Full Review

I love photography as a hobby and thankfully I have a job that allows me to travel all over the world. Digital cameras especially digital SLR cameras are very expensive. When I found myself on a very small tropical island in the middle of the Indian Ocean with a beautiful beach less than a hundred feet from my bed I was in heaven. I used my expensive digital to take pictures on land, but I very soon fell in love with snorkeling. I looked into getting an underwater housing for my camera, but I just couldn't spend $400 on something that might leak and ruin $1200 worth of equipment. So instead I spent $50 on six Kodak Water & Sport Waterproof one time use cameras. The ISO 800 film worked very well underwater. The camera itself was extremely durable. It constantly came under attack from large fish, eels, and coral reefs, not to mention being dropped on rocks on the shore. During 4 months on the island I went through about 15 of the Kodak waterproof cameras and not a single one leaked or turned out bad pictures. The winding lever and shutter release button are very easy to use even with diving gloves on. The counter to indicate the number of shots left is also very easy to read under water. I used these cameras in the ocean, and have since used them in swimming pools and in fresh water lakes and ponds, and I have never had a problem. Each camera comes with a rubber band type lanyard that comfortably fits around the wrist and the camera itself floats so it's not easy to lose. The Kodak Water & Sport Waterproof camera is the best way to show folks back home how beautiful your snorkeling or diving vacation was. The first time I used one of the cameras I was not very impressed with the results. I soon realized however that it was not the camera, but the photographer to blame. If you are planning a vacation to include diving or snorkeling it is well worth the money to buy a few of these to take with you. You can find them all over the world at almost any beach front store, but they don't take up much room to pack two or three just in case. When using this camera you can get the best results by getting very close, but not too close to the subject. The minimum focus range on the camera is about 12 inches. Taking pictures of anything more than four feet away is a waste of film underwater unless you are in extremely clear water on a very bright day shooting a very large subject. Since the camera lacks a flash the photographer is limited to taking pictures fairly close to the surface. I had several shots turn out from 10-15 feet deep in pretty clear water. I took the camera down to 30 feet and it held up just fine, but it was too dark to get any good shots that deep. I also found that with the Kodak Waterproof camera it is best to get slightly below your subject and take the picture at an upward angle. Before using underwater cameras take some time to research some tips and advice for underwater photography. That will save you some heart ache when you develop your film. This camera is not just for underwater. I used them several times to take pictures of the beach or to get pictures that showed half the exposure underwater and half above.