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The pictures turned out great. I've read reviews stating issues with the batteries. I'm less thrilled with it for that purpose. It takes a little practice to be sure you are actually taking the picture. It does what it is designed to do and is much better than using a disposable camera. I would recommend shooting just as many as you can.I bought this one because I also liked the idea of using it as a pocket camera. My 6 year old Sony is much better.
That being said, it's still a decent camera. One word of caution tho: Be sure you are hitting the shutter button hard enough. If you want great shots with a portable camera, go buy a better camera for that. It is also very helpful for taking shots at the beach, and other places where you want your camera protected. You cannot see the display underwater - but you can see the photo count - so be sure that number is changing. I did have to make minor adjustments to the brightness and contrast in the photos (for the most part I used autolevels in Photoshop). I had no issues with batteries.
On our first outing, I thought I snapped about 400 photos - I actually got 4 of them. The photos are okay - but not what you would expect from a 7 megapixel camera. We took our dogs to the beach, and I was able to get some great shots because I had a camera I could carry out into the water - even though I wasn't shooting under the water.My recommendation: Keep this one for snorkeling, beach trips, kayaking, playing in the pool, or any other time you want your camera protected. I bought this camera for a snorkeling trip, and it did not disappoint. I bought energizer lithium batteries and they lasted for quite a while.As an underwater camera, it is well worth the money. I used it to shoot some video, and it came out blurry and the sound was not very good.
The write time to cards (have tried several different kinds) is also on the slow end for this type of camera. Takes a nice photo but the length of time you have to hold down the shot button inside the housing is extraordinarily long. Size inside housing is manageable and makes this camera a better choice for casual photography than an SLR camera.
They are not spectacular, but for the price is it was fun to take snorkeling. The pictures when there is adequate light are pretty good. The external slave flash makes a good addition to improve the lighting. I had no trouble with the housing. The double gasket is very secure. The focus/shutter lag are pretty bad and I missed photos because of it and it was this frustration that led me to getting a dSLR in the first place, but it is always hard to go back to a p&s from a dSLR.
It takes good pictures and is easy to use. If the subject moves quickly it will not be captured in the frame. This camera is a fairly good camera for the price. One drawback is the length of time it takes to take the picture.
But overall I found the quality of the pictures surprisingly good if the water is clear and there is adequate amount of light. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I took pictures underwater. I got beautiful photos of colorful corals, sea turtles, sea lions etc. I checked out the camera without its housing and found the IC-700 to be a capable camera but nothing to write home about when compared to my Nikon D80. I may consider investing in a underwater flash unit to go with it. The camera was easy to use under water but aiming and checking for focus was tricky especially when the water is choppy.
It was definitely well worth the investment. I bought this camera just before a trip to the Galapagos islands where I expect to do some snorkeling. I took some pictures with the camera inside the housing out of water and found a degradation in the quality of the photos. When the visibility is low then the camera has trouble focussing.
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