Need Help Making a Setup

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SavDiver

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
99
Reaction score
25
Location
Florida
# of dives
500 - 999
I live in Florida and decided that I want to get into underwater photography. I know there are a lot of people who have those camera rig setup that are ginormous. I am looking for a compact camera package that I can bring into the caves and wrecks down here. I have some knowledge from friends but, decided its always good to get people's opinions online.
 
Have you considered a Paralenz camera, doesn’t get more simple.
 
What is your budget?

I agree knowing your budget will really help us steer you in the right direction. Also, what is your comfort level with cameras on land? Are you looking for something with full manual control? Are you looking for something that is point and shoot/auto? Do you plan to use wet lenses (wide angle?) for it, add strobes, or do you plan to use a video light/flashlight for now? Do you care about any of this in the future (future-proofing it) or are you looking for a very specific feature set and are not worried about the future?
 
I agree knowing your budget will really help us steer you in the right direction. Also, what is your comfort level with cameras on land? Are you looking for something with full manual control? Are you looking for something that is point and shoot/auto? Do you plan to use wet lenses (wide angle?) for it, add strobes, or do you plan to use a video light/flashlight for now? Do you care about any of this in the future (future-proofing it) or are you looking for a very specific feature set and are not worried about the future?
Pretty comfortable, use to do a lot of photography. probably 1k-1.5k. I plan on doing on using it as just a versatile setup. Looking for a setup that if I want to take great photos I can. If I want to take a great video, I can. The only thing I'm looking at specifically is making sure it compact and can get banged up really good.
 
Have you considered a Paralenz camera, doesn’t get more simple.
Looked at a paralenz and I don't believe its the right "fit" for me.
 
Pretty comfortable, use to do a lot of photography. probably 1k-1.5k. I plan on doing on using it as just a versatile setup. Looking for a setup that if I want to take great photos I can. If I want to take a great video, I can. The only thing I'm looking at specifically is making sure it compact and can get banged up really good.

I suggest getting an Olympus TG series camera with the Olympus housing. It falls well within your budget and if you want to add wet lenses or strobes, it will be future proof and compatible. The only caveat is that there is not full manual but offers you some control of shutter and aperture. You can take great photos (both normal as-is or wide with an optional wet lens and macro, with macro not needing an additional lens at all) and 4K video. It is a rugged camera so should you have a leak in the housing, it is waterproof on its own without the housing to a certain depth. It's also rated for dust and low temps so if you do any other outdoor activities, it is good for that...as well as drops.

I suggest always using a housing for it just in case, or if you go deeper than what the waterproofing level is, or from wear and tear on the seals which may affect waterproofing in the long run.

If you wanted, you could get a housing, the camera, a wet lens, and 1-2 strobes for lighting within your budget.
 
I suggest getting an Olympus TG series camera with the Olympus housing. It falls well within your budget and if you want to add wet lenses or strobes, it will be future proof and compatible. The only caveat is that there is not full manual but offers you some control of shutter and aperture. You can take great photos (both normal as-is or wide with an optional wet lens and macro, with macro not needing an additional lens at all) and 4K video. It is a rugged camera so should you have a leak in the housing, it is waterproof on its own without the housing to a certain depth. It's also rated for dust and low temps so if you do any other outdoor activities, it is good for that...as well as drops.

I suggest always using a housing for it just in case, or if you go deeper than what the waterproofing level is, or from wear and tear on the seals which may affect waterproofing in the long run.

If you wanted, you could get a housing, the camera, a wet lens, and 1-2 strobes for lighting within your budget.

Sorry about the late reply, collage is a pain as always. What do you recommend for housing, lights, trays, and etc? I kinda just wanna be able to clip onto my side while doing a deco stop.
 
Sorry about the late reply, collage is a pain as always. What do you recommend for housing, lights, trays, and etc? I kinda just wanna be able to clip onto my side while doing a deco stop.

No worries! That is one part of my life I do not miss... :) Hang in there!

For lighting, I generally recommend as many lumens (video light)/as high of a guide number (strobes) as you can afford as light seems to fall off much sooner underwater. It's always nice to have the light available if you need it or you can turn it down if you don't, rather than not have it if you want/need it.

If you are doing video, you will want at least 1 strong video light (so look for lights that are not spot or those marketed for video). I suggest starting at 3500-4000 lumens. You might already have a dive light that could work so check before buying. I'm not sure how all-in you want to go from the get-go but you can get your camera rig in pieces; if that is your plan, I suggest getting lighting before getting a wide angle lens but if you're jumping in all at once, factor in the hardware (tray, arms for the strobe, the shoe mount or triple clamp for your video light) as well as the floats into your budget as it adds up! When you look at the hardware, flex arms will always be less expensive and will be convenient but do note these are more difficult to adjust on the fly underwater to get the necessary angles you want and they are less futureproof than ball mounts/arms/clamps which let you change up the length and add/remove components and accessories along the length of it. To prevent loss and to lasso your rig in, I highly recommend the Cetacea CRL-11 coil lanyard. It is excellent and will work well for you on deco stops; you can clip the entire thing to a d-ring and during your stop, you can buckle it onto itself so that its against your body.

I suggest looking at strobes from Inon such as the S2000 or the Sea and Sea YS-01. Both have manual mode and are more future proof and I think manual mode comes in handy as it gives you more lighting and exposure options when you don't have full manual mode on the camera. Some folks have gotten frustrated when they are relying purely on camera settings and TTL (no manual on the strobe).

I know it's super overwhelming but if you can get yourself to an underwater photography store or reach out to one, it will really help. I was so overwhelmed when I was purchasing my setup and I found it really helpful to speak with others who had already been through the process so that I don't get the salesman's pitch and found an honest shop that kept my needs in mind.
 
No worries! That is one part of my life I do not miss... :) Hang in there!

For lighting, I generally recommend as many lumens (video light)/as high of a guide number (strobes) as you can afford as light seems to fall off much sooner underwater. It's always nice to have the light available if you need it or you can turn it down if you don't, rather than not have it if you want/need it.

If you are doing video, you will want at least 1 strong video light (so look for lights that are not spot or those marketed for video). I suggest starting at 3500-4000 lumens. You might already have a dive light that could work so check before buying. I'm not sure how all-in you want to go from the get-go but you can get your camera rig in pieces; if that is your plan, I suggest getting lighting before getting a wide angle lens but if you're jumping in all at once, factor in the hardware (tray, arms for the strobe, the shoe mount or triple clamp for your video light) as well as the floats into your budget as it adds up! When you look at the hardware, flex arms will always be less expensive and will be convenient but do note these are more difficult to adjust on the fly underwater to get the necessary angles you want and they are less futureproof than ball mounts/arms/clamps which let you change up the length and add/remove components and accessories along the length of it. To prevent loss and to lasso your rig in, I highly recommend the Cetacea CRL-11 coil lanyard. It is excellent and will work well for you on deco stops; you can clip the entire thing to a d-ring and during your stop, you can buckle it onto itself so that its against your body.

I suggest looking at strobes from Inon such as the S2000 or the Sea and Sea YS-01. Both have manual mode and are more future proof and I think manual mode comes in handy as it gives you more lighting and exposure options when you don't have full manual mode on the camera. Some folks have gotten frustrated when they are relying purely on camera settings and TTL (no manual on the strobe).

I know it's super overwhelming but if you can get yourself to an underwater photography store or reach out to one, it will really help. I was so overwhelmed when I was purchasing my setup and I found it really helpful to speak with others who had already been through the process so that I don't get the salesman's pitch and found an honest shop that kept my needs in mind.

Do you have any video footage or pictures of the camera that you recommend than you can post/send me?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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