Looking for the cheapest digital camera that is waterproof?

So far I have written a few articles about what waterproof digital camera housing options you have. Let’s consider an attractive alternative: buying the cheapest digital camera you can buy that is waterproof. After all, if you are taking it down to the beach or in the boat and throwing it around a bit, it might make more sense to purchase a camera that you can afford to lose or damage. Amazon, along with many other online retailers, has a number of options on offer. Here is an offer that Amazon are selling for under $60: the Vivitar ViviCam 5188 5 Megapixel camera with a waterproof digital camera housing. The camera comes with a 16MB SD RAM Flash memory card – which is so typical of digital camera manufacturers. You could fill that up in less than a minute! Hopefully you already have a digital camera and a couple of larger memory cards hanging around that you can recycle in to this camera. The Vivitar ViviCam takes AAA batteries which is handy: you should be able to pick them up in any hotel gift shop or drug store should you ever run out while on vacation. The camera and housing together weigh less than 9oz (140g) which is quite light.
Vivitar ViviCam 5188 Digital Camera

Vivitar ViviCam 5188 Digital Camera

At the time of writing 7 customer have reviewed the product with an average of 3.5 star rating. The consensus is that it is a pretty good camera for the beach, and a pretty good camera for the kids, but it probably isn’t your first choice for the day-to-day family camera. At under $60 it is cheaper than some underwater digital camera housing units, plus you get a camera with a few megapixels, so maybe it’s a good choice if you are looking for a backup camera that the kids could use.
 

Generic Waterproof Digital Camera Housings

A generic waterproof digital camera housing is a water-tight skin designed to fit a variety of digital camera makes and models. Most popular digital camera manufacturers produce a dedicated underwater digital camera housing to fit an individual camera model, if not a series. Generic ones, however, will fit a variety of cameras.

Advantages

Being able to fit a number of digital cameras has some key benefits:

  • The price is lower, because the manufacturer does not need to design a new product for each new shape of camera that is released.
  • If you own more than one digital camera you might be able to use both of them with the one case.
  • If you upgrade your camera you might be able to retain the same case.

Disadvantages

But like everything there are pros and cons. The main disadvantages are:

  • They are not designed as snuggly as a dedicated camera housing. They are simply a waterproof bag, and do not extend the cameras controls through the housing to external buttons and levers.
  • They are typically made of a flexible plastic, compared to the hard and durable polycarbonate resins that dedicated housings are often made of.
  • It is a little more difficult to evaluate which is the right case for your camera.

It is important that when looking for a housing that your camera actually fits inside. If you stick with a popular brand then the retailer you purchase the housing from should provide a list of camera models that will fit, or at least the maximum dimensions of the camera that can fit inside.

Brands

The major brands of waterproof camera cases include:

  • DiCaPac
  • Aquapac
  • Aqua Case
  • Dry Pak

Where to Purchase

You can purchase these cases from a number of online retailers, including Amazon.

 

What are waterproof digital camera housings?

A waterproof digital camera housing is a covering for your camera to keep the water out, but still provide the facility to take pictures. Housings are not only useful for wet environments, but also muddy, sandy, snowy, dusty, or just generally “unclean” environments where particles or fluids might render your digital camera useless.

In the “good old days” of 35mm film cameras there were limited options. If you were keen you could purchase a dedicated waterproof camera (most notably the Nikons) but these were pricy and unless you were a National Geographic photographer, probably out of your range. There were a few other housings available, but tended to be very customized to particular camera models. For the typical consumer the best option might have been a waterproof disposable camera – they didn’t take great pictures, but they did survive being thrown around the beach and underwater snorkeling activity.

Nowadays most of us have a digital camera of some kind; compact, easy to use, and packed full of features. The range of digital cameras on the market has grown substantially in the last decade. The options for waterproof digital camera housings have also opened. There are generic cases that fit most small cameras. There are customized cases to fit individual manufacturer’s cameras. There are also waterproof and splash proof cameras on the market that are not expensive and provide basic protection from the elements.

Waterproof digital camera housings are typically made of a clear plastic material. There are soft-shelled cases, hard-shelled cases, and larger rigs designed to support the use of external flashes and deeper environments. It is important to pick the right housing for your camera. An ill-fitting unit will not keep the water out, or make it hard to access the controls of your camera. A difficult to use unit will detract from the fun you are having in the water. Ideally the unit will act as an extension of the camera itself, letting you focus on taking pictures of what goes on underneath the surface of the ocean.

 

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