Our Favorite Camera Type – But No Longer Available New
Updated – February 2025
For nearly 20 years, compact snorkeling cameras have been our preferred choice for taking pictures underwater. The cameras are small, have good image quality, and combined with the great durability of a separate underwater housing, they are an ideal camera for a snorkeler. A compact camera has a larger sensor than a cell phone, and normally has a built-in zoom lens. The ones we liked had semi-professional controls as well.
Remarkably, and unfortunately, nearly every manufacturer has stopped making this type of camera. The reason is because everyone carries a cellphone that has a camera on it, which has almost completely destroyed the compact camera market.
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Alternatives to Compact Snorkeling Cameras?
Since it is now very hard to find a new compact camera, what is the next best option for taking pictures while snorkeling?
You could try to find a used camera. And we give some suggestions for those below. But it is not that enticing of an option, because you may not be sure of the condition of the camera, or how long it will last, or if there is a housing available. They are all getting old. And the prices are very high, because they are in demand right now.
Get a Waterproof OM System (Olympus) TG-7
Since compact snorkeling cameras are disappearing, our opinion is that, for the majority of snorkelers, the next best option is to get a waterproof camera.
Currently the most popular snorkeling camera in the world, is the waterproof OM System (previously Olympus) TG-7. You can also buy a waterproof housing for this camera, to greatly increase its durability. The image quality will not be as good from the TG-7 as some of the better compact snorkeling cameras that used to be available. But the small size, reasonable price, and generally good pictures makes it a clear choice for a snorkeler.
Read our full thoughts on waterproof snorkeling cameras here.
Get a Housing for Your Phone Camera
We really think this is going to be the sweet spot for snorkelers in the future. If you already have a good camera on your phone, then buy a good quality underwater housing for your phone, and take it snorkeling. It will be compact, affordable, and can deliver reasonably good pictures.
You can even get a housing now that allows full touch screen underwater, which is very cool.
Just make sure you get a very high quality housing. There are a lot of “waterproof” cases out there for phones that are completely unsuitable for the job.
Read about our suggested iPhone housings here.
Read about our suggested Smartphone housings here.
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Get a Larger Interchangeable Lens Camera and Housing
Since it is hard to find compact snorkeling cameras, the other option is to move up to a larger sensor camera, with an interchangeable lens. Very few snorkelers go this route, unless they are very serious about underwater photography. This type of camera will be much more expensive, the housing will also be expensive, and the size and weight of the entire package is kind of huge, compared to a TG-7 or a phone housing.
It is very common with this type of system to not only need a camera, lens, and housing, but also another lens for outside the housing, and a handle/tray, to hold onto it all. Hauling this huge camera kit around in the water, and in your luggage while traveling, just does not match up well with the snorkeling ethos, of keeping your gear and life simple, and affordable.
We don’t have suggestions for what type of camera of this type to purchase. You will need to try your luck at a diving photography store. Just be aware the you will likely encounter some sometimes ridiculous biases, and a lack of understanding about the differences between taking pictures as a snorkeler versus a diver. We have even had an owner of one of the most popular diving photography stores, tell us to our faces, in all seriousness, that a snorkeler can not take good pictures underwater. So stupid.
If we were considering a larger camera system, we would probably look first at the Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera line. The sensor is still fairly small, which means the camera body and lenses can be smaller, as well as the underwater housing. And these cameras have excellent image quality. One of our snorkeling community members uses an Olympus OM-D system that you can read about here.
Our Favorite Compact Snorkeling Cameras Used
You can still get some of our favorite compact snorkeling cameras used, and there are still some new underwater housings available for them. But the prices of these used cameras can be higher than they cost new when they were made 4-10 years ago. And the condition of what you are buying is always a bit of a gamble, both in the camera, and the housing.
Check for the Housing First
If you decide to purchase a used compact camera, first make sure you can purchase a housing for it. Ideally, it is better to purchase a new housing. Saltwater is hard on housings, and many of the affordable housings available for compact cameras were not serviceable. So the housing may have sticky or leaky buttons, and scratched ports.
Even used housings that have been hardly used, can have aged and hardened rubber o-ring seals around the buttons and doors, that may be an issue.
Canon G7X
We still use our old Canon G7x cameras, and love them. They have a fantastic 1″ sensor, and excellent colors underwater. They made three versions of this camera. Unless you really want 4K video, we still think the first version is the best. It had a button you could program that would allow you to do a custom white balance with a single button push. The second version of the camera lost that. And the third version lost all of it’s underwater settings.
The Canon brand G7X housings are pretty good, but there are a number of other more expensive options available. And most of those housings are serviceable. Unfortunately the Canon G7X has become highly desirable used, and a good used one will cost more than it did when new.
Sony RX100 Series
There are lots of different used Sony RX100 cameras available. They made a ton of different versions of them, and you can likely pick one up used. These cameras also have a 1″ sensor, for lots of detail. There is a new Sony housing available that works on many of the RX100 models.
Panasonic LX10
This was another very good compact camera, with a fast lens, and a 1″ sensor. And Ikelite, Nauticam and Isotta all made underwater housings for it.
If you felt like the technical camera features mentioned above were a bit of a mystery to you, you can learn what they all mean on this page.