Point and Shoot opinions for caving

[FiddleCaver]

I'm just a little curious what experience others have had with their point and shoots underground. I've killed two in the last year or so and am looking for something a little more durable. The camera I've been looking in to has some nice features, my favorite being the ability to manually control the shutter speed up to 60 seconds and to manually control the aperture, but some diving friends of mine say that cameras in dive cases don't do so well out of the water and recommended a camera by sealife. I guess divers don't seem to have much use for long exposure, so even though these cameras look as if they're almost perfect for cave use, the longest shutter speed is still less than a second. Almost everyone I know uses the Pentax Optio W30, but I've been less than happy with the results we've got on some trips with those mostly because of the relatively short (4 sec) long exposure limit.

Camera I've been looking in to, the Casio EX-V8 with dive housing

Camera my dive friends recommended, the SeaLife SL320

The other sealife camera I was thinking about, the DC800

[David_Weaver]

Hi,

I got my Olympus 720SW based on reviews here on the board. The SW stands for Shock and Water proof. It has survived some moderately rugged caving, including belly crawls through sand and water.

You can check out the results at my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidw987/collections/72157600738988645/

You can also check out other cave photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/groups/caving_photos/. After clicking on the thumbnail of the photo, you can see the type of camera used in the "Additional Information" section on the right.

David

[wendy]

you can always just get an underwater housing for your digital camera. that's what i do to protect my camera on trips. or just get a pelican box to carry the digital camera in without a housing. B and H photo video has a lot of housing made for digital cameras

[hoosiercaver1]

I just got me a used Canon A540. I like it because I can control the shutter speed and aperature. I can open the shutter for up to 15 sec. I havent tried it in a cave yet, but will next chance I get. I love taking cave pics!!!

has anyone used a case like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Waterproof-Underwat ... dZViewItem

I thought it might be good for caving. I dont know if I would trust it underwater though. I'd like to know if they are good before I buy one.

[FiddleCaver]

The bags would add a little protection, but to be honest, I'd stick mine in a pelican case while traveling through the cave. I've had those bags get holes in them and soak everything inside...

[hoosiercaver1]

Yeah, I agree. I was planning on transporting it in a case ( I use waterproof boxes I got at Walmart, They are called Lock and Lock). I know I am very rough on my pack. Ive been known to throw it ahead of me, drag it through a crawl, slip in the mud and land on it. That bag would not help much with blunt force trauma!!! I was just wanting the bag for when I have the camera out taking pics. I find it very hard sometimes to keep my camera mud and water free. Two weekends ago, I completely caked my old one, and now it wont focus. I just wonder if the waterproof bag would be a hinderance? I dont think it would effect the picture quality, but im not sure.

[NZcaver]

I just got me a used Canon A540. I like it because I can control the shutter speed and aperature. I can open the shutter for up to 15 sec. I havent tried it in a cave yet, but will next chance I get. I love taking cave pics!!!

One of my cameras is the Canon A540, and yes I've used it in-cave. In fact the cover shot of the latest issue of American Caving Accidents was shot with it. My advice is don't waste your time with the waterproof bag covers. The real Canon underwater housings do make the camera bulky, but they allow full function control while protecting from water, mud, and dust etc (dust in caves tends to interfere with the automatic leaf-style lens cover really quick - be warned!) Also know that when you select manual mode, your camera (and most of the newer Canon digitals) will default to a single flash instead of a double. This means you can use a regular off-camera slaved flashgun with the camera, and potentially create much better images.

[hoosiercaver1]

I guess I might have to save my pennies and get a full case instead of a bag. One question I have is on the manual mode, Im still a little lost on what to do with the aperture. Could someone help explain what adjusting it would help. It would save me alot of time.

[NZcaver]

One question I have is on the manual mode, Im still a little lost on what to do with the aperture. Could someone help explain what adjusting it would help. It would save me alot of time.

A quick explanation of lens aperture can be found here. You could try Google searching for other info too. For in-cave shots in manual mode, try starting at about f5.0. Preferably use an external slaved flashgun or two. This works best when you use flashguns which have adjustable intensity, but something like this cheap Quantaray is better than nothing.

[hoosiercaver1]

Thanks NZ, now I have a number to start with. Im sure I can adjust as necessary. Will that Quantaray flash fire with my cameras flash, or do I need more hardware to get it to work like that?

[NZcaver]

Thanks NZ, now I have a number to start with. Im sure I can adjust as necessary. Will that Quantaray flash fire with my cameras flash, or do I need more hardware to get it to work like that?

That flash has the slave trigger built in, and will work with your A540 but ONLY in manual mode. In other modes, the camera fires a double flash each time and the first flash (which sets the exposure level) will trigger your slave flash but not show up in the actual photo.

Confused yet?

[hoosiercaver1]

Ok, I get it. I just get a little confused when you start talkin about hot shoe and stuff like that. If it has a sensor to detect flash on it, thats all i need. What would you estimate is the effective range on one of those?

[NZcaver]

Ok, I get it. I just get a little confused when you start talkin about hot shoe and stuff like that. If it has a sensor to detect flash on it, thats all i need. What would you estimate is the effective range on one of those?

Not sure, you'll need to experiment. It works OK if you hold it out in your hand, preferably slightly forward of your camera to pick up the flash (but not in the shot of course). Or you can place it somewhere to side light or back light the shot, but it has to be more-or-less in direct view of the camera flash. As you may have guessed I have one of these, but I only use it occasionally now and not really in caves. I have some bigger flashguns with more sensitive triggers to drag around in caves now.

[hoosiercaver1]

Thanks alot everyone. This site is very useful. Im sure ill have more questoins the more I start doin stuff, but I think you all have given me a good place to start.

[David Grimes]

I often cave with people who use the Olympus 720 SW and I would say they are not easy on it by any means and it has held up well. They even used it all day in cold damp caves while the outside temp was only 13F thats pretty good for any camera with and LCD screen.