Advice for a Beginner plz

Hi All,
I emigrating to Australia from N.Ieland in Sept and doing a bit of traveling on the way over via Costa Rica and Samoa.

I have a fuji Finepix F31fd and am looking into buying housing for it which im a bit clueless about. Would this camera be suitable for taken underwater shots our should I invest in another Digital compact.
I will be mostly doing snorkeling and probably doing a PADI course in Oz.

I also own a Nikon D70s but I couldn't really afford to buy the housing.

Thanks in advance
Pete

It always depends on budget, but Ikelite has come out with a new series for compact cameras and can probably house your camera with a strobes for less than $900.00 US! You can visit their web site or call them for more info, they're good about it!

Thanks for the info, I will take a look into it.

One other question, I just bought a Dicapac Waterproof Case for my girlfriends Pentax, ive tested it in a swiming pool with some tissue paper and had no leaks etc, im just a bit nervous about using her camera. Are this Cases reliable for general snorkeling usage our a waste of money?

The problem with soft packs is pressure! The case collapses on the buttons and many wont work under pressure! It can cause damage to the camera if you go too deep!

They're rated to 5 meters, which is all you probably need anyway.

but even that shallow you can have control problems! I would see if the manufacturer has a sport pack or housing option!

Pete, Have a chat to Cameras Underwater, based in Devon - very friendly and knowledgable staff

http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk

As Papa says, there is an Ikelite housing available, for £189.00. It'll be well made, but perhaps a bit chunky and overkill if all you are doing is snorkelling.

http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/d...fxf30.html#ike

Fuji also have one of their own (forget who makes them now, but they'll do the job). It's a lot lighter and smaller, hugs the body of the camera better, and is a bit cheaper at £129.

http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/d...xf30.html#fuji

Cheers for all the advice, I think the soft case will do my girlfriend for snorkeling as she always gets perforated ear drums when she dives down to any depth and I think i will get the cheaper housing for the Fuji F31fd, as bottlefish says it hugs the body of the camera better and would be smaller which would be handy as I will be traveling around and don't want anything to big to carry.

Cheers

Hi there,

You can definitely get some great shots using the Fuji F31D's own housing. You can buy an Inon Adaptor and then get a wide angle lens to fit onto the front of the housing for those wide angle shots, and then use the macro mode on the camera to take some fantastic pictures of close-up critters. I absolutely love it. Best of luck and happy shooting! Maria :)

Thanks for the advice all, I just purchased a the housing unit my Fuji f31fd for £99.
Looks great but will have to wait till September to try it in deeper water other than my bath.

Pete