expensive camera on Amazon my friend pointed out to me, which takes higher quality video (1080p HD) if that is important to you. Here is a link to this (also Kodak) waterproof digital camera for $180. I have not tried this camera myself, so I cannot vouch for it. Caveat Emptor.
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