Quote from: BelieveInStock on September 27, 2016, 05:21

Hi!

Me and my wife are going on Maldives for two weeks on our honeymoon to some super duper 5 star island hotel. I want to some snorkeling photography. Unfortunately I've just become aware that the waterproof case for my Canon 5ds R costs thousands of dollars. I don't want to spend that amount of money on a thing that I will use only once.
Are there any alternatives ? GoPro would be good but the image quality is not satisfactory nether for me nor for stock.

Thanks!

Quote from: BelieveInStock on September 27, 2016, 05:21

Congrats on the marriage. Maldives is fantastic. Enjoy every day you are there. 

As far as Uw photo the first thing I would do is ask the resort if they rent cameras.  If it's a dive specific resort they probably do or can get you a local rental resource. I don't know where you are but in the USA you can rent housings and cameras at www.borrowlens.com.  However, if you are worried about quality, you would have to rent a lot of gear,  including lighting.  That gets expensive and heavy with such paltry weight allowances fo divers.  They only value a housing will bring with no strobes is some creative split level shooting. However, I think a GoPro with a red filter will be sufficient. The red filter brings back the red in the light spectrum, which is the first color to be absorbed in water......red then orange then yellow, then green, then blue, then indigo then violet. The reds go in the first 20-30 feet. This means that without artificial ligh your images will look green ........because the red is gone or minimized.  The red filter corrects for this and you can get attachments for your go pro.

So I would say that GoPro is sufficient if the light is good, but if you are looking for more then it will cost and I'm not sure it's worth it.....from a cost, complexity and weight perspective.

Thanks Mantis.

It's not a diving specific resort, it is rather a super luxurious resort, a very tiny island with amazing coral reef a few footsteps from the beach.
What do you think about Ewa Marine system ? Their underwater camera housings are in the price range of a new Go Pro camera.

Quote from: Mantis on September 27, 2016, 05:30

Quote from: BelieveInStock on September 27, 2016, 05:21

Hi!

Me and my wife are going on Maldives for two weeks on our honeymoon to some super duper 5 star island hotel. I want to some snorkeling photography. Unfortunately I've just become aware that the waterproof case for my Canon 5ds R costs thousands of dollars. I don't want to spend that amount of money on a thing that I will use only once.
Are there any alternatives ? GoPro would be good but the image quality is not satisfactory nether for me nor for stock.

Thanks!

Quote from: BelieveInStock on September 27, 2016, 05:21

Congrats on the marriage. Maldives is fantastic. Enjoy every day you are there. 

As far as Uw photo the first thing I would do is ask the resort if they rent cameras.  If it's a dive specific resort they probably do or can get you a local rental resource. I don't know where you are but in the USA you can rent housings and cameras at www.borrowlens.com.  However, if you are worried about quality, you would have to rent a lot of gear,  including lighting.  That gets expensive and heavy with such paltry weight allowances fo divers.  They only value a housing will bring with no strobes is some creative split level shooting. However, I think a GoPro with a red filter will be sufficient. The red filter brings back the red in the light spectrum, which is the first color to be absorbed in water......red then orange then yellow, then green, then blue, then indigo then violet. The reds go in the first 20-30 feet. This means that without artificial ligh your images will look green ........because the red is gone or minimized.  The red filter corrects for this and you can get attachments for your go pro.

So I would say that GoPro is sufficient if the light is good, but if you are looking for more then it will cost and I'm not sure it's worth it.....from a cost, complexity and weight perspective.

EWA has been around for a long time, like 30 plus years.  A lot of photographers use them for wildlife imagery in streams and lakes to shoot migrating salmon. But they are also used for snorkeling like you are doing. The EWA is flexible so it cannot withstand much abuse. But if you do use one, make sure to test it without a camera in it. Put some toilet paper or paper towels inside, seal it up and take it snorkeling.  Make sure you dive to 10-15 feet to put pressure on it. Bring it to your room and remove the paper to check it for wetness. If wet you know that you either have a defective EWA or you didn't seal it well.

You're correct. Go-Pro image quality isn't that good but the VIDEO quality certainly isn't bad and I know of quite a bit of footage shot with this camera being sold on Stock sites.