According to Nikon Thailand, servicing my Nikonos V can only be done in Japan as they do not have the facilities do do pressure testing after the service any more.

The cost for this would be more than the camera is worth now..

Apart from investing in a 2KUSD housing for my D90 (which I can't afford anyway..), is there a suitable compact on the market to replace the Nikonos?

Hi FBN,

There are places to pressure test dive equipment in BKK too...if you don't mind doing it separately. I think it's 300-500 baht...

To be honest tho...shooting digital is much easier be able to review photos immediately to get the photo you want then & there ona dive & several digital compact models work great underwater.

I'm sure there are others, but these are the one's i know of to date that are on the top of my list of compact cameras:

- Canon G9, G10, G11, G12

- Panasonic LX3

- Canon S80, S90, S95

- Olympus c5050

- expected but not yet tested: Olympus ZX-1

Here's my list of why a compact is BETTER THAN AN SLR underwater too:

http://www.facebook.com/board.php?uid=170606518079

Cheers,

Lawrence Alex Wu

Try this.

Digideep

It's all about underwater housings.

Or ruggedized compacts.

Sony TX5

Panasonic FT2

Canon D10

The Olympus MJU Tough 6000, 6010, 6020, 8000, 8010 etc and the Pentax Optio W90 don't do so well in reviews.

Thanks for the info.

It does seem though that an underwater housing for either the D90 or a separate compact with a cheaper UW housing is the only way to go..

Think I will go for a self-service O-ring set and a trial dive; methinks, if it is going to fail a pressure test in a dive shop, it may as well fail when I do a dive!!

Would definitely prefer digital if I can but don't plan on doing that much diving any more so I'll concentrate more on the wildlife and safari stuff and save a bit of money for that 600mm..

^{I am using the micro 4/3s Lumix GF1 in a 10Bar housing. Apparently the micro 4/3s are really starting to dominate the underwater stills market given the small size, cost, excellent lens options and image quality.}

^{And it shoots HD video to boot.}

^{The housing is made in HKG and costs about a third of what some of the big name brands go for.}