primus

Don't know for the other people, but because I take UW pictures only with the naked camera (Pentax W cameras), without housing, without flash and other lights, and during free diving (only mask and fins), sometimes to 8 meters deep, I have no other choice. http://public.fotki.com/primoz/ http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Primoz...;view=playlists

Beefer, try Picasa3, with only 3-4 clicks you can reach a huge improvement in image quality: example:

Turtle from Trawangan island Indonesia (Pentax W30, no strobe, 5 meters)

Damo already said almost all about taking pictures with compact camera underwater while snorkeling or free diving. I would like to add only 4 advices: don't take pictures more than 5 meters deep, take pictures in brigt sunny day, take pictures in time of the day when "target" is most bright and keep ISO as low as possible. I sold my Olympus SW because of poor IQ and now I'am using Pentax W cameras. You can check my last underwater pictures HERE and some older HERE. Movies (low quality) are HERE and 2 in (almost original quality) are here and here. All pictures and movies were taken during free diving from 0 to 8 meters deep with "naked" (no housing) cameras W20, W30 and W60. 6 meters deep too deep, not enough light

My way: 1) I have 5 SD cards (4x4GB + 1x8GB = 24GB, enough for 1 month long hollidays) 2) I change SD card in camera every day (so every 5th day the same SD card is in camera) 3) in case of ... (but never used), I also have portable USB powered 2.5" 320GB drive in a waterproof bag Primus

"marktol" Yap, Canon Ixus cameras are the best in this range, but .... they are not underwater cameras. It is possible to buy an underwater housing, but it is very expensive (almost as much as cheaper Ixus cameras), big and bulky. EWA-MARINE and DicaPac bags are smaller and cheaper, but very sensitive and impractical.

If you'll buy a separate cheap point and shot waterproof camera, than buy Pentax OPTIO W60, both movie & picture quality is better than with Olympus. Here (http://public.fotki.com/Primoz/) are some of my underwater pictures and here (http://www.youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=PrimozP) some of my underwater movies, made with Pentax WP, W10, W20 and W30 cameras.