Customer Reviews

INTOVA INWD-IC600 6.0 Megapixel Digital Camera with Waterproof Housing -180FT

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

In this modern day & age, we are sometimes sufficiently graced to "get what we pay for". I am happy to convey this boffo little dynamo gives your steady hand way more bang than expected. As an avid diver & photographer I did a lot of research, wedged between some mecha-$1000s set up with strobes out to the sides like insect eyes - and the stoopid $20 disposable film jobbies I'd hobbled by with for years.

Lucky to have found this camera; their (Intova) newer, more mega-pixeled versions could be better - I would not be surprised, given the overall workmanship, quality of build & performance I got. Caveat: 90% of my opinion is based on scuba pix in warm & clear tropical environments; however, the responsive convenience of the digital itself - sans housing - should not be overlooked. For a suave dinky 6MP point & shoot, the built-in flash functioned admirably, if sometimes pawn to close range (~<5 ft, better 3 ft & in) & victim of lens housing shadow casts. Used skillfully in conjunction with your natural light source, you can capture very decent color renditions below 40 ft. ("photoshop" up your reds). While Intova's labeled claim of 180 ft. wasn't challenged by me, I spent plenty of time >100 ft, & my IC600 negotiated >30 dives without so much as a hiccup. I did also attentively maintain my housing, well rinsed & clean, with good quality fresh silicone grease on my o-rings when I changed the batteries. By the way, the red filter accessory is too much (overtones) & not worth it.

Two other tips - some may ponder ordinary "alkaline" vs rechargable batteries here; follow me & many other reviewers & use rechargeables ONLY. I got a sony 4-pk w/ wall charger & easily kept them going in&out by 2's ~every other day with zero performance lapse (eg, 50-75 HQ photos per day +some videos, over 600 files in total; didn't barely fill half my card). To that end, I also added a better-quality "fast" 2GB SD card. Very curious if the processor reads an SDHC (since the specs don't say), but haven't tried.

For what this camera costs versus what it delivers, it's 5-star, frankly. It is though an "entry level" option, and not meant to compete with those huge multi-eyed 12MP rigs fellows tote around. As at the start, sometimes we're lucky to get what we pay for, and MY IC600 to me is "worth" way more than I paid here on Amazon, that's for sure.

This camera is very easy to use. The double o-ring ensures an airtight compartment with little or no hassle, particularly as compared to ikelite housings which are notorious for sealing problems unless you are very careful. The only downside so far is the incredibly short battery life. I have solved that by buying rechargeable batteries and keeping some with me in my dry bag. I am buying one of these for my daughter and her boyfriend for Christmas!

After much research, I purchased this camera mostly because it fit in my price range. Not sure why, but the housing is cheaper than most others like it and you get a camera too! I just got back from a diving trip to Honduras and the pictures are ok. The closer you are to the surface, the better the pictures. Alot of the photos were greenish-blue and not very vivid, but for the price you pay, it is an excelent way to remember a dive. I would rather take another diving trip than pay for a camera, but that is just me. The housing is very tough and didn't leak at all. The screen is sometimes hard to see underwater, depending on the sunlight. The camera is slow to take pictures, but you get used to it after a while. I would definitely recomend getting a large memory card and rechargable batteries. (the disposable ones only last about one dive) The functions are more than adequate and I enjoyed the video mode which also captures sound underwater! I recommend this camera and would purchase it again. It is a great deal for the price!

This is my first underwater camera and for the money is does a good job. A couple of notes, when shooting underwater you need to set it up in Program mode, for cloudy day and always use the flash. The housing blocks part of the built in flash so you need to make or buy a diffuser. I made one with a translucent plastic top off a can of nuts. Attach it at the end of the lens opening on the underwater housing, I attached it with tie wraps. You really have to be close to your subject (less than 3 feet) for the flash to light up the subject and deliver true colors.

If you plan to get serious about underwater photography this is not the camera for you. I will use it on casual dives when I just want a shot. It is compact so you can kind of clip it on and forget it.

A couple of downsides, it goes through the batteries in about 75 shots so a couple of dives and you need new ones or rechargeable ones. The auto focus is slow so when you press the button it take a couple of seconds or 3 to auto focus, sometimes by then the fish is gone.

Here is a link to some of my photos I took with the camera in Bonaire.

http://picasaweb.google.com/got2golfster/BestofBonaire?authkey=a9Gcmn7KVKY#

Camera works very well and has plenty of features. Waterproof case is very well made and easy to use (and it floats!!!). There were only 2 negatives: 1) Very difficult to see the LCD screen when using the camera underwater. I was able to get most of the shots I wanted just by pointing the camera. Used a high resolution so I could crop out what I didn't want. 2) It was also difficult to tell when I had pushed the shutter button half-way to focus the shot when using the underwater housing. I will probably get a better feel for this over time.

This camera is excellent for diving in water that is well lit. (Hawaii, Carribean) I used this in Hawaii and it worked out great. I recommend getting the intova slave flash to get better lighting on shots deeper underwater. Overall a great snorkeling and dive camera.

Excellent entry level camera and housing for scuba diving.
As part of the planning for a trip to Hawaii where I would get
re-certified as a scuba diver, I looked for underwater cameras.
I choose this digital camera and housing because 1) price - I needed
a camera for this trip and don't know how much diving I will do in
the future, 2) camera and housing are separate so camera can be
used without the housing, 3) features - the camera has many
basic features found in entry level digital cameras. I used the
camera on two dives. We got down to a max depth of 57 ft. The camera
and housing worked well. I got several pictures of turtles. Since I
was new to underwater photography I didn't realize that I should keep
the camera and housing cool between dives, so the camera was fogged up
on the 2nd dive. I took some pictures anyway and they all came out ok.
After the diving was done, I used the camera without
the housing for the rest of trip. I highly recommend this camera and
housing as an inexpensive underwater camrea.

The Intova IC600 is a good basic underwater camera for the price. The waterproof housing worked great on two scuba dives down to 60 feet. The camera has several nice features including a flash that works in auto, flash off, flash on, and red eye modes. The flash is weak, and it has to be used close to your subject in clear water. The photos are of nice quality. You can experiment with white balance settings to give different color qualities underwater. The housing allows for 46mm filters to be attached, although the 85B filter I used tended to give photos a green hue. Intova offers an underwater filter that may or may not help. Definitely use rechargeable Ni-Cad batteries with the camera as they last longer than regular batteries, which get eaten up fast. The rear screen is hard to see through the housing in sunlight, but is slighty easier to read underwater. This is the perfect underwater camera for the occasional scuba diver or snorkler who wants to see immediate results and preserve underwater sights with good quality photos. The camera takes standard SD cards up to a couple gigabytes, and by taking numerous photos, you're bound to get a few keepers.

I took this camera out to an underwater archaeology site. It worked great and took good pictures especially with the flash. The water had about 2 to 3 ft. visibility. I tried to take a picture without the flash but the lighting was too poor. The video part of the camera worked very well too. The only problem is the small buttons with thick gloves. Memorize the buttons because you won't be able to tell what the buttons are since they are only black with very small icons. Well worth the price.

good value
extremely slow to take picture (this is fine for dormant sea-life, turtles, rocks, etc... moving fish are generally not in frame. People shots. hold your breath a little longer...)
Did not leak.
Buy rechargeable AA batteries, very short battery life span- (changing batteries underwater not recommended.)