Underwater Camera

December 4, 2005 | In Photography, Gear | 1 Comment

Here is my new Pentax WPi underwater digital camera. As far as I know, it is the first digital camera that doesn’t need a special waterproof case. I really wanted to buy this camera because there are so many fun things to do in the water on Kauai, from snorkeling to kayaking and hiking behind waterfalls (and swimming across rivers). Also, it sometimes rains on hikes and it convenient to not worry about the camera getting wet.

This photo is a mirror image that is rotated to show the camera better:

The camera does have some underwater limitations, it can only be immersed for 30 minutes up to 5 feet (1.5 m) deep. So it’s perfect for snorkeling, but can’t be used for diving. I took some underwater pictures yesterday afternoon, and the quality of the underwater photos is very good. They are not perfectly sharp, but it was hard to keep still in the waves. The results would be even better on a calmer day with brighter sun around noon.

The colors are slightly blue and green, as shown in the following raw image I took in full automatic mode. The images I posted were color corrected to look more natural. There is an underwater mode which I will try to see if it adjust the colors automatically.

Snorkeling Photos

December 4, 2005 | In Beaches, Fauna | No Comments

I don’t know whether I’m more excited to have an underwater digital camera or to show you the photos I took with it. I’ll start with the photos here and present the camera in another post.

Yesterday, we went snorkeling at Beach House beach, the tiny beach in Poipu that has the best snorkeling on the south shore. And because the waves are too high to swim on the north shore right now, it’s the best place on the island. It’s also in all the guide books, so it gets pretty crowded, but the fish are still there and don’t seem to suffer. We sometimes feed them fish food that we buy at the dive shop on the road to Poipu (Koloa Rd.), it attracts a big swarm of fish, although not the prettiest ones. Without food, you’ll still see lots of fish, just perhaps not as close:

During the fish feeding frenzy, I was able to catch this close up of a racoon butterflyfish (kikakapu in Hawaiian, meaning “strongly prohibited” apparently because they were sacred):

Later, I photographed this threadfin butterflyfish (also kikakapu in Hawaiian) by itself:

Then we swam out to where it was deeper and there are a few heads of coral. In this photo, my pregnant wife is pointing out the fish to her mother.