JAZZ? WATER RESISTANT 3 IN 1 UNDERWATER DIGITAL CAMERA

5 comments

1. 

   Carl Maltzman on July 6, 2010 at 12:36 am

   I have just received this camera, the 1.3 mp Jazz JDC38W. I have taken some pictures with it: medium shots, distance shots, flash pictures, and with and without the waterproof casing. The pictures are blurry messes and absolutely useless. Unless I just happened to get a defective unit–as there is one review here, intelligently written, and positive–I would say steer clear of this camera. As far as sending it to get repaired, there is a $10 fee even under warrantee. Buyer beware.UPDATE: I was sent a new camera. This one works. I used it Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon shark swim. It was a little tricky to use underwater, especially because the picture taking feedback is iffy, since there is on LCD screen. However, on my second snorkel through the lagoon, I did get a few decent pictures. Remember, this is basically a cheapo camera with a waterproof housing. For the price, it works nicely. Just don’t expect top quality. Rating: 3 / 5

2. 

   Mari Bergeron on July 6, 2010 at 3:07 am

   I bought this camera for a snorkeling trip in the Philippines. What a disappointment to find that none of the pictures we took with this camera — above or under the water — were even distinguishable. Fuzzy, blurry, and strangely…red. Do yourself a favor, don’t buy this camera. Rating: 1 / 5

3. 

   Dale Davidson on July 6, 2010 at 3:32 am

   I bought this camera to use kayaking. Unfortunatly it is too low of resolution and too poor of lens quality to be good for anything other then a toy. Rating: 1 / 5

4. 

   F. goyette on July 6, 2010 at 5:27 am

   I own a cybershot sony camera, and I was planning on just buying a housey for that camera, but then I was told that a housey can hurt the camera if its not used right so I started looking for a cheap underwater camera. I came across this camera, and seeing as it was cheap and digital I bought it.. After I got I noticed that there was no screen [to see the pictures after they are taken]. Also the pictures didnt come out very good. Most were very blurry. The first time I put the camera in the water [after testing the case] the camera failed and the pictures deleted themselfs. I wouldnt even call this a camera. This is a toy. Not worth the money. Your better off buying a $200 camera that will last you more than one try. Rating: 1 / 5

5. 

   A. Godtland on July 6, 2010 at 5:52 am

   The stars I have given it are for what I would consider its class of camera, not how it compares to other fully featured digital cameras.

   I almost did not purchase this little camera based on the other reviews. But I was tired of the expense and bother of single use underwater film cameras. And its price at the time was about the same as purchasing and developing 2 single use underwater film cameras. So I decided to give it a try.

   I am very happy I made the purchase! I used the settings of its highest resolution (640×480) but with some compression so I could still fit 78 pictures in its memory. That turned out to be about as many pictures as I felt like taking in one snorkeling session. Between snorkeling sessions I moved the photos to my laptop and was ready to take 78 more photos in my next snorkeling session.

   640×480 is a fair size for printing 4×6 prints and that is what I would have developed my film camera to anyway. So I don’t feel that 640×480 is too small a resolution.

   Other reviews complained that the camera case leaked water. It is only supposed to be water resisteant up to 9 feet. So don’t plan any deep water dives. When I first got it I took the camera out of the case, put in a kleenex, sealed it, and swished it around in water for awhile. The kleenex never got wet. I would recommend testing this before you take any such item into the water. I took this camera on two snorkeling excursions. It did get slightly damp inside on the second trip, but it did not bother the camera.

   Other reviews complained that there is no screen to review the pictures you’ve taken. But compared to the single use film cameras that I was trying to replace, niether one has this feature. So I couldn’t count this against it. At least with this digital camera I can delete the last photo taken if I know I didn’t catch the image, for example if the subject moved at the last second, or if I accidently took a picture of the ocean floor. I cannot do that with the film camera. So this is better than a film camera.

   Do I get some poor photos with this digital camera? Yes, but I do with the film camera too. At least with this, I can delete those photos after I see them on my computer rather than paying to get them printed. Plus I can easily edit the pictures from this camera to make them brighter, crop, them or whatever I want pretty easily on my computer. With my film camera I have to go through the bother of scanning them in before I can do any fixing up of the pictures. So in this respect, I absolutely love this camera compared to the single use underwater film cameras.

   My only complaint about this camera is that there is no way to take the photos off of the camera without using the download software that came with it. The download software has a feature you cannot turn off that automatically changes the resolution of the photo to twice its size. For example, even though you took a 640×480 photo, it will be increased when downloaded to your computer to 1280×960. Anyone who works with digital images on computers knows when you increase the resolution of a photo, you get a poorer quality photo. I tried contacting the makers of Jazz cameras, but I have never gotten a response from them. So I believe that is the reason some of my pictures turn out blurry. Even still, I have some pictures that turned out very sharp, with bright colors, taken with this little camera. If it weren’t for this feature that doubles the resolution, I would have given this camera at least 4 stars.

   Is it a toy? Maybe, but it is a fun toy and you can take many fun photos and reuse it over and over again. It is a great replacement for the single use underwater film cameras. But if you are really into photography and want to take stunning photos, stay away from this camera and get an underwater housing for your favorite digital camera.

   (I also like the fact that it looks like a cheap toy — I don’t worry about someone wanting to steal this little camera like I would with my good digital camera.)

   I will try to add some images of photos I have taken with this camera so you can see for yourself what kinds of photos it will take. Rating: 3 / 5