Underwater Camera (that doesn't leak!) for under £100-300

[rob0r]

Hello All, I've had bad luck so far with underwater cameras and I'm looking for some advice. I went on a snorkelling/cruise holiday a few years ago and bought an impressive looking Nikon AW100 on the boat, from brand new it lasted a total of two days! The seal for the battery/memory card door failed and ended up killing the LCD screen although it still took pictures. The end result was you would have no idea what picture the camera would take as you wouldn't know what was in frame or whether the image was focused... We took it back and got a new replacement which lasted the rest of the holiday and a few subsequent holidays with occasional underwater encounters. After probably less than 10 times underwater across the years the same seal failed again! So now we have a camera out of warranty without a working screen...

Apart from the seal failing we were extremely impressed with the AW100 in terms of image quality. The latest AW110 from Nikon looks identical with the same compartment door, so I don't really have faith in buying this version... I've read a fair few underwater camera reviews across different sites, it seems that these reviews briefly test the cameras underwater with no long term tests. When I cross reference the cameras that are listed in the reviews against customer reviews on amazon and I've found no camera without a bad review stating that is has leaked, as such I'm not really confident on finding a truly waterproof camera!

The camera use is purely snorkelling with some occasional dive downs to perhaps 1-2 metres... not exactly high pressure stuff! I'm just surprised I can't find a confirmed leak proof camera in my price range. I've looked into housings for standard cameras and it looks like the budget would not be enough for the housing alone. I'm also in the market for an DSLR or mirror less DSLR, so I guess if I found a decent housing for a reasonable price this would also be an option.

So, any advice??

[rob0r]

The AW1 despite being hugely over budget would be absolutely fantastic, to the point I am quite tempted! I've again check amazon reviews and there are reports of condensation behind the lense. ARGH!!

[rob0r]

I have an old Fuji S6500FD bridge camera which dimensionally is near enough an DSLR, I'm thinking something like this camera bag is worth a punt?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331083682576

[rob0r]

I have a Veho Muvi HD7 which is similar to a go pro, though I doubt the photos from it would be worth taking! I don't see much point in shooting videos.

With time running out (I fly out in a week) I've lumped for an Olympus TG-2 as it came out best in reviews online in regards to image quality. They all seems to have reviews stating they leak so I'm probably on borrowed time with any of them! I suggested buying a cheaper camera but the OH didn't want to sacrifice image quality...