Amateur advice?

[Poolstok]

Hi

I am a semi pro top ground tog. I recently took to diving - NAUI open water, and have 10 dived behind my name.

I have 2 x 350D's, a 40D, and a myriad of lenses. When i heard the price for a casing for any of my systems, i opted for a Fuji Finepix and housing....


I soon discovered that the flash is by far not suitable, nor is the cam's limited manual functions as opposed to a slr.

So, what i am asking is this....should i buy the 40d casing, plus all the lighting attachments for a small fortune - and create income through this, or just keep the fuji as a hobby, blurry option?

Short of the short.... is it worth it?

Here is one image i took, and PS'd to the 'correct colour?'

 

[Poolstok]

Hey Stupid Noob Sucker Fool! Read the stickies man!

Got it all there. Sigh. So, unless i am into anemones an mollusks, i need 'the system', eh?

Pools

 

[alcina]

You know, you don't actually need a dslr to take really nice underwater images. There are a variety of compacts that are perfectly capable and will keep a little money in your pocket, too.

Of course, there are things that a dslr can offer that a compact can't, but there are tradeoffs as I'm sure you've discovered through browsing the sticky!

With only 10 dives under your belt so far, I'd say first and foremost spend your money on getting to be an excellent diver. I see that you mention "making a living" from underwater photography - or at least making some money. It's a small, jealously guarded market and there are quite a lot of great shooters who aren't in it even. There are also a huge number of people who are willing to give their images for free - which is bad news for anyone who actually values their images, time, experience, talent, creativity etc.

How much can you dive each week? Where can you go diving? Do you have an "in" to sell your images? Do you even want to sell them or would you be so much happier just enjoying taking photographs underwater? Lots more questions to ask yourself

 

[Poolstok]

Very good points indeed.....thanx for the advice! =c)

 

[AndyT]

For me the biggest drawbacks to a compact flash camera are shutter lag, poor low light focusing ability and long RAW write times. This is what drove me to a DSLR. If you buy decent strobes you will still be able to use them when you house your DSLR.

Which Fuji did you buy?

 

[Poolstok]

Ah, yes, the shutter lag - most annoying!

It's a Fuji Finepix 6.3MP....

 

[keys girl]

It seems you are serious about land photography, so would expect you to carry that underwater. You will not be happy with anything less that what you are use to shooting on land with. You already know the camera systems. For underwater photography you can start off with a good wide angle lense, and use that as a great start.
What you will find is that because of the dome port the fish will let you get closer, and even pose for you. So save yourself some grief, and money in the long run and buy the housing and a decent strobe. my advise would be get a strobe arm that can hold 2 strobes and learn to shoot with one. Unless you have the bucks to buy 2 now.

 

[Poolstok]

Thanx!

Thad does make more sense.....

 

[Diver Dennis]

Making any money from U/W photography is very difficult and as alcina pointed out, unless you are "in" you won't make enough to cover a gas fill. There are a lot of excellent photographers on this board who have never made a dime.

I echo what keys girl says about the camera. Go ahead and jump in! I would house the 40D and get a couple strobes if you think you'll be diving enough to justify the investment. I made the commitment to go the whole 10 yards when I started to take U/W photos and have been very happy with that decision.

 

[randini]

I disagree with housing the DSLR so soon. With only 10 dives under their belt the OP really needs to get comfortable diving before adding a camera, much less with a DSLR kit w/ strobes. But then Alcina covered that already.