burtjohn

Hi all, Based on the (much) earlier advice that you have had to offer, I've been socking away money in preparation for your recommended purchases, I've gone with the Canon Pro1 as a matter of price and convenience, and because it has such a solid reputation. I'm now in the process of looking for housing and strobes. The housing appears to be only available through Ikelite. There's a german company called Bruder that apparently makes a housing as well, but I can't decipher their german website, and haven't seen anyone recomend it. Ikelite has an MSRP of $750 for their Pro1 housing (#6144). The cheapest I've seen outside has been at Adorama for $630. Does anyone know of any other sites that offer such good prices for Ikelite equipment? My technical question has to do with strobes. There are a range of options available,, and all of this is new to me and I don't want to snafu a choice this important. The recommendations list Manual strobes for this camera, and I gather it has something important behind it... but I don't know what. The other options are with TTL slave sensor or TTL sync cord.. and I have no idea what this means. Rather than making a poor choice off the bat, does someone have some advice that is pertinent to someone with a novice background? I want something easy, but it sounds like there are solid tecnical reasons that I should choose the manual option - I just didn't understand their explanation on the Ikelite site. I gather that it has something to do with the camera's timing. Again, as a reminder, most of these shots will be close up macros of a less than 10x10" area on the bottom.. although I'll be doing fish photos 20% of the time too. Oh, that reminds me: for what I'll be doing, do you see a need for me to go with teh DS125's or should the DS-50's be sufficient? I'll prtobably go with a single arm as I can't really afford 2 at this point. Thanks for any advice! John

Oh, forgot - James: Thanks for the idea on the PVC frame - that's an excellent idea, and one that I didn't even consider (and it is especially important if I'll be using seriesed shots for image analysis!). Thanks! John

Hi gang, First off, many thanks for the advice, and the time and effort put into it. In looking at the various commenst, I guess I should have thought ahead on a budget. I was thinking somewhere on the lines of $1500-2000, but as I have zero knowledge of underwater photography I guess I wasn't sure if this would get me fully kitted or not even in the water. I will have a look at the various products people have already recommended, but if you have any other ideas, please keep them coming. Many thanks again! John

Hi all, I'm a scientist who has done all of my work previously in freshwater, but am switching over to reefs. I won't get into the details of why I'm making the transition, but let's just say that getting funding for diving on reefs sounds a hell of a lot more fun then tromping around in streams. In any event, I will be needing a camera for two things: 1) identifying fish that I don't know (ie sending the pics to a friend) and 2) monitoring invertebrate community change in small plots (ie take a picture every month and use image analysis software to see who is growing, overrunning others, etc). I'd like recommendations on a digital camera that is easy/quick to use for snapping _clear_ photos of unknown fish swimming by, but can also be used for good macro shots on areas that are about 10x10 inches. I'm not a camera buff, so I don't know anything about flash neccessary, housings, etc. I will be working primarily at depths of 10m (30ft), but may go as deep as 30m (90ft) occassionally. I would like something that is good quality, but not super high-end as I probably can't afford it. If you know of a "package" that includes all the accessories I need, that's probably easiest. I guess one that would also be usable on land would be nice, but not essential. I'm a point and click type, so I won't be doing manual adjustments unless neccessary for focusing. Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks! John