I just went thru the "digital conversion" (Underwater). I've had lots of digital cameras - Nikon 990, 4300, 5700 and D100 - so I know a bit about that aspect. I'd suggest that you look at the "Total Package" before deciding on anything. The package consists of:
1. The housing.
2. The camera.
3. The strobe.
4. (Optionally) The strobe controller.
I'd START with the housing.
Housings are so varied in price that you might want to find a cheaper housing and purchase a camera that fits. A quality housing runs from $120 to $1000++. Olympus and Canon have inexpensive housings. I have a Fantasea housing for my Nikon 4300 that I got for $160 on ebay.
Camera considerations are:
Mega-Pixels - 3 is a minimum these days.
Zoom - 3x or greater OPTICAL zoom -- forget digital zoom!
Memory - ATA (Compact) Flash (CF) is cheapest
Battery
Flash characteristics (can you turn off pre-flash)
Strobe -- This is the tough one! Most digital cameras do not have a sync cord attachment - and many use a pre-flash that make slave substrobes worthless! You can get a Ikelite DS-50 setup for $500 that will work with most digital cameras -- but check BEFORE YOU BUY THE CAMERA! I got a YS-50 strobe on ebay for $250 and bought a special slave adapter that makes the thing shoot TTL for another $100.
Strobe Controller -- Some strobes have an optical cable attachment (Sea&Sea) and others a remote slave trigger (Ikelite). Regardless, make sure that the controller will work with your camera. I got lucky and found the ideal controller from a guy in Germany AFTER I bought my camera and discovered that there were no other TTL slave devices.
So my whole set-up cost
Housing $160
Camera $330
Strobe $250
Slave $100
___________
TOTAL $840
The total price is about the same as the cost of a new Ikelite housing for a Nikon 990!
As I mentioned, check that the camera is compatible with the strobe that you intend to use. Slave strobes will work with digital cameras that have the pre-flash off setting. Look to buy a package -- and not just a camera.
Mark
1. The housing.
2. The camera.
3. The strobe.
4. (Optionally) The strobe controller.
I'd START with the housing.
Housings are so varied in price that you might want to find a cheaper housing and purchase a camera that fits. A quality housing runs from $120 to $1000++. Olympus and Canon have inexpensive housings. I have a Fantasea housing for my Nikon 4300 that I got for $160 on ebay.
Camera considerations are:
Mega-Pixels - 3 is a minimum these days.
Zoom - 3x or greater OPTICAL zoom -- forget digital zoom!
Memory - ATA (Compact) Flash (CF) is cheapest
Battery
Flash characteristics (can you turn off pre-flash)
Strobe -- This is the tough one! Most digital cameras do not have a sync cord attachment - and many use a pre-flash that make slave substrobes worthless! You can get a Ikelite DS-50 setup for $500 that will work with most digital cameras -- but check BEFORE YOU BUY THE CAMERA! I got a YS-50 strobe on ebay for $250 and bought a special slave adapter that makes the thing shoot TTL for another $100.
Strobe Controller -- Some strobes have an optical cable attachment (Sea&Sea) and others a remote slave trigger (Ikelite). Regardless, make sure that the controller will work with your camera. I got lucky and found the ideal controller from a guy in Germany AFTER I bought my camera and discovered that there were no other TTL slave devices.
So my whole set-up cost
Housing $160
Camera $330
Strobe $250
Slave $100
___________
TOTAL $840
The total price is about the same as the cost of a new Ikelite housing for a Nikon 990!
As I mentioned, check that the camera is compatible with the strobe that you intend to use. Slave strobes will work with digital cameras that have the pre-flash off setting. Look to buy a package -- and not just a camera.
Mark
