Cameras ?s

[YJSONLY]

OK so my GF wants a new camera we both dive.... So I was looking into a dual purpose ( land and sea) camera.... Nothing fancy just a digital point and shoot from Best Buy are they worth a darn as far as quality for low depth? Or just get a land camera and call it done?

 

[Jorgy]

As someone who is really trying to take nice underwater pics - my vote for all all rounder is a Canon S90/S95 - now I added a wide angle lens, ikelite housing and two Sea and Sea strobes......now these are the pics I am getting....I am still working on getting it right.....

M

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/tips-techniques/390428-turks-caicos-pics-looking-feedback.html

 

[BrianBruemmer]

Depends what you want to spend. You can get a simple point and shoot, but then you will need a housing to go with it. Of course you can buy the camera, then add to it later. I just bought a Canon G 12, and the Canon housing that goes with it. Tested the housing at my house, but havent taken it out for true underwater pics yet, but have read a lot of great reviews. Amazon has a housing kit that includes a strobe and some other extras for about $380. The housing by itself is about $180.

 

[Jorgy]

One picture is me taken by a fellow SB'er who was shooting a PS with smaller outboard flash, not 100% sure which one but he got some very very good shots and this shows the relative size of my camera rig......I would guess his rig costs $600 to $700.......

The other is my darling bride, taken by me.....both shots were from the same recent dive trip to TCI......I have about $2,700 in my rig......

My point is that it takes $$$$$ to really take those bright clear wide shots........but that is the route I took....you need to decide what you are looking for......

Hope this helps.......

M

 

[Gilligan]

As I have said to others asking the same question as you:
Decide if you will add wet-mount lenses in the future and/or an external strobe. Some housings work well using the internal strobe and some don't. Some housings are suitable for add-on wet-mount lenses and some are not.

 

[PatW]

It depends on what you want. If you are diving in shallow water and just want snap shots, you might be able to get away with something pretty inexpensive.

To take reasonably decent photos, you will need a top of the line point and shoot with RAW capabilities like the Canon S95 or Canon G12. To take nice shots at any kind of depth, you have to have a strobe and you get better shots with 2 strobes. The housing and 2 strobes adds up fast as far as $$$$ is concerned. Another problem is the package is rather bulky and heavy (at least for many people). Yet another consideration is that taking photos underwater is pretty challenging and I think that many people just would not want to be bothered.

The Canon S95 and G12 have relatively inexpensive Canon housings or you could go with the Ikelite housing. You can get an Inon wet lens for macro work for the G12 with an Ikelite housing (which is what I use). A problem with the G12 is that it does not do wide angle that well. Diver photos are at fairly long range. The more expensive housings have wide angle fixes that would be really nice but once you do that, you are getting into an SLR price range.

I can not really say what she would like. It depends on how much involved she is in photography.

 

[Jax]

Depends what you want to spend. You can get a simple point and shoot, but then you will need a housing to go with it. Of course you can buy the camera, then add to it later. I just bought a Canon G 12, and the Canon housing that goes with it. Tested the housing at my house, but havent taken it out for true underwater pics yet, but have read a lot of great reviews. Amazon has a housing kit that includes a strobe and some other extras for about $380. The housing by itself is about $180.

+1 on the Canon G10 / G11 / G12 + Canon housing.

You can find the camera gently used, and the housing at the cost above. They have a great resale value if you find you want to upgrade later, and are plenty of camera if you want to stick with it.

 

[asha]

+1 for Canon S90/S95. Here I have the Ikelite housing and 2 Sea & Sea YS-01 strobes.



IMG_4170 by oh look! cupcakes, on Flickr

 

[Gilligan]

Even though I am a Canon user with both a G10 and G12 which take great photos I will suggest to you not to rule out the Olympus XZ-1 and the Olympus PT-050 housing for it.
The XZ-1 has a 1.8 lens versus the 2.0 in the S95 and the 2.8 in the G12 and claims to have one of the best sensors of all the current point-and-shoot cameras.
Both will run you about $650.