Ask Camcorders

This was a total waste of money and a huge disappointment for my son. He took 8 rolls of pictures while he was at camp and none of them came out because the film would not advance correctly and either the entire role was blank or the pictures were double or more exposed. And he was 14 years old so it was not because he didn’t know how to use a camera. Don’t waste your money.
Rating: 1 / 5

First off, the ISO 800 film that comes preloaded in this camera is junk film. It’s not even worth processing, in my opinion. It’s not even worth doing what do and develop negatives and scan only (no prints – very inexpensive way to shoot film). I would have rather thrown it out and loaded a different roll had I known its quality was as bad as it was.

Second, the camera I received in the mail was broken. The lock wheel that keeps it water sealed had just fallen off. This was not shipping damage. This was just poor build quality. I called Adorama and complained, and they shipped me out another one. Their customer service is excellent, but this camera has been on back order for a month now, so I have still yet been able to use a non-broken one.

I was able to use this without the lock wheel by wrapping multiple rubber bands around it to hold it closed tightly. This worked, but it’s ugly. I shot 2 rolls of film – the junk roll that is preloaded, and a roll of Fuji Pro 400H. The Fuji Pro 400H was a good film for bright daylight in shallow water. The 800 speed film was a little too fast (and again, just garbage).

Third, there is significant, uneven distortion through the lens of this camera. It’s very unappealing and just looks bad. Dead center of the frame is “okay.” Everything else is a joke.

Since trying this camera, I’ve searched around to find examples of other cheap underwater cameras, and it looks like just about all the disposable underwater cameras available today produce much nicer images than this semi-disposable camera (even with good film loaded).

What I wanted when I bought this was something that would be at least a minor step up in photo and build quality from a disposable underwater camera. What I got was something that was inferior in every way to a disposable underwater camera – and yet I paid more, and was frustrated by the entire process and end results.

*** This is a toy camera. That’s all it is. Buy it to try. Buy it for fun. If you prefer better technical quality in your images, then try a disposable underwater camera, or buy a case for your cheap digital camera. ***

Rating: 2 / 5

I bought one of these cameras for a scuba trip in December 2005. The sale price at a local Longs Drug Store was just $5, but anything under $10 is a good deal. What sets this aside from previous disposables, is it is waterproof to 100 feet! Plus, it’s reusable, just load it up with 800 speed 35mm film.

There is no flash, and the 800 speed film requires good light and good visibility while scuba diving. I shot the 27 exp roll it came with at 95′ depth during a few morning dives and only 20 of the 27 came out. You’ll have to get used to properly aiming with the view finder while wear a mask, and the little aimer on top is only a vague guide.

The picture quality was ok. Because I didn’t have external lights, they came out with lots of blue and maybe 15-20′ visibility, when the actual dive was about 30-35′ vis.

But unless you spend a lot more to get external lights and a better camera, the cost is low enough that I was just happy to get some scuba shots… which I’ve never done before. I’ll be using this camera again next time.
Rating: 4 / 5