written by Fritz Tiedt on 22/11/2004
Good Points
The camera is easy to handle underwater and gives pretty clear pictures. The images are sharp may be enlarged in spite of the low megapixels.
Bad Points
The LCD screen is almost useless underwater and cannot be brightened enough to see images in clear bright water. The lens port mists up (after a change of batteries on the beach). Short battery life.
General Comments
This is essentially a small 2.1 Megapixel camera in a waterproof housing. I used this camera on a dive at Cape Vidal and Sodwana Bay (South Africa) and found it really easy to use and gave crisp clear photos. What I did not like is being able to review my photos underwater because the screen wasn't bright enough. The housing is surprisingly good and was OK at the depth used (22 metres). The short battery life is a problem and one should check that the batteries are fully charged when you do your dive. I had to swim back from the reef where I was diving to change batteries and the front port misted up afterwards. It was a very humid, hot day and as soon as the camera hit the colder water the port misted up. The light metering is good so all the photos were properly exposed. The flash went off when I photographed a sleeping ray in a cave so all the finely divided material in the water blurred the image. An accesory strobe would have solved this problem. All in all a beginnners underwater camera.