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One of the reasons I got into SCUBA diving was to take photos. In the past underwater equipment was too expensive for the casual diver to afford but luckily those times have changed. Below I present an easy guide to cheap and affordable underwater photography.

Cheap
For those who don't want to risk camera equipment under water, or who just want a few pictures to show their friends, you can't beat disposable cameras. Yes, I'm talking about those $10 one time use cameras you can find at any drug store. There are many brands of disposable under water cameras and they all work more or less the same. Their construction is sturdy enough to withstand the pressure of sport diving and their price is low enough that anyone can afford it.
Upside: Super cheap. Easy to use. Will withstand the pressure of normal sport diving. You won't get angry if it breaks.
Downside: Picture quality isn't the best. Limited number of shots. You still have to pay to get it developed. Will annoying anyone who owns a digital camera.

Moderate*
*For many people.
If you already own a camera, especially a newer name brand digital camera, chances are that theres an underwater case available for your model. For example most Canon, Sony, and Olympus cameras made in recent years usually have a case designed specifically for it. These range between $100-200 depending on your model and are rather simple to operate. This option is by far the most popular (so I've observed) among hobby and sport divers. Just pop your regular digital camera into a case, go diving, and then pop your photos onto your computer.
Upside: Taking decent photos underwater is annoyingly difficult due to lighting conditions and environmental factors, which is why the digital approach will yield the highest number of decent photos for the hobby diver. Being able to take many photos, preview photos, having a LCD screen, higher camera and picture quality,and taking video are all obvious benefits of using a digital camera over a disposable film one.
Downside: This option is only 'cheap' if you already own a digital camera, otherwise tack on another $200-300 to the price of the camera case. The risk is also much greater. If done wrong you could end up flooding your camera case and killing your expensive digital camera.

Expensive
The next step up from using an underwater case with your digital camera is add-ons. This is where things get expensive. To improve your photos underwater, even with compact digital cameras, just add lights. This improves your ability to focus and greatly enhances your color underwater (you lose color the deeper you go). Light set ups range from $100-$1,000 depending on the brand and the type. The easiest thing, and the cheapest, is find a nice regular hand held diving light which would cost between $100-400. Either use this when taking photos or take the next step and get an arm for your camera (seen below in both photos). Just hook up the arm to your camera and put the light on the end of the arm, which would cost a bit over $100. This way you can free up your hands and easily position the light anywhere around your camera. An even more expensive option is getting a strobe or external flash for your camera, which would require ANOTHER arm (I'v seen plenty of people who have two arms hooked up to their cameras. One for a basic light and one for a flash.) for your camera as well as require that you have a camera/ case that can use external flash devices. Total cost: A lot. But with a massive setup like this you're bound to get some good shots along the way.
Upside: Just getting a light helps out a lot for focus and color, plus having a light when diving comes in handy quite often. Any one of the above options will improve your pictures.
Downside: The more you buy the more expensive it gets. Very expensive. Plus you always run the risk of losing it or destroying it along the way.

As for my setup, I'm currently running in the middle of the Expensive setup. Camera in case, arm, and light. Though for the photos I took in Thailand, Fiji, the Philippines, and my first Japan dive all I used was my camera in an underwater case. For the the vast majority of people this is the best quality/ cost solution for taking pictures underwater. You can take lots of photos and some of them are bound to be good. If you want camera equipment or advice on upgrading your current setup just talk to your local dive shop. They no doubt have a large selection of catalogues filled with different equipment types as well as experience with various camera setups. Plus they can show you a few helpful tips on how to not destroy your camera underwater. (Its what I did, and it helped quite a bit.)

Technorati Tags: cameras, diving, equiptment, scuba, video

I wrote an article about my Asian diving for the monthly Hiroshima ALT newsletter Wide Island View. Its nothing I've not written here before, but worth a read if you're interested in what we English teachers in Japan write about. Click on it to view in your browser, or right click to download it. The file comes in at about 550 kbs.

Out of all the photos I sent them why did they use the clownfish photo? Seriously. Clownfish. Sigh...

Technorati Tags: diving, fiji, japan, koh tao, philippines, scuba, thailand, travel