I'm new! What camera/housing/strobe should I buy?

[nathan4485 0]

I am looking for a great above water camera which I will be able to find proper undrewater housings for. So I started with looking for a good camera and with a friend came up with these seven: Canon G5, Fujifilms7000, Nikon coolpix S700, Canon PowershotS1 IS,OlymupsC-750 ultra zoom, Kodax Easyshare DX6490,Fujifilmfinepix5000, Dimage DZ2. So tell me what you think about these diff. cameras and give me advice about which one has the best features for above/undre water water photogaphy. And of course which has the best housing at the most reasonable price.

[MikeVeitch 0]

Personally i like Olympuses for underwater use.

The 5050 or whatever the newest one in that range is is probably best.

Olympus seems to have the best manual control features of any product, full manual very important for underwater use.

Light and Motion makes a great housing for Olympuses with a real hot shoe strobe connection as opposed to the crappy slave functions found with other housings. Little more expensive but if you want results is best to pay the diff. But if you are just doing one or two dive trips a year and just looking for some photos to show your friends and a camera that is easy to use and carry around then one of the cheaper models with less functionality is fine.

[james 0]

Ikelite housings for Olympus cameras provide true camera to strobe automatic TTL control using an Ikelite sync cord. This is a bit more affordable of a setup and one that will provide hours of fun and plenty of room to grow.

 

Cheers

James

[MikeVeitch 0]

Great to hear Ikelite has adopted a proper connection. I have an ikelite housing for one of my film SLR cameras and never had any real problems that weren't user error.

So i will change my tune, for a first time housing, or anytime really, go Ikelite, affordable and reliable.

[ying 0]

hie...i'm pretty interested with underwater photography. So planning to get a camera that will be good for both land and water usage.

 

I've looked into canon s70..however i found that the underwater casing for canon's camera are pretty limited. It can't go more than 30ft?

 

Any recommendation for me?

thanks

[Simon K. 0]

Hi Ying,

 

I'm not sure about the housing for the S70 but the housings for the S30-S50 was rated to 30 meters (and i took it to 40m without problems) are you sure you don't mix up ft and meters?

 

Simon

[ying 0]

i've got mixed up...

s70 case could support up to 40m / 130 ft max

 

How's the S series camara performance underwater?

[Arnon_Ayal 1]

Hi Ying,

I used the S30 and the S50 U/W (and also a little bit on land)

In general the S series have a good optic and they give you all the options with the parameters of the photography, almost as DSLR another advance is the size of them.

Two problems with thus cameras I was notice:

1. Very poor battery, it enough for less then two dives so you have to open the housing after each dive.

2. The macro is not so good.

[tie 1]

Can someone explain the forward compatibility of the Inon 180 strobe, if I buy it now for a P&S? Will this strobe work with a DSLR (even if only using optical trigger through a clear housing like Ikelite's)?

 

I like the price, size and simplicity of this strobe, although I realize Ikelite strobes will be TTLable with Ikelite housings.

 

Edit: I figured it out with a better search.

link

[TomH 0]

I have an Olympus C5060 and PT020 and must say I am disappointed.

 

I have sent the camera back to Olympus twice and the PT020 housing once.

 

Right out of the box the PT020 was bad. Putting the camera in the housing resulted in the camera zooming out without me touching the zoom lever plus some other related probs. Returned it to Smile Photo for a replacement and they sent me the same PT020 back. (Serial numbers don't lie I know where I won't buy from again) Talked to Olympus and they wanted BOTH the camera and the housing. Sent them both back. Olympus adjusted the zoom lever on the housing and did the standard clean and inspect.

 

Spent a month in Hawaii and was only able to use the camera and housing on 1 dive. The second time out, in 1 ft of water, the camera went nuts. When I turned it on it was in display mode and when I switched to P mode it lost focus and would not work under any conditions or modes either in or out of the housing.

The lens would slide out and stick. And when I tried to turn the camera off the lens would stay out and I never got a shutdown sound. If I went through the modes eventually I could get the lens to retract so I could put a lens cover on it. I talked to Oly tech support 2X. First they said "install the firmware upgrade. That'll fix it." The second time they talked me through a super secret reset button sequence. When that didn't work they said "send it in." When I got home, I procrastinated for a month before I wrote the detailed (4 page) letter describing the problem. And when I was writing the letter I brought the camera out to double check what I was telling them and the camera spontaneously started working again.

 

I don't know what caused the problem, but a wild idea is saying altitude (camera broke at sea level, after a month at 7K feet it starts working again) After reading another post I am wondering if the problem was PT020 related. Or at least created by the PT020.

 

But anyway, its a real shame because I had more fun with the 5060 on dry land than any other camera ever, except maybe my first Yashica SLR back in the '70s. And on the one dive I did make with it, I loved it! I must have taken 200 shots.

 

I just wish it was reliable.

 

Sorry

Tom

[Katfish 0]

Is there anywhere I can find a list off cameras that can provide RAW data. I am about to upgrade my old cannon powershot A40 for somehting else and have been told a camera with RAW capabilities is the way to go.

I am not a super serious photographer (ie don't want to cart around tonnes of camera kit) ideally I'm after someting small enough to clip off on the jacket but good enough to produce decent shots. I like the look of the Sony T1 size and Mpixels wise but it doesn't include RAW capability, any comments.

[derway 2]

Check out http://www.imaging-resource.com/ and http://dpreview.com/

Lots of good info on all the cameras.

 

The other thing you want, besides raw, is good manual modes, (full manual or Aperature Priority), which most of the lower end digis do not have.

 

Focus speed in low light, and shutter lag are also critical to a happy uw-photo experience.

 

So, I'd look at the sony V3, nikon 8400, or canon G6. Unclear how the G6 AF is in low light.

 

Don

[ingha_j 0]

Hi

Would REALLY REALLY appreciate some buying advice! Want to get the other half a new digital camera for Xmas, which she can use on land and when diving...want to spend around £500 ($950) in total (camera and housing).... Have tried doing lots of reading, but am getting quite confused!

What seems to stand out at the moment is the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z40, with the EWC-40 housing.... anybody have any thoughts, or make a better recommendation??

 

Thanks so much!

J

[richorn 0]

Although I am shooting a dSLR, I am getting MY better half a digital camera for the holidays as well.

 

After much discussion and research on various websites, I have decided on the Fuji 810. I think this is a remarkable camera for the money (under $500 USD), and although she does not dive, the housing is very affordable making this a great "second" camera for me!

 

The camera has all of the functions a diver would want and need, has a 6.4 megapixel sensor, and seems to have an excellent lens.

 

The ONLY drawback I can see is that it only uses xD cards, but with memory as cheap as it is lately, even this expense is not out of line.

 

My humble $.02(US). Enjoy the hunt!

[jams 0]

Hello everyone,

 

It's been a very entertaining, informative and unfortunately frustrating time for me over the last 3 weeks as I've been busy researching digital UW cameras and reading posts here and at digitaldiver and reviews whereever I could find them... Having started off with the Canon S60 in mind (as recommended by a local camera shop), I have now changed my mind more times than I have eaten this week and spent countless late nights cross-eyed at my computer trying to get a more definitive answer. So I am now doing what I should have done 2 weeks ago - signing on and asking...

 

I seem to have narrowed my selections down to the Canon S70, the Fuji F810 or the Sea&Sea Dx5000g. Let me explain my situation and needs... I am currently working as a dive instructor in Indonesia, but would like to supplement my income by offering a tag-along-for-the-day photo service to students and fun divers alike.

 

So my main concerns for a camera would be portability (hence a compact model), picture quality (do I even need to say that?), fast response times to catch those one-off moments both UW and on land and the ability to take a day's worth of shots preferably without opening the housing 3 times to change batteries/cards. I would also like it to be compact enough to take out of an evening with groups and not have to have it hanging around my neck.

 

As far as my photo skills go: on land I use a Nikon F65 (35mm) SLR which I am slowly becoming adept with, and UW I have been using a S&S mx5 film P+S and again starting to get consistently better results (great results when using a friends dx3100!)

 

All the cameras have some ability to function in manual mode, which I would like to be able to develop my abilities, all are quite compact and all are 5MP+ (enough for my needs, I feel?). However, here are my concerns:

 

S70 - chosen over the s60 due to improved reviews re: focus and shutter lag times, but still slow in that respect, also more expensive... However, picture quality seems best of bunch.

 

F810 - mixed reviews on pic quality, poor battery life, expensive xd cards, but cheap option and many comments around touting it as possible oly 5050 replacement...

 

dx5000g - not many reviews to go by, but mixed re pic quality again! super fast focus/shutter time and good battery life. Made by specifically UW company, with 55m housing...

 

As it goes, I'm leaning in the direction of the S&S 5000g, as a stable package that would easily take a strobe later in life, built by a reputable UW housing company. But the lack of feedback and reviews from current users worries me...

 

Along with any recommendations or advice you may have, can anyone tell me of a decent dealer in Vancouver, Canada where I am this week, or of one in or near to Bali, Indonesia, where I am based?

 

Sorry for the long post, gang. Thanks for reading it though. Hope to hear from someone soon!

 

James.

[anthp 0]

Hi James,

 

Looks like you have narrowed it down to some excellent choices.

 

Given that you are planning on shooting divers, a wide-angle (WA) lens is going to be critical. The lenses on the camera just aren't really wide enough (even the S70). Currently only the F810 and S&S have the option of an external lens. Advice from Inon is that the UWL100 28AD (designed for the S70) will not be released until May 2005. I'm not sure whether that will sway your decision. There is a thread here on wetpixel where someone describes using the standard UWL105AD on the S70, but they were facing issues of internal light reflections - so I'm not sure that is a great solution.

 

Now regarding the F810/SS... I've just purchased the F810 for friend - mainly for its RAW capability and low-light focus speed (which is something the S70 struggles with according to dpreview). I realise the battery is a bit of an issue and I've heard from users that they can only just fill one 512MB card with RAW or JPG before the battery dies (and that is not using flash for every shot). The person I bought the camera for will not be a very prolific shooter, but it may be worth it for you to have the extra capacity. Another thing to note is the F810 does not do STTL with the Inon D2000 (unlike the Canon S70). It will work well in "auto" or manual modes. The auto mode is independent of the camera and relies on light reflecting back at the strobe. For WA work tho, you're probably better off learning manual anyway. Although on the other hand - Alex Mustard had some great WA shots recently from a Oly 5060 and an Inon D2000 on STTL.

 

As far as the SS camera goes - I've heard very little about it and can't tell you whether it will have better battery life or low-light focus. Someone else might have to chip in there. FWIW it does seem like a relatively expensive option, but then if it performs better than the others - it ought to be. HTH

[Davidhol 0]

Hi James

I bought an Oly c8080 because of good reviews on pic quality. I have now come to the conclusion that underwater focus speed and shortest shutter lag time will be more important than the marginal increase in quality between different camera of same mpeg size. The ability to add strobes and TTL strobe control also important and Ikelites TTL solution for the Oly was the final reason I chose it.

[jams 0]

Just wanted to thank you guys for your comments - although I would have hoped a few more folks might reply too... (must remember to cross post next time!)

 

Just to let you know that I ended up going for the sea&sea dx5000g, which I managed to get for a steal from a local supplier. Will be getting in the water with it in the coming weeks and I'll let folks here and in other groups know how it performs. Hopefully, I'll be able to post a few of the photos, too! (local net connections allowing..)

 

James.

[sergioi 0]

Hello, I am very very very new on Underwater Digital Photograpy. I've just bought an Ikelite Housing for my Sony V3. Since my camera has a hot shoe for an external flash I am trying to discover what is the best choice for an External Underwater Substrobe counting on Cost x Benefit, mainly cost, because here in Brazil this things usualy are expensive and I usually bring them from eBay.

 

I don't understand if other brands like S&S are copatible with my Ikelite Housing, or just Ikelite Substrobes are compatible with an Ikete Housing? Does the native TTL function from my camera will ever work? Because on Ikelite website says "NO".

 

I am looking for a new DS-51 Substrobe from ikelite, but it is a little bit expensive and I want something not so expensive that I can start shooting underwater with more quality.

 

Just to sare my crazy experiences, I am trying to adapt an Infrared Flashlite with 14 IR leds on my Ikelite Housing to be able to shot with Nightshot underwater, never tryied wet. Did anybody here has ever made such a thing? Do you think it should work like exploring holes and dark places?

 

Well for now that's all, I hope that we can share experiences here.

 

Best Regards,

 

Sergio

[derway 2]

As usual, the Ikelite website is correct.

 

If you use a wired connection, from hot shoe to strobe, then you will have to shoot manual strobe power.

 

Many folks swear by manual over TTL.

 

So, going wired, you can get a synch cord that goes from the ikelite housing to almost any strobe, including ikelite, sea&sea, inon, & nikonos.

 

All of them will operate manual. Some of them offer more manual power levels for manual use.

 

For using TTL, you must use an optical slave, to trigger the strobe, in synch with the little pre-flashes, and so on, of the camera's flash. You can do this with the heinrich's DA2, attached to almost any compatible flash. Or you can use an inon strobe that has the optical slave built in, and connects with a fiber optical cable.

 

Some of the sea & sea strobes are supposed to be preflash compatible, and have optical slave systems, but I tried the ys-110, and could not get it to work, with the V3.

 

The DA2, and DS-51 is working very well for me.

 

HTH

Don

[jsalzman 0]

Food for thought: I'm an avid photographer, but my diving is usually one significant trip a year. I started underwater photography years ago with Nikonos gear, and decided to graduate to an underwater housing for my DSLR before a major dive trip to Indonesia in 2007. I'm now going to sell my "fancy" Subal 5D housing (and all the paraphernalia) and move to a smaller, lighter underwater camera/housing set-up. So think before jumping in. Are you going to sell photographs? Are you diving several times a year? Do you want good photos for personal display? How much gear do you want to "lug" through airports, etc.? Lots of questions to answer.

[Roydive 0]

I guess this thread is pretty old now but reckon you can't go far wrong with Olympus