thinking about getting an underwater camera, any suggestions?

we bought an olympus, it works to 33ft depth. Think it was about $350 though. They sell a 10ft for about $200. good luck finding one, i bought ours last minute in the states and didn't bother to look around, but it came from best buy. i can foward u pics if you wanna consider it.

I use small nikon with underwater housing. It is good to something like 100 ft, and the benefit is of a decent camera. Fantasea makes a number of different housings (around $100 each) for various cameras. My Nikon s210 is probably less than $100 now too.

what exactly do you mean by underwater housing? It's a normal digital camera that you can put into a hard case and take underwater?

yes, thats exactly what it is. it is a clear case specifically made for a certain digital camera model. there are a number of manufacturers of these out there.
the choice is much greater than the choice of cameras specifically made to work underwater.

We recently bought a canon d10 it is waterproof to 33 feet. It cost a little less than $300. We have been very happy with it so far. We bought it at Bouchlands here on island and they matched the price on Amazon. We also own a dead Canon A570 with an underwater housing. I went diving with it and didn't latch the housing correctly. Unless you need to go down 100 feet I would buy one of the 33 foot deep cameras without the housing.
Jay

If you plan on using the camera while diving, 33 feet will not be enough tolerance. You will need at least 100 feet.

If you go the housing route, the most economical option is to buy an older camera model AND A SPARE (or even two), and the housing. This may cost a bit more than your budget, but it will last and last.

Typically with decent care the housings last indefinitely but the digital cameras themselves only last a few years in this climate and become obsolete almost instantly. Having a second camera of the same model that you KNOW will fit the housing will give you a lot more longevity. Otherwise, like me, you could have a few nice (and somewhat costly) housings on the shelf with no camera to put in them.

B & H photo sells cameras, decent -to-excellent housings, and ship to the VI through the mail, insured, no fuss.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com

You might check out Canon's line of digital cameras (powershot, elf, etc). They make a whole line of underwater housings for most of their cameras. I've been using them for years. You can try to find a matched set that stays around your $300 budget. The good part of going this route, you have a handy little digital camera for taking pictures on land too. They do take pretty good pictures. I have quite a few Scuba pictures posted on my web gallery.

I do already have a nice Sony digital Camera for land and was hoping not to have to take that underwater. I am also looking for something to take diving which means I need a camera that goes past 33 ft of depth. I am looking into a few different ones and definitely appreciate all the help you are giving me!!

Check JoeDiver.com. I got a Land & Sea camera with housing and carrying case for about $500. Joe Diver has several models and they ship to the USVI.

The current Canon camera housing I have is rated to beyond recreational diving depths. I've taken the housing to about 110 feet with no issues. Most everyone in the dive club in Bermuda had a Canon underwater outfit. If you take care of the housing and clean it well after each use, and keep the O-ring in good shape it will work out for a long time.