With the age of digital imaging, almost all (shallow-water) divers can take part in underwater photography. This review is from a real beginner camera rig. The SVP Acqua digital rig made in China includes the camera system and waterproof case for less than $100. There are obvious limitations and we will cover them in this review.
Don’t expect professional results from this camera, but you’ll be surprisingly pleased with the versatility this little compact kit offers. With all the features you’d expect to find on popular brand point-and-shoot cameras, this compact system fits easily into the pocket of your BCD. Specifications are listed after our review comments. Since the factory marketing brochure provided these, we cannot confirm or dispute them.
First of all, before using this camera… please refer to the instruction manual on DVD that came with the camera. There are many features and settings that you will need to know before you get out on the water to use your camera system. We have used many different brands and they all seem to have some logical setups and some not so logical procedures. Like most ‘point and shoot’ cameras, there is a delay between pressing the shutter and having the actual shutter operation. After familiarizing yourself with the camera’s operation and features, you’re ready for the underwater part.
Like any casing, you must keep the casing clean and free of sand or gravel that could create a leak. Since the main seal is not really an o-ring, I was very careful to clean the surfaces with a cotton tip (Qtip) and applied a little o-ring grease to the surface, as well as a thin film on the seal itself. The seal is kind of wedge shaped, so it should provide a good positive pressure seal. The clean part is more for all the little control buttons that let you change camera settings underwater. We’ll look at the best settings we found when using the camera underwater.
When they say housing is good at 15 meters or around 33 feet, they’re not lying. Not that we tried to flood the housing or anything, but at 60 feet the camera doesn’t work because the pressure squeezes the controls and shuts the camera off. At 40 feet, you can get the camera working, but don’t count on changing the settings. At 35 feet, the camera appears to work well with all operational features and settings. For many divers, this will be too limiting because most of their dives will be deeper than 35 feet. Note however that the red/yellow/orange end of the spectrum is also filtered beyond this depth.
The camera and housing combination is well matched and easy to operate. With the clear plastic casing, you can easily see the camera settings. Like most digital screens, certain angles are harder to see, but with the right shading and angle, everything is visible on the 2-inch screen. Although you can change the lens focal length from wide to zoom, we kept the setting on wide for dives throughout due to water. Keep this in mind for all underwater photography; stay close to your subject and use the widest angle possible for best results.
For the still shots, the camera was set so that the strobe would fire with each shot. This drains your batteries faster, but if your subject is less than 8 feet away, you’ll have better images and colors. The best results were our macro shots where we set the camera to ‘close up’ and used the flash. When using movie mode, you’ll be impressed with how sharp the images are, but don’t expect high-quality audio. The housing needs to absorb a lot of the sound, as much of the underwater audio is muted. Chances are you edit with some music experience anyway.
Color balance was a bit off. We changed the settings according to the instructions and the results were that the color balance was a bit on the blue side for shots from above. This was not a problem for underwater shots as the greenish tint was removed from the water. Most color balance issues can be handled at the editing stage.
The claim that it’s 12.0 megapixels is a bit misleading because it’s about ‘hardware interpolation’ and not ‘image resolution’, which is 5.0 megapixels. Overall, we weren’t disappointed with the quality results for the best images. However, some of the shots showed camera shake even with the built-in flash. This means that the shutter adjusts to the amount of light, so it’s important to squeeze the camera and keep it as still as possible.
We used an 8GB SD card because we expected to take a lot of video and had enough memory space for two dives. We don’t use the provided USB cable because we use a card reader on our laptop and then back up the memory to a portable hard drive. The power source uses two triple A alkaline batteries, so it’s not a problem to have fresh batteries for every dive. We did not use the ‘voice recorder’ feature, but based on our underwater video experience, it would not be recommended inside the underwater housing.
Now for the bottom line on this kit: If you plan to get serious about your underwater imaging, save your money for a more complete system. This could be the perfect outfit for a sport diver who wants to share his diving experience with his friends and family. For less than $100 (prices range from $70 to $100), not including SD memory card and batteries, it’s a value. SVP cameras are available at some dive shops and are sold directly from various online importers. The next point-and-shoot underwater rigs, without an external strobe light, will probably cost upwards of $500. So if you’re going on vacation and thinking of owning your own shallow-water digital camera rig, this is it. response. Of course, for around $35 at most dive centers you can rent an all-inclusive camera. Sometimes the choice isn’t easy, but you can learn a lot more from someone who has tried SVP. It’s a great still and video camera rig for around the water and underwater to about 35 feet.
Manufacturer Specifications:
Waterproof Design: Don’t be afraid to take this Aqua camera into the water, even underwater. The waterproof case will protect this camera to depths of 30 feet.
Very elegant and small camera design.
· Take photos, videos and audio clips with its built-in microphone.
· The resolution sensor gives you the option to take: 5 MP, 3.1 MP, 1.3 MP and 300K resolution images.
Take 12 and 8 MP photos using hardware interpolation.
Movie Mode: When one picture isn’t enough, record 640 x 480 (VGA) video, with sound, at 30 frames per second.
· 2.0 LCD Screen – This compact color screen has plenty of room to help you compose your shots.
· Zoom: 8x digital zoom enlarges pixels to fill the frame with your favorite part of the image.
adjustable flash
Self-timer: 2/10/10+2 seconds
tripod capabilities
Integrated white balance
Water resistant to 50 feet
Built-in 16 MP memory, supports SD cards to expand memory.
Power supply: 2 Triple A batteries
Timestamp options: Off/ Date only/ Date and time
Comes with software, connection via USB 1.1
· Support video/TV output: via video output cable.
· Auto Power Mode: Extend battery life by automatically turning off the camera.
Auto flash, auto flash with red-eye reduction, slow sync, fill flash, flash off, auto, daylight, cloudy, fluorescent, tungsten, sunset, custom, etc.
MULTILINGUAL INTERFACE 8 menu languages including: English, Portuguese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Traditional Chinese and Traditional Chinese.