Underwater Digital Camera suggestions

My daughter wants to get a digital camera that she can also use underwater. She has a basic point a shoot Panasonic now. I would say that she will be using to 90% for normal shots and only 10% while snorkeling or scuba. Looking for something that is good quality, secent zoom, won't break the bank and has decent MP size. Suggestions please?

I used to be a pretty active diver but haven't done much in the past 5 years or so, so FWIW my input will be a bit dated. P&S cameras with housings made by the same manufacturer are the most economical way to go. I haven't kept current on what's available but Olympus and I think Canon have been in that market. That's the way I'd recommend for someone who isn't deeply into photography. Things get a lot more complicated and expensive if you're diving deeper or at night and need a serious flash unit. These usually require a third party housing and a hot shoe on the camera as well as the flash unit and attaching arm. And IMO you should be a pretty experienced diver before you drag the whole thing under water because both photography and scuba are equipment and task intensive activities and you DO NOT want to screw up at depth. That can be extremely risky for you and for your camera. As a last comment, you might check out the Rodales Scuba forum web site. I used to hang out there a lot and they have some very high powered underwater photogs that are frequent contributers and generally very willing to respond to questions like this. The forum also has a gear section that may be helpful.

I used a Canon A650 PnS with a matching casing. It was extremely effective when I was snorkeling. But I am not sure this combination can handle the pressures of a scuba dive. Its great for snorkeling though.

The only thing is its underwater case is not very cheap (runs to about $150 new). The underwater housing for Canon A650 is WP-DC18.

Canon G10 with Canon's underwater housing. A friend has one and loves it, the images are great as well.

I don't do any underwater shooting, but my parents do. They currently use a Canon SD630 with an Ikelite housing and an Ikelite underwater strobe. You can see the results they get with this setup at their Picasa page.

If your looking for another p&s, Popular Photography had a review in their mag n the spring. http://www.popphoto.com/Features/The-5-Best-Waterproof-Compact-Cameras

Donald - Any P&S + housing combo is going to be a bit expensive, but you'll get exactly the P&S that you want. If, on the other hand, you aren't too concerned about which P&S (and really, pretty much all of them these days are very good in a given price range) you could get an underwater point and shoot.

Check out these other threads on here :

Thread 1
Thread 2

I second the vote for the Canon G9 or G10 and Canon housing. You can also look at the Ikelite housing for the G(/G10 if you want something a little more robust. The ability to shoot RAW files underwater is a big plus whan it comes to post processing IMO.