A friend of mine from New Zealand sent me a note saying he is working on a website dedicated to Stand Up Paddle Surfing. How cool is that? My first guess was that paddle surfing was similar to cross-country skiing; still skiing even when there aren’t hills nearby. Nope, when I saw the website, I saw it is big Pacific Ocean waves and serious surfing. Have a look. If you’re an adventurer, it might be for you.

http://www.standuppaddlekiwi.com

But he wants to be able to take pictures in a really wet environment and he asked if I had any suggestions. Indeed I do.

There are several options to dealing with this wonderful liquid. To determine which path we’ll take, we need to know the whole range of photographic needs and decide if they extend beyond water photography. Some questions we might ask are; Are water photographs all we really need to take pictures of or are these a small percentage of the overall use of the camera? Is it a one-time shoot or will we be frequently updating our wet-shots? Is the camera likely to get damp, wet, dunked or submerged? Any actual under-water photography in the plans?

Lets go the easier route; if using the camera for these water photographs is an infrequent or one-time use, consider renting your equipment. There are lots of places that will rent waterproof gear to you, even if they have to ship it to you. It won’t be cheap, but it will be much less than if you bought equipment that will sit on a shelf.

On the other extreme, if you want to do some diving with your equipment and water photography is in your indefinite future, then you’ll need some specialized gear. For example Nikonos is the Nikon line of submersible  camera equipment. Any of it will be suitable for getting in waves and getting water all over everything. (But keep in mind that if you envision diving to photograph colorful reefs, the name of the game is light. You’ll need to be able to use a big external flash, or flashes, to get your photos.)

Most people, and I think my friend Paul is in this group, need something in the middle. 

Fortunately, there are several cameras that are designed for the task, mostly in point-and-shoots, but there is an option in D-SLRs too.

For point and shoot cameras, Olympus has a waterproof and shockproof Stylus 720SW. There is also the Pentax Optio W10 and the Vivitar VIVICAM-6200W. (Since you have a choice of several waterproof cameras to choose from, make sure you compare features like what depth it is waterproof to, and how long it can stay there. Is it meant to just survive a dunking or really go swimming?)

The only choice in the D-SLR line that comes close to wetness protection is the Pentax K10D. And this is weatherproof. Not waterproof. So why do I mention it here? Well if rain is what you’re fighting, or if you’re following a surfer in a boat or jet ski with spray and splash, it might be a good choice for you. Especially if you want to work with long lenses and work with manual functions. 

There is another choice for people working with sports in a very wet environment, (like surfing); the Sanyo Xacti video camera. I own one of these and when I raced my Tartan 34 sailboat to Bermuda last year, I left it in the cockpit through waves and rain so I capture whatever happened without trashing my best gear. AND it takes 8 megapixel still images. And it can take those still images while recording video.

It really is an amazing camera, but there are two big downsides to it; first, it records video in standard definition (640 x 480) not high definition. (I think there is a PAL version available.) Standard Def is no problem for the web, but if you put the video up on your new 72 inch plasma HDTV, it won’t look as good as you might imagine. (Sanyo makes an HD version of this camera that is not waterproof at the time of this writing, so don’t get confused and buy the wrong one.) Second down side; the still photos are ok, but not great; middle-range point and shoot quality. But if you want waterproof (up to 6′ I think) video and still images at a reasonable price (about $220 US) there really isn’t anything else that I’ve seen. 

A good balance to really protect your stuff, especially if you already own some camera gear is to go with a protective housing. There are quite a few to choose from, depending on how much protection you need and features like connecting external flashes. Some are just sealed bags that are custom fit to certain cameras and others are small submarines. The prices vary widely so take an antacid before you go shopping. Ewa-Marine is a well known name in camera housings.

So what do I think? If there is any need for video, that Sanyo is hard to beat.

Really want to use your expensive D-SLR camera but don’t like the prices of the waterproof housing? Save your money and buy a really long, really fast lens and shoot from shore.

If still images are all you need, a waterproof and shockproof point-and-shoot camera is probably your best bet. Very good quality and usable with one hand. (Very important when shooting a guy paddle surfing 20 feet away from you, and you’re both about to get crushed by a cresting monster wave.)

So don’t forget to put the wrist strap on, and keep shooting!
Mark
www.MarkDuehmig.com