All Purpose P&S for U/W Use - Any ideas?

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Analysis paralysis has set in. I'm looking for a new camera to replace my Panasonic TZ1 (also known as the noise machine from hell). I shoot land photos with a DSLR, so this will be my compact travel camera to take snap shots of our friends while on dive trips, photos from the beach, and most importantly underwater photos. I'm not looking for anything big (no SP-350 or other large size P&S), just something small I can through into a pocket of cargo shorts and snap photos with while traveling. The decision is killing me. I'm torn between the Fuji F30, Canon SD800, and Canon SD700.

So.... to those of you who shoot with one of the above, can you offer any insight? I'm not particularly bugged that the Canon models are pure P&S auto machines, as I can post process quite well in CS2 and just need something that will make a decent shot to begin with. Basically, if someone walked up to you with these three cameras and corresponding U/W housings in their hand and said "Pick one and it's yours" (no, you cannot sell it and buy a SP-350, etc) which would you pick and why?

I need to make this decision in the next week. If only I could get a Fuji SuperCCD w/ a 28mm lens that uses SD cards.....

 

[Moodiejeff]

From over in the Coz forum is This thread... it's a Casio but he got some wonderful pics with it (no external strobe)

 

[shellbackdiver1]

Canon powershot A640 or S80 if you can get your hands on one. A640 is small and all manual controls are available. S80 slightly bigger but has 28mm (wider angle) with full manual controls. Both have canon housings available with all fuctions for about 200US. That's my opinion.

 

[Taxgeek]

I just bought a SD700 for the same duties. The F30 was my other main option - but it has some things they don't tell you about it: (1) you can't change the jpg algorythm, so the rather contrasty jpgs you get are what you get. (2) it has some wierd iso defaults in different modes - I can't remember exactly, but something like when you turn on the flash it defaults to iso 800 or something - found out about this in the canon forums over at dpreview - lots of people agonizing over the same thing, albeit for land use. The fuji was very tempting for its low light charactericstics though.

The sd800 is similar to sd700 except the optics aren't as good and it is wider angle. I wanted the longer telephoto from the SD700.

Took the sd700 out on saturday for its first dive. I'm used to the 5d DSLR with dual strobes, and even considering that, I thought it did a good job. I'll try to attach a couple of pics. The good: the internal strobe provided pretty decent coverage on macro subjects, and with an external slave strobe, it was easy enough to get a good exposure. The bad: the shots are sharp, but it is hard to control what part of the picture is in focus. Even with the center node focus control, I found a couple of times that it focused on the wrong thing. The it is hard to half press the shutter through the canon housing. Oh, a couple other annoying things: the camera doesn't show you its intended shutter speed unless you are in what it considers dangerous camera shake territory. Also, in the post shot review, it doesn't show the shutter speed either - you have to go to "play" mode to see it. (It appears to default to 1/60 in M mode with forced flash - a little slow for UW imho). Also, no histogram on the review screen, you have to go to "play" mode for that too. Also, in video mode, it sets focus and exposure during the half press before you start recording. Once you start recording, it won't refocus. Very irritating for moving subjects.

That said though, most of the exposures were perfect right out of the camera, and the shots that focused were sharp. Color was very good (I had it in default color mode), and WB setting is very easy.

You might want to read up on the fuji and read the fuji and canon forums at dpreview to find out the hidden things with that camera. I ultimately got the canon because (a) i'm used to canon menus and (b) I wanted to have at least some control over what adjustments the camera applies to the jpg. The fuji apparently does really really really well in low light, but in bright light, it blows out the highlights and buries the shadows. Since mine was primarily a land camera and only a backup uw cam, I couldn't deal lwith that - you can't pull back a blown highlight on a jpg. Also, I found comments in the Amazon reviews helpful - peope there seem to write about usability issues more than more serious photographers.

Oh, also, the SD700 has wonderful macro focus. Down to 2cm or something, works both in video and in still modes. And the camera WILL flash in macro mode. Just not in digital macro mode (which you wouldn't prolly want ot use any, that's just like digital zoom.)

Oh, another thing: the sd700 doesn't take SDHC cards, only SD. so you're limited to 2g cards unless you want to try the couple of 4g SD cards still for sale. Some people out there say it works with theirs, but I didn't feel like messing around with that.

Hope this doesn't sound like I don't like the sd700 - it's a perfect snapshot cam, and a capable underwater still cam. I'll keep using my S1 for video though.

If you can stand a slightly larger (not much) camera, I second the opinion on the S80. I've seen some really amazing shots out of that camera.

 

[Matt S.]

The s80 doesn't shoot raw. The s70 does. Doesn't matter to some people, matters a lot to others.

I like my s70 though if you are used to a DSLR any of these little P&S cameras are going to be a real compromise. If I am not using the flash on the s70 I have to set the ISO to 100 or 200 and noise becomes quite visible in the image.

 

[TSandM]

Not on your list, but my husband bought me an Olympus 720 for Christmas. I'm no photographer -- I take snapshots, and I won't be bothered with anything that's either very bulky or very complicated. The Olympus fits my need very well, and takes amazingly good quality pictures. The housing Peter got me for it is very easy to use, even with thick gloves on, and I can access all the functions of the camera (more than I know how to use, actually ) And the coolest thing about the camera is that the camera ITSELF is waterproof -- to ten feet for an hour, but what that means is that a teaspoon full of water in the housing is not going to fry the camera, as it will some of the others.

 

[CompuDude]

The S80 is probably the best option, but since it was discontinued some time ago, it's hard to come by. Still, it's popular enough and just so darned good that it's fetching MORE than the original purchase price on eBay.

That said, unless there was a real need I'm sure I would buy one today. Canon HAS to come out with a replacement at some point, it's too popular and too well-regarded a camera not to. Meanwhile, if you buy one today you'll have to invest in a housing, too, and if anything ever happens to it you'll be hard-pressed to replace it, and the housing almost never works with newer models, so that's money wasted. It's also not *quite* small enough, IMO, for a pocketable vacation camera.

Meanwhile, for a straight P&S, I'd go with the SD800is in a heartbeat. I may even buy one at some point as a supplement to my S80, just because it's such a nice simple and compact package for vacation shots. Despite Taxgeek's assertion about better optics on the sd700 (which I don't really agree with), I VASTLY prefer the sd800is' wide angle abilities to the longer zoom range of the sd700, and image stabilization is simply the best thing since sliced bread.

 

[DesertEagle]

28mm is wide on land, but behind a flat port, it isn't that wide underwater. I'd much rather have the SD700 with an Inon wide angle lens.

Last year I went through this whole thing. I was leaning toward the S80. Out of all the P&S cameras, the results are the closest to a DSLR. Output at ISO 100 is real smooth. At 400 it isn't too bad either. The WP-DC1 and Ikelite housings have full support for wide angle and macro options. The closest thing available today is the A640. If I had to guess, the next "S" camera will have the A640's 10MP sensor, image stabalization, face recoginition and maybe an upgraded movie mode.

In the end, I chose the Olympus SP-310 because it was only $200, shot RAW and the housing had all sorts of wide angle options. I bought a Sea & Sea 16mm lens on ebay For $120. Altogether, my setup cost only a little more than the S80 body. The Olympus is intuitive, but the Canons are faster. I used the SP-310 as a backup to My Nikonos/15mm lens.

 

[Narcd_dvr]

Don't mean to hijack your thread, but what about Canon G7. Anyone have any opinions about this camera? Right now, I have a Sealife DC500, but I'm seriously considering upgrading my whole system to the G7.

 

[f3nikon]

I put an older G1 in an Ikelite SLR housing works great! I demo a G7...it maybe the best compact camera for U/W use. Great manual controls, one of the last cameras with a hotshoe, large LCD screen and 10mp.

I'am looking for a used unit just to have for land use. Maybe buy a G7 housing from Canon before the run out and wait for a deal on the G7, I hear that the G6 housing are already harder to find these days.

The Canon housing as is looks pretty good because what looks to be a built in dome port.