What to put a camera in?

[MikeB]

Current suggestions please - a Finepix HS30 - which I'd quite like to be able to use "at sea" - - - so I guess the appropriate case / bag will live in the cockpit with an inch or so of water - -

Hard case? If so, what make / size?
Dry bag?

Mike.

[PlymouthDamo]

(I'm assuming you don't want a rigid waterproof housing that the camera can be operated from? That would be mega bucks, and I don't think any have been made for that model in any case. I think the underwater housing for the camera I dive with was around £150, and that's just a compact - you're looking at over a grand for an SLR-form case.)

If you go with a hard box, it would need to be a bulky beast - seriously inconvenient. If I had a camera like that, I'd opt for a dry bag, and I'd wrap the camera in whatever spare clothes I'm carrying to protect it against knocks. It would be a lot easier to stow, and you'd presumably only take it out in calm conditions when it's not going to get splashed. The only other thing I'm aware of is this sort of thing:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DSLR-SLR-High-Quality-Waterproof-Case-Bag-for-Canon-Nikon-Sony-Olympus-Pentax-/160673271477?pt=UK_Photography_Underwater_Cases_Housing&hash=item2568df8eb5
Divers wouldn't touch it with a bargepole, but for surface watersports, it might do the trick.

[Green.media]

Id consider looking into a tough cam, something like the olympus or fuji for the cost of the case, your water proof housing, or a peli case you are nearly half way there to one on ebay, you then keep this camera for dry use and keep the tough one in your BA.
Cheers
Rich

[PhilAyr]

Hello Mike

I have tried the SLR - dry-bag - inside cockpit method and it didn’t work for me. Having to open the cockpit, retrieve the dry-bag (which is as you say usually sitting in a pool of water) and then open it with wet hands while at the same time trying your very best not to get the camera wet is nothing but a faff ! Even worse, I found that by the time you have done all that, the subject you wanted to photograph in the first place has probably moved on, or at best in another position. So in the case of the latter you re-position an open cockpit kayak (very dodgy in a bumpy sea) with the SLR either between your knees or around your neck, then recompose and take the photo. After doing this a few times you somehow go off the idea of taking many pictures.

One other thing I found is that no matter how careful you are, a little bit of water will find its way into the dry- bag.

The solution… Do as Douglas does and get a deck mounting Ortlieb camera bag .

Phil