Scuba-sass,
This is a reply I wrote recently over on digitaldiver.net:
Hope it helps.
-Chris
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Try this to get you started. Look at the Consumer Reports link I provided on this thread for a good article on the "basics"
http://www.digitaldiver.info/yabbse/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=3022
Actually, I just went back and checked the Consumer Reports link on that thread -- while it works, this link gives you a more direct link to CR's "Digital Cameras and Photography" page:
http://www.consumerreports.org/main...ASSORTMENT<>ast_id=333133&bmUID=1069856561446
Spend some time looking through the glossary section in the consumer reports article and on dpreview (link also on attached thread). It will give you some background on the various lingo and key features you need to be aware of when buying a digital camera.
My suggestion after you read up on the basics would be to: (1) Determine what your budget is. (2) Research cameras that fit into this budget that have the features most important to you using dpreview, message boards, etc......also check to make sure these models have available housings. Note that the dpreview camera reviews are pretty technical.....skip to the end of the review to get a helpful summary. Don't try and read these until you do at least some general research first on features -- you will suffer from terminology overload.
Part of this process will be to understand the "level" of camera you are after. Based on my limited newbie knowledge, there appear to be 3 general levels of digital cameras -- (a) Point and shoot models, (b) "prosumer" models that allow you to use them in point and shoot mode but which also have a fairly rich (and more complicated) set of manual features/settings, allowing for more user control; and (c) "professional grade" digital SLRs -- much higher in price and complexity, but which produce the highest quality photos. Of course, buying the most expensive camera does not guarantee great shots -- this also requires knowledge, skill and experience.
Price ranges vary.....based on my limited knowledge, for just the camera you can expect the following (a) $150-400; (b) $400-1,000; (c) $1,000+. While the "levels" I've laid out above are based on the level of manual control, another key attribute is the number of pixels the camera has. In layman's terms, the more pixels, the more detail the resulting image will contain. The number of pixels (typically referred to in megapixels -- 1 megapixel = 1 million pixels) also has a big effect on price. Even if shopping for a point and shoot, you should probably look for a camera that has at least 3 MP. The availability of manual features and the number of pixels seem to vary directly in most models, i.e., cameras with a higher number of MP also have more in the way of manual features.
Underwater housing costs vary WIDELY based on quality and features, but you can expect to pay at least $150-200 for a basic housing. Side note -- one reason many folks on this board have bought the Olympus c5050 model (type "b" prosumer -- camera-only cost is about $550-600 online) is that it is a feature-rich camera usable in either point-and-shoot or manual modes, and the compatible PT-015 underwater housing made by Olympus is relatively inexpensive ($150-200 depending on where you buy it), is of decent quality, and is rated to 130 feet.
*** Edit note -- as Keith notes below, $150-200 is not a "typical" housing price. While basic housings for Canon and Olympus can be purchased for this price, most housings start in the $400-500 range. Thus if you are on a tighter budget, you may want to focus on Canon or Olympus.
One other note on housings -- many folks recommend insurance if using an underwater camera. The old quote offered here and elsewhere -- it's not a matter of "if" the housing will flood, but "when". I believe you can get insurance for your camera from DAN or other organizations for ~$99 per year.
To get started shooting underwater, you will need a digital camera, a compatible housing, storage media (these are memory cards that plug into the camera that you use to store images on), and computer software for manipulating the images (some cameras come with this......and some late model PCs come with some imaging software included). Other things to consider are -- making sure the PC you will be using to download the images has a USB port to allow you to connect the camera to it, whether you will print the images and how you will print them (you can buy relatively inexpensive printers to do this or you can take the memory cards for printing at many photoprocessors including places like Wal-Mart), batteries (rechargables are the way to go).
My strategy is to buy the camera first, get familiar with it on dry land, and then start using it underwater with just a housing....possibly add a strobe later.....baby steps.
Hope this is helpful...I'm a newbie myself, so I can sympathize (and as a result, take all of my advice with a grain of salt). I just bought an Olympus c5050...housing to come later.
-Chris
