has anyone tried diving with this? how was the quality of the pictures like? what mounts would you recommend?
342187
I have not dived deep with it yet. However the waterproof case appears quite capable. I did drop the camera in some deep mud once without the case. I immediately took the battery out and held my breath for a day while it dried out. Water had gotten in pretty deep yet it survived. Either I was lucky or the camera can take a little moisture. I also own the SJ1000 and the two are very similar in their cases, apparent innards, menu system, and mounts. The mounts that come with these are good for nearly any situation but of course this greatly depends on the application for which you will use it. There is no window suction cup so if you intend it for a dash cam you will have to get one separately. If you intend it for a helmet there are straps that should suffice. I mount mine on a bike sometimes and found that the accessories are not designed to wrap handlebars very well, but with all the odd attachments I found a way to make it work. The quality is very good. There is a small bit of grain if the settings are not on full quality. Of course if you expect do any post production image stabilization then that will crop down a bit. Carrying the camera by hand will make for a bumpy, dizzy video, no matter how stable your hand is. I have a monopod which I often attach mine too. Carrying the monopod naturally has a stabilizing effect. If you want an accessory I would recommend a telescoping action cam pole. That way you can extend it out in front of you for those great panoramic selfies, or lift it up above a crowd for a bit of an aerial view.
342188
Drove my bike at night, you can even pick license plates. The camera does reveal lots of details
1227043
I took the Goscope to Grand Cayman coral reef diving it worked great in the salt water. I did wipe it down with a light oil spray afterwards for storage, it probably didn't need it. Goscope is a must have accessory for the gopro camera.
2192126
You can shoot as video underwater also and with the cover in place. It was an expensive but excellent purchase. The cons were it is bulky to pack and I could not use the view finder I had to use the large screen for viewing. I am sure you can use the viewfinder I just did not take the time to read the directions. Good luck!
1678527
The standard housing that comes with the camera is rated for a depth of 40 meters (131 feet). You can buy the "dive housing" for 59.99 rated for 60 meters (197 feet). In most cases the standard housing works great. Most people are not diving past 40 meters. The picture quality is amazing!
183636
I used it while scuba diving and it was fine. Water will of course get in and it needs to be rinsed after use in salt water especially. Stability with a GoPro was fine under water. On land it might start to rotate after a while but if that happens you can slightly press the pole so it will become oval and then it won't rotate anymore. I recommend it.
427760
I have not, I have used it for whitewater kayaking and swimming with the kids, but I have seen videos of people sky diving so it is something you could do with it. The only thing you would have to do is mount the camera to a helmet or use the provided wrist strap. It does come with the mounts that will stick on the helmet that you are using, but I would strongly recommend some kind of leash that is attached to you in case it were to blow off your helmet. I have not had issues with that, but I did have an issue kayaking and accidently hit the camera with a paddle and did not have the leash attached and lost the camera, but that was my fault not the camera nor the stick mounts it comes with.
1053341
I have the Olympus and it hs worked well for me due to the shock proof aspect and the waterproof. I dropped it twice on a trip once in the water and it is still like new. I have not used it for diving yet but have a friend that has and her photos were great. I will be diving with it in a couple of weeks.
1968670
I suggest getting the flat lens housing. You get better video above and below water and the filters will help with color underwater, lights are really the best though.
599020
Yes, However if you are getting a lot of accessories you might wanna buy one bigger. I use my go pro for scuba diving and i have different mounts and filters to help get better video and Photos. All my accessories fit fine.
990220
I think the pic quality is good. The pre setting modes work great. Bought this camera to use in Hawaii and took a lot of pics outside of water and they came out nice. We took a high end dlsr cam but used this one about 80% of the time. FYI the underwater pics were pretty good. Just try not to zoom in on things underwater andale sure you have it on the underwater mode. Hope this helps
630172
Friends of ours took it scuba diving with success, though you should keep its max depth in mind. My husband and I took it snorkeling and dove to about 15-20ft easily with no problems. It's probably one of the best purchases we have made, and the pics turned out great!
797210
That's a good question. I don't believe that it's water tight. So, in the short term, you could use it for scuba diving, but it would likely get water inside and possibly rust or otherwise not last very long after. That said, getting some great shots underwater might be worth the cost of the item.
603841
I've used it for snorkeling and diving and it is hard to see the screen, adjust the dials/settings on a DSC-HX5. Sometimes the lens cover gets in the way zooming in helps with that if you can manage the controls to actually zoom. You really just have to figure that your camera is set the way you want it and the point/shoot. The pictures are ok - about what you'd expect in terms of colors when you're 5-10 ft under water which has nothing to do really with the case. So it's not perfect, but I don't know that there is a better option given the price and the number of times I'll use it. I'll use it next time I go, now that I know how the pictures will turn out and can handle it better... I've used it for snorkeling and diving and it is hard to see the screen, adjust the dials/settings on a DSC-HX5. Sometimes the lens cover gets in the way zooming in helps with that if you can manage the controls to actually zoom. You really just have to figure that your camera is set the way you want it and the point/shoot. The pictures are ok - about what you'd expect in terms of colors when you're 5-10 ft under water which has nothing to do really with the case. So it's not perfect, but I don't know that there is a better option given the price and the number of times I'll use it. I'll... » Read More I've used it for snorkeling and diving and it is hard to see the screen, adjust the dials/settings on a DSC-HX5. Sometimes the lens cover gets in the way zooming in helps with that if you can manage the controls to actually zoom. You really just have to figure that your camera is set the way you want it and the point/shoot. The pictures are ok - about what you'd expect in terms of colors when you're 5-10 ft under water which has nothing to do really with the case. So it's not perfect, but I don't know that there is a better option given the price and the number of times I'll use it. I'll use it next time I go, now that I know how the pictures will turn out and can handle it better... « Show Less
1844697
I have been very satisfied with this camera...................but as with any underwater camera, the lights are needed at any kind of depth...............the videos are also very good
1840764
I used it with the underwater case and the case is great. I had the camera set to Auto ISO and when snorkeling and pointing the camera down in shallow spots, the camera set the ISO to very high numbers. The good thing is it let me capture moving things but unfortunately that led to grainy photos. I guess it's better to at least have gotten no blurring. I had to adjust black levels up a lot to get nice photos underwater. Video came out good underwater except for the fact that you can hear the lens zooming and that is annoying. Can't believe they overlooked that and of course it isn't mentioned in their literature. I used it with the underwater case and the case is great. I had the camera set to Auto ISO and when snorkeling and pointing the camera down in shallow spots, the camera set the ISO to very high numbers. The good thing is it let me capture moving things but unfortunately that led to grainy photos. I guess it's better to at least have gotten no blurring. I had to adjust black levels up a lot to get nice photos underwater. Video came out good underwater except for the fact that you can hear the lens zooming and that is annoying. Can't believe they overlooked that and of course it isn't... » Read More I used it with the underwater case and the case is great. I had the camera set to Auto ISO and when snorkeling and pointing the camera down in shallow spots, the camera set the ISO to very high numbers. The good thing is it let me capture moving things but unfortunately that led to grainy photos. I guess it's better to at least have gotten no blurring. I had to adjust black levels up a lot to get nice photos underwater. Video came out good underwater except for the fact that you can hear the lens zooming and that is annoying. Can't believe they overlooked that and of course it isn't mentioned in their literature. « Show Less
894350
60ft is what it is rated to. I have never taken it that deep. I only free dive and snorkel. I use it to take video or photos when I snorkel. The deepest I have ever used it is about 20ft. Works great and takes good photos. You can buy a little attachment that you can put on the holding string, that will float if you should accidentally let go of it. I snorkeled closed to what I thought was a rock that turned out to be a sea turtle that suddenly strated moving bout 1 ft away from me. Glad I had the floating strap.
1928094
For a good review of what this camera can and can't do at diving depths, see: http://www.digicamera.com/reviews/olympus_stylus_770sw/ My 2cts: Except in clear tropical waters you need an external strobe, not to avoid white-out, but to avoid backscatter from particulates in water. (I've got some great images from tropics just using the built in strobe from a housed point-and-shoot digital, but an external strobe is a necessity in northern/central CA.) I could see taking this on a trip, if I'm going to be only shallow (unlikely in tropical waters) and wanted to avoid the hassle of taking my whole housing/strobe set-up. However, if you're planning to get a strobe and genuine scuba-depth housing (as mentioned, Olympus does make one for this model), you have to ask what's the point of paying extra for what this camera comes with already, as well as its limits (compared with higher quality cameras/lens not designed to skinny-dip). If you snorkel, kayak, surf, play in the water a lot, etc., it may still make sense. If you want that versatility, but still will use a housing/strobe for diving, consider the 720, which allows you to go 10ft and would save you some money. Another thought (now wearing my PADI instructor hat): There's a lot of task loading in learning scuba (esp. if you're doing it in cold Alaska water!), and I would advise against adding underwater photography too soon. Although I have a hard time diving without a camera, I think new divers should wait until they're quite comfortable in the water (for their own safety), and have very good buoyancy skills (for the safety of the marine environment).