Canon SD700IS to which DSLR??

[Titanite]

Hello,
I've been shooting a Canon SD700IS with a Sea&Sea YS-110 (yellow) strobe connected via a fiber optic slave cable. This set up can produce some great photos, but typically there is a lot of fussing around with exposure settings (typically over exposed). I would like to progress to the next level and get into a DSLR setup and still use the same strobe (hopeing to connect it via TTL to minimize the over exposure).

Can anyone give me some guidance on DSLR's less than $1500 for the camera. I've looked through consumer reports, dpreview.com and there is a ton of information to digest for someone new to this market. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[HerraduraDivers]

Titanite,
1. there are a lot of DSLR's below 1500$, but you need lenses and they cost.
You may get a used, complete rig to start with.

2. The use of optical triggered slave strobe will reduce the choice of a housing, as you need
one allowing the internal strobe to pop open, beeing transparent or with a optical strobe port.

3. TTL is not a guarantee for perfect exposure, especially not for wide angle.
Electrically connectetd TTL Strobes work well for macro photographie but may have some
issues with wide angle. Optical ttl strobes work surprisingly well.

4. DSLR rigs are bulky and heavy, making them unconfortable to drag around and complicated
to use, especially under water for somebody who is not used to them

5. You may consider to get a G11/G12/S90/S95 as the work perfectly with optical strobes,
are small and handy to travel and drag around and produce photos of almost DSLR quality.

I read in between the lines that you have problems with/to tame your SD700IS and i think that a DSLR will complicate it for you
much more instead of making photographing easyer.
DSLR make spectacular pictures when a spectacular operator uses her, otherwise a DSLR will not produce better pictures.

Chris

 

[Titanite]

Titanite,
1. there are a lot of DSLR's below 1500$, but you need lenses and they cost.
You may get a used, complete rig to start with.

2. The use of optical triggered slave strobe will reduce the choice of a housing, as you need
one allowing the internal strobe to pop open, beeing transparent or with a optical strobe port.

3. TTL is not a guarantee for perfect exposure, especially not for wide angle.
Electrically connectetd TTL Strobes work well for macro photographie but may have some
issues with wide angle. Optical ttl strobes work surprisingly well.

4. DSLR rigs are bulky and heavy, making them unconfortable to drag around and complicated
to use, especially under water for somebody who is not used to them

5. You may consider to get a G11/G12/S90/S95 as the work perfectly with optical strobes,
are small and handy to travel and drag around and produce photos of almost DSLR quality.

I read in between the lines that you have problems with/to tame your SD700IS and i think that a DSLR will complicate it for you
much more instead of making photographing easyer.
DSLR make spectacular pictures when a spectacular operator uses her, otherwise a DSLR will not produce better pictures.

Chris

Thanks Herradura,
I don't think I struggle with the 700IS, I find that restricting the ISO and turning down the exposure to compensate for the full blast from the strobe to be a pain in the ass and I want to be able to take better pictures. Also the 700IS has almost no features other than "auto" and "underwater". I guess I wont get used to a rig until I have one, so I think I will do some more digging around as to what I need.

I find myself leaning towards a canon body, any recommendations for a macro lens?
I'm pretty sure I cant use a macro lens with a fish eye? What wide angle lens do people recommend?(for taking above and below photos).
Thank you in advance,
T
Here are a couple photos from the 700IS, couple good ones, couple bad ones...

 

[bvanant]

At the moment, I would look at three setups. The first is the Canon T2i/Nikon D90. They are both great and both have good housings for them. The second route is the EVIL route like the Sony NEX-5 or the Olympus micro 4/3. Great systems, a bit smaller but really nice. Then I would look at the S95/G12 systems with Fix or other higher end housings. All will get you great pics and all are a lot more complex than your current system.
Bill

 

[marcaumarc]

I would say go for a high-end consumer DSLR, either Nikon or Canon because they have the best lens choices (which is ultimately the most important part of a DSLR setup). I use a D90 and love it, apparently the d7000 is even better, but you may have to wait a while for a housing since it just came out. I don't know Canon, but the equivalent Canons are going to be just as good.

For the strobe, you probably have to look at the housings to see if you can do TTL and how much it will cost. If you have to buy a more expensive housing and then buy a 3rd party TTL converter to use your strobe, then it could be more expensive to keep the strobe versus getting a setup with new strobes (especially if you sell your current strobe). For example, Ikelite housings are big and heavy, but mine has built-in TTL for Ikelite strobes and they are relatively inexpensive.

Alternately, if you do get new strobes, you can use the Sea & Sea as a third strobe. It won't be TTL, but it should fire when your other strobes do as long as enough light hits it from the other strobes. I kept my Sea & Sea strobe from my P&S setup, but really I only used it once as a backup when I flooded one of my strobes (my fault, I'm sure, but they fixed it for free). But I do have a 3-way ball joint, so I could connect it to my rig, or I could do creative lighting stuff by placing it somewhere else while shooting. I guess I should get on that.

In general, I would say that you might as well get the kit lens for topside, especially if you get a discount on the kit. I originally bought my DSLR for underwater, but do tons of topside photography now. For underwater, I love the Tokina 10-17 fisheye and the Nikon 85mm macro. If you go Canon, you should be able to get the Tokina with a Canon mount and I'm sure Canon has a similar macro.

 

[marcaumarc]

Also, just with regard to other options suggested upthread, for better or worse the only way to get a DSLR is to get a DSLR. From what I can tell, Micro 4/3 cameras are reasonably close in many respects (relatively large sensors, interchangeable lenses, etc.). Even the best P&S cameras are really nothing like a DSLR. Which is not to say that they aren't good, but I wouldn't consider one as an option for someone who wants a DSLR, or vice versa for that matter.