Porris

Thank you all.. I think I will buy the canon housing, extra battery and extra memory card. And will see a few dives how my skills allow to take out the camera. Great pics and comments. Thank you all!

Yea! Not insulted. I was not going to take it with me when we do the first dives. I have noticed that my boyancy control still needs "some" work.. But.. One thing that I forgot to tell was that I am not going to use it ONLY diving. Snorkeling too, and the camera should fit for that too. But the points are still valid. There will be a point (maybe during our 2 weeks diving trip) that I can take the camera with me with rest of the gear. Let's say we do 10-15 dives during the trip and I take the camera to last 2 to 5 dives + the snorkeling trips / swimming trips. If you forget that I am still learning, and imagine that I can actually dive at some point, what would the answers be then?

Hello A little background: I started diving (still doing my PADI OWD course) and got interested in underwater photography. We are going to Thailand on 28.2.2011 and plan on doing dives there. The problem is that I don't have a clue what equipment should I buy? I currently own Canon Ixus 80is and I am not certain if that is suitable for diving purposes. It has a possible underwater case but I am not sure if that is good combo. The problem is that the camera is my only camera, and inserting it to a case and removing it (for example night time purposes) and then rehousing it in the case is a good thing to do. I think that with each "sealing" you get a chance of getting some dirt between the case and it makes it leak, thus ruining my camera. :/ I do not want to buy expensive equipment right at start because I am just starting the hobby and it can come costly if I happen to realize that it's not my thing.. So I am turning to you now to get help for my newly found hobby. So few questions: - Anyone has experience with Canon Ixus 80is underwater photography? Is it "decent quality" or totally rubbish? - Does it matter which case to get? The points on this: Is others more secure in waterproof way? Does it affect image quality? - How well does the underwater digital single use cameras work? Mares underwater single usage cameras can be bought for ~50 euros (~60$) from thailand. Should I go with these? Problem is that these add easily up to the case price.. - Is there a camera (small compact) that is waterproof? Up to ~18m that I am allowed to dive now. I mean without a casing? Any examples? Experiences? - Is it better to have underwater camera and "land camera" or just one camera and using it also in water and in land? - Any other points of view that should be taken in to account? Thanks!