Budget Underwater Camera

As promised some images from the TG-5. This is what you can more or less expect when using it as is and while snorkelling ... some shots are not 100% sharp, like the octopus. Even as the animal was stable, the autofocus seemed to struggle for some reason.

Hope that helps a bit ... The shots are all corrected RAW, but most were done quick and dirty or for print (in print the colours are correct, on screen on my portable some of them still have a greenish cast). In some shots - those with less light, high dynamic range, deeper down etc. - are difficult to adjust. You may get one aspect right, but the rest may suffer. It's better with the LX100 underwater, but the again the sensor IS larger after all and the lens brighter.

All shot in Greece during daylight in clear water. The blue sponge was shot in a dark crevice. This illustrates that the flash indeed helps for some motives.

Cheers

Flash helps, but of course shadows are harsh.

This was shot at around 5 m depth. Correcting the RAW shows a beginning loss of colours.

For some reason the autofocus had a problem here, too. Lots of nice contrasty edges to focus on ...

Also shot deeper, hence washed out colours (flash not strong enough).

Here you can see that dynamic range and colour depth is not the best available. But hey

Congratulations on your nice collection. I've been a huge fan of the Lumix LX line for UW use since the LX5, first to be able to be placed in a housing. Shooting with an LX100 since its appearence I just returned a month ago from Belize where it brought me a throve of keepers. From diver to diver, I'd like to share one I'm sure you'll like. LX100 in full auto inside an Ikelite housing. Natural light, zero compensation. Processed from RAW in ACR. No other edition than White Balance compensation (auto) and 10% Fog Removal in ACR.

Thanks for your reply. The LX100 underwater is truly great, and the Meikon housing too if you are on a budget. Got both together for around 800 Swiss Franks three years back. Tried to limit myself to the TG-5 last year for a variety of reasons, including that housings are doable but still cumbersome while snorkelling.

But this year I will combine both, TG-5 for macro and crevices (in a belt pouch), LX100 for the rest.

Cheers

Since the demise of affordable point-n-shoots with matching dive housings, there is a need for entry-level underwater camera gear.

What killed the point-n-shoot market? Cell phones. What might replace the cheap underwater point-n-shoot in a dive housing? A cell phone in a dive housing.

The Kraken Universal Smart Phone diving housing! $300

https://www.bluewaterphotostore.com/kraken-smart-phone-housing?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxamTv5rT4gIVlaDsCh2a6gD-EAQYASABEgJ49PD_BwE

How can a housing be universal?   By using Bluetooth to interface between the dive housing buttons and the cell phone features.

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

Since the demise of affordable point-n-shoots with matching dive housings, there is a need for entry-level underwater camera gear.

What killed the point-n-shoot market? Cell phones. What might replace the cheap underwater point-n-shoot in a dive housing? A cell phone in a dive housing.

The Kraken Universal Smart Phone diving housing! $300

https://www.bluewaterphotostore.com/kraken-smart-phone-housing?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxamTv5rT4gIVlaDsCh2a6gD-EAQYASABEgJ49PD_BwE

How can a housing be universal? By using Bluetooth to interface between the dive housing buttons and the cell phone features.

Completely agree; I posted a review, with photos, here... https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/61994163