Underwater photography for a Nikon D3100?

I'm 14, and I simply love photography. We travel to Greece every year to visit family, and I'd love to capture some of the underwater sea life, not to mention surfers at our beach. For the most part, all of the underwater housings I've looked at are expensive, and I was expecting that, but if I'm going to do this, I want to get something more reliable that a Dry Pack bag. Although, I don't know if getting a housing is the best option. What about getting a point and shoot then buying an underwater housing for that, or a GoPro Hero 3? I'm not sure about the image quality compared to a DSLR, but most of the water I would be shooting in would be pretty much crystal clear, expect for the Atlantic waters for surfers. What would be the best for me? I do have a bunch of money saved up and have been wanting to look into this for a while.

If you have an iPhone then I'd look into a water proof case for it. They aren't that much money. They are water proof to around 15 feet.

Or the Nikon AW100 is a better option. Its more expensive but it will give you much better image quality.

http://www.nikonusa.com/...AW100.html.

Personally I wouldn't buy an underwater case for your D3100. From what I've seen and heard your control is limited with an underwater case. At least with the AW100 you can just have the camera do all the work.

For your camera, under water cases run about $1, 500. They are specially made for each camera and go down below 50 feet I believe, perhaps more.

I agree with the above. For some professionals or amateurs who will do a LOT of diving photography the underwater housing for a DSLR can be a worthwhile investment. For your vacation snapshots, cost outweighs benefit. There are one-size-fits-many housings that are less expensive, but they are probably a struggle to work with. Something like a Nikon AW110 is less expensive and can get you pictures that are not the greatest, but not bad. A peculiar thing about the AW110 is that Nikon provides a neckstap with it, and the instructions say that it is unsafe to use a neckstrap in the water. If you drop it in the water with no floatation attached, it will sink. So buy a wriststrap for it, if you get that model. Other possibilities include the Olympus TG-2, and the Canon D20. According to reviews, the TG-2 gains some low light advantage with its f2 lens, and the underwater scene mode has better color balance than most. One might think its 12 MP sensor would have a quality advantage over the 16 MP compacts, but Olympus squanders that with excessive smudgy noise reduction. The D20 has the best ergonomics for diving with well placed, well sized buttons. The Nikon's 16 MP sensor has noise reduction artifact as expected, but not really worse than the Olympus. It seems to have less chromatic aberration and corner softness than competitors in the category.

I'm with you on the Go-Pro… The concept is great, the quality is the bit that really concerns me… I know I would be disappointed with it though it would still be great fun… And when I measure the fun level with bang for buck things start to balance out… Because you seem quite serious and it's a yearly event… It would be worth considering a true waterproof housing this will cost more than the camera - but it's worth it.

A company called AEE are marketing a camera similar to the GoPro range - very early days though some reviews from the states are pretty good and the price might be more tempting… Like I say it will give you results and be good fun… If quality is your priority then get the waterproof housing for the D3100.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2041220