Canon S90 with Ike housing or Sea & Sea DX2G?

[rudybier]

I'm a fairly newcomer to U/W photography but not to Scuba diving. I am currently taking an U/W photography course which I am enjoying!

I currently have a basic Sony P & S with housing but with no manual settings. I've had this for about 2.5 years. Time to upgrade!

I've been looking at the Canon S90 as this seemes to be a great camera and get the Ike housing so that I can easily add on lenses in the future.

But currently where I live there is a sale on sea and sea equipment and the DX 2G and also the DX 1200 have a 25% discount.

I don't really know the difference in these and whether they are any good topside?

I will be looking to use the camera above and below water.

The S90 and housing would cost me approx. 820 USD

The DX 2G about 960 USD

The DX 1200 about 480 USD

Any thoughts would be very useful thanks

 

[hammerhead man]

Hi rudybier, I have used Sea&Sea camera systems for several years and have been very happy with them. I currently own the DX-1G and use it for both underwater and above water photos. For above water photos I really love the wide angle lens that comes with the camera. If you click on the photos link under my name you will see pics that I have taken with Sea&Sea cameras. The DX-2g is a compact camera system, that can grow with you as your skills improve, it has a couple of great wet lenses for wide angle and close-up photos, can be used in both point and shoot as well as manual modes, and has a short lag time. If you have any questions, just email me at jamescrew6@verizon.net.

I would also recomment that your really get your buoyancy skills down before getting into photography. You need to hover and wait for the right moment to take your pics. I also have taken several underwater photo courses that were very helpful. I took the PADI course and a couple of online courses. Here is a link to the online courese: The Underwater Photographer, Underwater Digital Photography Classes: Improve your underwater photos. I took the "Introduction to Digital Underwater Photography" and the "Digital Workflow & Image Manipulation for Underwater Photography" courses and both were very helpful. Both Marty and Bonnie answered any questions I had and couldn't have been nicer.

Regards,

Bill

 

[rudybier]

Thanks Bill, I think I'm going to wait and probably get the Canon, the sale has come and gone and I wasn't really up to spending that much so quickly.

I'm going to wait till the next session in my course and speak to my instructor.

Re. buoyancy, I feel fairly proficient, I'm an OWSI and have had quite a lot of experience diving, just not that much photography. I decided to use an external source for the course and not Padi as I thought that the Padi was a bit basic and wouldn't be able to mould to my needs.

Anyways thanks for your feedback

Best regards

Rudy

 

[hammerhead man]

I am always looking for additional courses on UW photo. Is the external course you mentioned local or is it avail through the web?

Regards,

Bill

 

[rudybier]

Actually I found this person here on Scubaboard, I noticed he seemed very knowledgeable on UW photography, then realised he was based in Dubai where I live. He has a website and does courses. He used to do a lot of UW photography at competition level. I don't think he'll be much use to you though. His name is Marcelo Mariozi and his website is Underwater Photography UAE, if you get in touch I'm sure he may be able to help you out

 

[hammerhead man]

Hmmm......Dubai is a bit further than I want to travel for a class since I live in Virginia . I've seen Marcelo's work and have been very impressed. You are lucky to be close to such a good photographer that also offers classes.

Best of Luck

Bill