What's the Best Underwater Digital Camera That Won't Break the Bank?

Winter is beginning to set in and that means one thing: vacations to warm climates. And while you may have a nice digital camera for all of your land based memories, have you thought about underwater pictures? I remember when I went to the Grand Cayman a few years back I wish I had an underwater camera with me to capture some of that beautiful underwater scenery. I mean, that's the whole point of going to a warm climate, right? You could try a disposable underwater digital camera but those typically have very low resolution. So what can you get without breaking the bank?

Olympus Stylus 720 SW. Kevin over at Cool Tools likes the Olympus Stylus 720 and the above picture (I'm assuming) is from one of his trips. While it may not be the best camera in the world, for the current street price of $280 and 7.1 megapixel it will certainly do the job and then some. You can read a full review at imaging resource where they love the camera but beat up the image quality a little bit.

Pentax Optio W20. I came across this camera on Amazon and it seems to be very popular and has all the right specs - 7.1 megapixel and 3x optical zoom. It comes in cheaper than the Olympus with a current street price of $255.

You can also get a water-proof housing case for your existing digital camera to take it underwater. I know for myself that I wouldn't be comfortable doing that in case something happens and I lose my main digital camera!

No matter what you decide for your next underwater digital photo shoot, go check out Wet Pixel for some tips on taking great photos.