A570IS or Reefmaster mini SL320?

[chace_nicol]

Hi there..I have minimal underwater photog experience. I had a point & shoot w/no strobe & gave up because of the dreaded "blue".

Fast forward...I have come across a Sealife 960 strobe and need help deciding between two cameras. The Canon A570IS with canon or ikelite housing or the reefmaster miniSL320. I would like to just take decent pictures for memories that are not totally blue and shoot some video. I primarily shoot in Cozumel. The strobe is compatible with both with the flashlink cord. I have done some research & read that the sealife is fixed focus, doesn't sound good but what does that mean for photo quality?

Any pointers appreciated from you guys & to be fair I should probably post in the sealife section as well.

TIA
Chace Nicol

 

[diver 85]

I'm a little prejudice ---but I vote for the A570.....some of my pics(no external strobe) taken with it are in my sig below.....good luck and let us know your pic results with whichever one you go with....

 

[Nemrod]

Hi there..I have minimal underwater photog experience. I had a point & shoot w/no strobe & gave up because of the dreaded "blue".

Fast forward...I have come across a Sealife 960 strobe and need help deciding between two cameras. The Canon A570IS with canon housing or the reefmaster miniSL320. I would like to just take decent pictures for memories that are not totally blue and shoot some video. I primarily shoot in Cozumel. The strobe is compatible with both. I have done some research & read that the sealife is fixed focus, doesn't sound good but what does that mean for photo quality?

Any pointers appreciated from you guys & to be fair I should probably post in the sealife section as well.

TIA
Chace Nicol

If you really have a line on a new 570 and housing then there is no question. The Canon 570 is a good little camera with manual control over both strobe and exposure. It is in another class from the Sea Life. Many people highly regard the 570, considering now that it is an inexpensive camera and the A Series Canons are relatively durable and rugged and are known to take good pictures. However, the 570 has been discontinued now for over a year. The replacement is the 590 and Canon does not make a housing for it, only Ikelite.

N

 

[chace_nicol]

Yes I have found a good deal on the A570IS. From my research, the strobe is compatible. Now to decide on canon or ikelite housing, price difference only about $30 dollars. I do wonder is the flashlink will work with either housing. Any ideas on where I could look for that info?

Thanks

 

[chace_nicol]

I'm a little prejudice ---but I vote for the A570.....some of my pics(no external strobe) taken with it are in my sig below.....good luck and let us know your pic results with whichever one you go with....

Nice shots! Impressive...especially with no ext. strobe

 

[Nemrod]

We have both, 570, Canon DC-12 and Ikelite housing:

Canon with Inon 165AD fisheye and Ikelite with Inon 100WAL and dome converter:

Ikelite with Inon 165AD fisheye:

Unfortunately, the Canon housing takes the AD adapter for AD lenses and the Ikelite takes the 67mm threaded lenses, I built my own adapter, the only one I know of to mount AD lenses to 67mm threaded ports. It was not especially easy since I had to modify the port.

Canon to Inon to Ikelite tray adapter I made:

My Inon AD bayonet to 67mm threaded adapter:

N

 

[chace_nicol]

Nemrod-thanks so much for posting those..gives me an idea of size, etc.

 

[Nemrod]

My wife prefers the Canon DC-12, I prefer the more sturdy Ikelite. The Canon housing has the Inon AD adapter. The Ikelite has my homemade deflector. The syn cord is optical for the Inon D2000 strobe. The connector on the Ikelite homemade deflector can be purchased I think but I got mine from a destroyed housing I found on eBay and mounted it to my homemade deflector.

N

 

[chace_nicol]

So with the sealife strobe, canon camera & housing & sealife connector cord...I should be ready to go? If the arm/tray from the sealife fits the canon housing? I am trying to put it all together, but being a noob...all the connections & compatibilites are a lil overwheming haha.

 

[Nemrod]

I answered somewhat in your PM, I am not at all familiar with that strobe. I have found that mixing and matching can be a challenge. The link you gave me took me to a unit that seemed to be bundled with a film P&S. If so that strobe may not work at all with any modern P&S or barely so. Many of these cameras today have preflash. The Canon you can turn the preflash off but still--you need to pick a strobe that was meant to work with a digital camera. BTW, the Canon housing seems to do fine with no strobe for casual snap shots.

In order to use the Canon housing with wet lenses you must have the Inon AD adapter which fits with their tray and low and behold works great with their strobe and low and behold but they have an optical connector for it. The Ikelite housing works great with their tray and their AF35 or a number of strobes but you may have to rig your own optical sync. The Ikelite has the advantage of industrial strength and looks and it uses more easily dealt with 67mm threaded on wet lenses.

If you just want fun snaps, don't see adding lenses, just get the Canon housing, smaller, lighter, cuter, lol.

if you want the Inon part numbers for their system PM me and I can get them tonight or sometime. And you can see from my pics, I made somethings myself because they don't exist otherwise.Aren't underwater cameras fun?
N