A buddy's wife is asking me to help her with buying an underwater camera, I know nothing about it, need some help.

Amazon Kodak Playsport

Budget is $300

I have one. Works good, but I haven't had it in the water. I've used it to record some of my friends singing at church and it works really good for that... the audio is even OK.

I did a bunch of googling and couldn't find any bad reviews. If you do a search for the Playsport on YouTube, there are a ton of videos to get a sampling... underwater ones, too.

I thought that I've seen a couple vids on here and people talking about the Playsport, the Amazon reviews are pretty much all over the place. For the money it doesn't seem like you can go wrong.

She was looking at a Nikon, but didn't realize it was only waterproof not for underwater usage. But it had a built in GPS. I'm always leery of 2n1 items, Nikon makes a good camera but are they known for GPS? Seems like a headache waiting to happen. That unit is $300.

I have the Playsport and it is pretty much the only camera I take with me anymore. It is not good in the low light before the sun comes up but other than that the pictures are better than what you can post.
I like being able to play the video right on the TV and I like that as soon as I hook it up to the computer it is charging. So if I use it, it is usually charged in just a few minutes after I have downloaded pictures to the computer. Comes with most all of the cables that you might want and there is a remote control available.
Amazon also offers extra batteries at a good price. If you buy a 8 GB card to put in it you will run out of battery before you run out of space on the card, although I have never come close to running out of battery or memory.

Take a look at the GoPro also. I have both aand get consistently better frames from the gopro. The very wide angle of view ( 170 degrees) makes it really easy to stay in frame. The newest version will run about $300.

Other than the narrow field of view I have few complaints about the playsport. Quality of video is good except for low light, but that is almost any low end camera. The newer versoin has a AF lens while the older ones have a fixed focus pinhole type lens. The newer ones have a built in battery which means you cannot just carry extra batteries any more. You have a bout a 2 hour limit on shooting and then you have to recharge. With the old ones, you just changed batteries and kept going. The remote on the playsport is really cool excepth the camera will power itself off after a few minutes if not recording to save battery. That means you have to get to the camera and turn it back on by hand.
The new firmware for the gopro will allow you to use a remote monitor ( any wifi enabled smartphone ) and controll the cmaera by the phone. This is scheduled for release in Jan.


Good luck, Phill

I have both the playsport and the Go Pro. I like both of them equally. The GP does seem to take better videos though. The go pro has to be placed in a case to become water proof. After it is placed in that case the audio really stinks. I do find myself using the Go Pro more then the playsport for video's and stills, just with a different, supplied non-waterproof case. The playsport is a great camera and a little cheaper then the GP. Either camera I believe you would be happy with.

I've been happy with my Playsport but would look into the GP.

Lol that's too funny

The Playsport goes into and shoots video underwater as is without an extra case, correct?

That is correct. You just push a couple buttons to put it in to the H2O mode first.

I took mine to the beach and used it underwater a little. Wasnt much to see, but the video was fine, and the camera survived. I tested it in my aquarium first. But it is only rated to about 10 feet I believe, so if your friend wants to go deeper, might need to look at the Go Pro. Not sure of the specs on that one.

Two summers ago I needed a camera to capture some precious moments on the Devils. Soooo.... I found myself at Costco and purchased a Casio "Exilim." 12 mp, good sound, video, stills, and waterproof to 9 meters. This camera spent more time in the water than I did. Its compact and thin profile make it a versitile and user friendly addition to my Kayak fishing adventures. I have also made PVC mount that will fit right into the aft scupper hole. Whichever brand you choose, I think a waterproof camera is an asset to any fishing adventure.

Tight Lines,

M.s