Canon G10 - What do you think?

[Sparg93]

I'm looking to buy my first underwater camera, I'm a novice at best

I've done some homework and it looks like the Canon G10 is a great camera for the money, I was also going to add the WP-DC28 housing:
Amazon.com: Canon WP-DC28 Waterproof Case for Canon PowerShot G10 Digital Cameras: Camera & Photo

What do you guys think, is there a better point and shoot for the money? I'm also going to use this for my landshots.

Money is tight since i just bought all my scuba gear, so I was going to hold off on a strobe. This might sound really newbie of me (which i am), but will i still be able to take good underwater photos w/o the strobe (i'm diving the Bahamas in two weeks)? What if i point my light directly on the item I'm taking a pic of when i take the photo?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[FrankPro1]

Personally, I feel the Canon G10 is by far the best camera you can get without going into the SLR range. There are some inherent limitations to the G10 when used for underwater use "such as lack of cost effective wide angle solutions", but those limitations are heavily outnumbered by its strong points. You can effectively use the onboard flash with Canon housing, just make sure to use the diffuser and stay a good couple feet from your target. If you want that tight up close macro shot, just zoom in from a distance instead of approaching the target. There is a lens shadow with the Canon housing, but with the diffuser its not too bad.

Here are some of my own photos with the G10:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/socal/293456-honeymoon-cove-7-9-09-lots-photos.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-photography/286409-spring-diving-palos-verdes-peninsula.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/socal/287553-neptunes-cove.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/socal/292450-christmas-tree-cove-7-3-09-a.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/socal/281790-christmas-tree-cove-4-21-09-a.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/socal/293741-operation-neptunes-arch.html
Every one of my photo posts were done with the internal strobe besides the 7.3.09 Christmas Tree Cove, Honeymoon 7.9.09 and Operation Neptune's Arch. You can get decent results with the onboard flash and just ambient light, it just takes some practice.

 

[tk trekers]

My wife spent a long time researching cameras and decided on the G10. The photo quality above ground has been outstanding. We originally were going to go with the Canon housing but after the extended period of them being back ordered and some more research, we have decided to go with the Ikelite housing. There are plenty of posts on here about the differences but one of the biggest factors for us was the single o-ring on the housing.

We're both still learning the features of it but hope to have it down for our trip to Cozumel in October.

 

[Tigerman]

I have a G7 atm (with canon housing) and I would go for the G10 withouth even bothering to look into other cameras if my camera or housing got trashed today.
Id just drive over to the nearest shop and buy one

Not quite ready to go for the dSLR cameras yet, mostly because of the silly expensive setups you end up with when going dSLR..

 

[scottfiji]

You can effectively use the onboard flash with Canon housing, just make sure to use the diffuser and stay a good couple feet from your target. If you want that tight up close macro shot, just zoom in from a distance instead of approaching the target. There is a lens shadow with the Canon housing, but with the diffuser its not too bad.

hey Frank,

the photos look great. How far away were you for the cup coral shot and the sunflower star closeup? those shots are fairly close-up. Even zoomed in, it looks like you would have been closer than 2ft away?

Scott

 

[Warmwater Wank]

You could spend more money--and do worse. The Canon housing keeps the total cost in the reasonable range, even if it does create some shadow problems w/ internal flash. The G-10 grabs enough detail though that even if you have to crop the shadow, it can still deliver very nice, detailed results.

This is especially true when shooting RAW files, which really is the way to shoot w/ a G-10. Buy a couple 32GB SDHC cards (the RAW files are big, cards might run around $30-35 bucks) and you'll be happy. Photoshop Elements 7.0 (or 6.0 w/ a free download from Adobe) can handle the CR2 RAW files files or you can use the Canon software that comes w/ the camera. RAW delivers everything that is captured by the camera system, there is no compression as with JPEGs. Also they are in 16 bit color files, not 8 bit. You don't have to be a techie (I'm not!) to appreciate the difference when you shoot in RAW.

By the time you feel comfortable using the camera you'll be ready for an external flash, but that can wait. I got a G-10 before my last dive trip and was really pleased with the results--bet you will be too. Have fun! ww

 

[FrankPro1]

hey Frank,

the photos look great. How far away were you for the cup coral shot and the sunflower star closeup? those shots are fairly close-up. Even zoomed in, it looks like you would have been closer than 2ft away?

Scott

The sunflower closeup was done very close "maybe a little less then a foot". I just lined up my intended shot in the top left hand corner, then cropped the shadowed area away when editing. I used this technique for all close up shots before I got my strobe. With the G10's huge amount of mega pixels, you don't lose much resolution when cropping.

As to the cup coral..... I don't even remember taking a picture of a cup coral. Can you post a link or embed it in a reply?

 

[Sparg93]

how do i shoot with "RAW" mode? My guess is the files are huge if you're recommending a few 32g cards.

I checked a few online places and the delivery time is too long (i need by next week) so i'm going to try some local places and see if they will price match.

You guys know of any good online places, best prices i found were at Amazon.

 

[FrankPro1]

You guys know of any good online places, best prices i found were at Amazon.

I see your in New York/ Jersey area. You'll have to pay tax, but I would look at B&H camera. I've gotten quite a bit of my photography gear from them and though there not always the cheapest, they have great customer service and ultra fast shipping.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/587432-REG/Canon_3156B001_WP_DC28_Case_for_Canon.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/583955-REG/Canon_2663B001_PowerShot_G10_Digital_Camera.html
"I paid 409.99 for mine, but it was on sale at the time"

 

[Sparg93]

where were u able to find 32g cards at such a low price? i've been looking around and the cheapest i have found is $65 and that's after a mail in rebate...