A640 for underwater photos

[fishmankevin]

I have a A640 and found a Canon housing on E-Bay. Should I spend my money on the housing and a Strobe, or buy A Sealife System? Please, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

[buton]

mmm well i am not an expert, but the camera seems nice to work with any strobe, and the manual controls make it perfect to get some good shots. you can later sell it if you want.

 

[Vassilis Vlachopoulos]

I own an A640 with the Canon housing and I am very satisfied both underwater and on land. The manual settings give me full control underwater. I usually use the "underwater" color adjustment and sometimes the manual white balance functionality. The only drawback is the lack of "raw" format.
Re the Canon housing, it is rated for 40 meters / 130 ft. I often take it beyond 50 meters / 165 ft with no problem. It even went safely down to 58 meters / 190 ft - however at this depth the buttons get stuck ...
The A640 has no feature to connect directly with an external strobe, it is, therefore, necessary to use the built-in flash to trigger the external strobe, e.g. via a fiber optic.

 

[Black_3000psi]

I know many people that own sealife cameras, those who are honest will tell you dont do it. the system is attractive cause it comes with a housing and some with strobes but the problem is the camera is not very good.

 

[Gilligan]

http://jimspears.net/animated/opinion.png

Ii would go with the Canon housing for your current camera. The addition of a fiber optic strobe is a big plus and the strobe can be used with a future camera purchase.

Be sure to use the custom white balance setting for your non-strobe shots.