A620 or S80?

[LittleFish]

I had an S40 (with a housing) that I just loved for shooting underwater. Alas it decided it did not want to come back from my last trip. Something about wanting to be on vacation all year round. To make a long story short I am now in the market for a new set-up. I have narrowed my choices to the A620 and S80. I am leaning toward the S80 because of the wide angle lens. The A620 is attractive due to its much longer burn time on a set of batteries (much better when I have multiple dives and cannot take the camera out of the housing), plus the swivel LCD is convenient top side. The image quality appears to be about the same, the CCD size is fine on both and the price of both are within budget.

I am hoping someone has some experience with either, or both, of these cameras in the underwater environment and could give me their impressions. If anyone else has had to make the same decision lately I would be interested to know how you made up your mind.

Thank you,

 

[DesertEagle]

First, the Canon housing for the A620 has a very strange port. If you want the A620, get an Ikelite housing. The Ikelite isn't available yet.

S80 seems like a nice camera. The wider lens makes it a better choice if you don't plan on adding any accessory lenses. Canon's housing has a circular flat port, so as long as an adapter is made, wide angle & macro lenses should work. Inon hasn't released an adapter in a LONG time, so let's hope that they make one for the Canon WP-DC1 housing.

 

[andalucian]

My wife gave me a A620 with the Cannon housing and I just love it, the pictures are great and it has a quick underwater mode that is just sweet.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

I am thinking of getting the A620 as well.

DesertEagle, what do you mean? " the Canon housing for the A620 has a very strange port"

CN

 

[Tom Winters]

Both the A620 and S80 now have Ikelite housings available - they're both $400, $100 more than the SD-550 housing. The S80 has the 2.5" viewfinder vs. the 2.0" one on the A620 - compare both viewfinders in a store - that extra .5" sure would be nice underwater.
I'm not a fan of rechargeable battery packs like the S80 has - way easier to use the AA's that the A620 uses. Plus the A620 can usually be had for at least $100 less than the S80.
They're both great cameras though.
Whatever my next camera is, I'm done with the Canon housings.

 

[HowardE]

My wife uses the S70, and she loves it. It is pretty much the same camera as the S80. The S80 however doesn't use RAW... just keep that in mind.

The UW White Balance Mode is also pretty cool, and does work well, if you're shooting in JPEG mode.

We also like the canon housing for it... I don't know why Tom doesn't like it? Tom?

The rechargable battery lasts for 2 dives no problem... She usually shoots 50-80 photos per dive. We have a backup battery also, in case we're doing a double dip (2 boat trips in a row) so that there is enough battery available.

 

[Tom Winters]

The Canon housing is ok but I'm not wild about the o-ring containment. On the main body of the WP-DC700 housing that I have for my A70, there is a gap on the upper right portion. Now the housing works ok and seals well, but in underwater housings, I have an overwhelming urge to see that the o-ring is totally supported and trapped on both sides of the housing. It's one less thing to worry about on a dive.
The other thing is that the Canon housings are only good to 130' so mine is never going on the Hydro Atlantic. I have to leave the camera in the boat on too many dives.
For the simpler Canons like the SD-550, the Ikelite housing ($265 discounted) is $85 more than the Canon version and good for another 70' of depth; for the A620, the deeper housing is another $90.
I'll never be wild about rechargeable camera battery packs - they're fine in the US, but overseas, even with the right adapters and converters, I've still fried battery packs. I love just dropping in 4 AA batteries to do a power change-out.

 

[HowardE]

I would agree about the o-ring... I'm not thrilled about the way it is in there either.

 

[cecilb63]

I like the size of the a620 with canon housing and so far it has worked well. The depth limitation isn't an issue for me (at least not yet). I wish I could fit a wide angle in the canon housing though. I probably would have got a ikelite if they were ready when I bought. I think I only paid $133 for the canon housing so I figured go with the canon until the ike is ready. Now I will probably wait a while for the ike until my photography gets better.

Not sure about Tom's comment about the ring seal, not having ever used anything to compare it with. But it makes sense.

BTW, I've taken some startling clear shots with the a620. Beyond my expectations. The a620 is a great camera with good manual overrides.

 

[cecilb63]

jeeze, just took a look at the new ikelite housing for the a620. very nice, and very tempting!