riccati

I agree, I think these would make great underwater cameras. Almost the "best of both worlds" of slr and compact. I'd love to see a super-compact housing like the Seatool Rebel Xti housing, but without a viewfinder eyepiece (could make it cheaper), just use live view all the time. The live view system looks fantastic, with proper slr autofocus.

Hi all, Thanks for the replies. I think I'll do a couple of dives, but it seems like the most exciting sites are above the water line . TonyM: You've convinced me to extend my trip by a couple of days so I can go to Cappadocia, it looks fantastic! Thanks again, R.

Hi everyone, In July I'll be going to the island of Kos, in the Dodecanese, for a conference. As usual, I'll try to fit in some diving as well. I think after that I'll catch the ferry across to Bodrum (Turkey), and then make my way up to Istanbul, topside sightseeing. Anybody been diving in Kos, Bodrum, or anywhere else up the Turkish coast, want to share experiences or advice?? Thanks in advance! R.

Hi, I just got an e900, and I have the INON AD-105 wide angle lens (not fisheye). For fast moving targets, I was thinking of just focusing on my fin, then putting it in manual focus. At wide angle, with these tiny sensors, I think you should have a hyperfocal distance of about a metre, and have anything from about 70cm to infinity in focus (a guess) The e900 responds much faster with manual focus! Has anyone tried this technique? BR Ric

Thanks everyone, lots of great advice! I haven't dived with Sea Lions before (despite several trips to Jervis Bay and Narooma, I've always missed them) so depending on how much time I've got I think I'll check out either Coronado or Catalina (I still welcome further suggestions though ) BR Ric

Hi, I've just discovered that I'll be going to San Diego for a conference in mid December, and seeing as work is covering the airfares I figure it's my duty to squeeze some diving in while I'm there, good chance to test out my new E-900/Ikelite rig too... All my diving so far has been in Australia, and I've got no clue about that area, so I'm looking for suggestions of good sites, good operators (preferably towards the budget end of the scale) and so on. I don't have a fixed schedule yet, but I can probably spare a few days. I know its winter, but I guess round there it doesn't get too chilly? Is the HMCS Yukon worth seeing, or is it too touristy? How tricky/expensive would it be to get out to Guadalupe and see some sharks? and if I did that, what are the odds of actually seeing any sharks?? Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated thanks! Ric.

ewww... sounds like Twenty20! Give me a good 5-day game any day...

But apparently not the WP-DC90, which houses the A-620.

Just a correction to Desert Eagle's post: You cannot fit AD mount lenses to the Ikelite housing, only 67mm. This is very annoying, since INON are also not making an adaptor for the canon housing. I already own a 105AD wide-angle lens, and like the look of the A-620, but it's impossible to combine them.

Well, technically it's nowhere near as good as the others posted here, but this is my favourite:

Hi guys, What's the deal with tiger sharks? Most places you look, they're rated second only to whites as man-eating nasties, but I see heaps of pix of divers getting super close to tigers without any protective gear. Nobody goes near a white without a cage. Are there certains times when they are safe? In a few weeks I'm going to the barrier reef (again) and we occaisionally spot tigers from the boat, but usually avoid diving near them. But I'd love to get a photo of one if it were not so dangerous... thx

Alex - you're quite right, and I've sometimes thought about making the jump. But it is quite a jump when it's just a hobby (and I'm a student). Giles - I agree it's incredible what we are blessed with in digital compacts these days. What I was really frustrated by was that so many cameras come so close, but none quite make it. And it doesn't seem to me there's any good reason why not. it would not be hard to add raw format to the A620. Even if they charged an extra 50 bucks just for that, I'd still buy it, and I think that setup would keep me happy for many years. When Canon remove raw from the S80, it just starts looking like a big conspiracy to make us all buy DSLRs!!

There's been several threads recently looking for a decent point and shoot underwater camera. For me, this means: 1) fast low light autofocus 2) Raw format 3) Good battery life 4) Reasonable time between shots. 5) Preferrably not xD based (slow, expensive, limit of 1gb) What is so hard about that? There is plenty of cameras on the market that fulfill all but one of these, at good prices (A620, E900, SP-350, S-80 to name but four). I don't want 9 megapixel. 5 is plenty. Heck, even 4 good clean megapixels would be okay. I know its still a tiny part of the overall camera business, but in the last year or so it seems every diver has an underwater camera, and underwater housings are taking prominent shelf space at regular camera stores. Seems like if anyone got it right, they could capture a sizeable niche market without too much effort, much like the 5050 did a few years ago. Sorry to have a big whinge, but really, I'm perplexed! It shouldn't be that hard! (why oh why did the S-80 add Digic II, but take out raw????)

They've just posted a review of the Canon A620 on dpreview http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonA620/ Looks promising. Some reasons: Apparently very fast at focusing, shutterlag, write time and flash recycle time. One downside: no raw mode However, it appears from the menus that there is an "underwater" white balance option. Could this give the most important benefit of raw, without the large file sizes? Any comments?? Anyone (e.g. Ike) know when the Ikelite housing will be released for it? Cheers, ric

So this solves the problem discussed in the other thread? If so, perhaps you should post the info there too, in case some people are not following both...

I have an idea. It's not perfect, but it might be a possible work around. If this only happens in manual mode, put the camera in aperture priority mode, and dial in as low exposure compensation as you can, probably -3. That way you can set your strobe power to match the aperture, and with ambient at -3 it should overpower any ambient light in the scene. Although, I guess if it were really dark, you might night get fast enough shutterspeeds this way. Any thoughts?

hey, I'm also considering this camera. One question: when you say 9 seconds to write a RAW, does that mean it's impossible to take a second picture during that time? Or is there some sort of buffer? Also, any information about battery life, or low light focusing would be useful, once you get a chance to play around with it. Thanks!