Canon vs Nikon

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Once again, thank you all for your input.

I am considering an DSLR since I no longer use Auto functions in my camera (nor in my Inon Z-240 strobe) practically all of my shots and lighting are in Manual, and like I said previouslly, I'm getting ambitious (eheheh). I'll try to post an example here and I welcome all critiques.

The one thing that I believe I'll miss the most if I crossover from my compact into a SLR will be the wide range of UW shooting possibilities without the need to come up to change lenses.

I find the "learn more topside before you take the SLR with you on a dive" advice to be a sound one, and that will definitely be my course of action (specially because the money will just be enough for the camera and a couple of lenses, the housing will have to wait :( )

In the meanwhile, please keep advising which setup (with lenses) you would choose and why.
 

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With the 500D the kit lens is pretty wide at 18mm, but you can get a sigma 10-20mm f3.5 lens will give you a really wide angle of view and it is less then the canon 10-22mm. But no IS, but with such short focal length it is not that big of a concern.
 
All the things you describe should be used on DSLRs and compacts alike if you want good results.

Believe you can, believe you can't.
Anyway you're right...

I started taking pictures uw before shooting outside, in film. When I bought my first SRL I started using fisheye lenses (another myth) straight away... and I am definitely the least smart of the pack. If you want a compact because of budgetary problems is one thing and I respect that, but please don't tell me things are difficult with ALL the digital technology in our favor.

I just find so funny how people rely on "UW" mode, or worry too much about WB these days.
UWPhoto is more than 100yo. now and for it's first 100y we have achieved all these epic amazing photos with WB locked in "daylight" (the film we used).

Film SLRs were something compared to compacts, compacts at the time did not have Manual control. And we only had 36 shots/film... or per dive!!! We HAD to get it right without looking at the back LCD (we had none!!!).

Today, you can shoot until you get a blister on your finger on a single dive. You get instantaneous film development after each shot. We can change film (ISO & WB ie.) for each shot!!! And the way to shoot (for good results!!!) a G11 or a D300 is pretty much the same, same M mode, same strobe position issues... exactly the same... the ONLY difference are price (after all these benefits people still thinks DSLRs are expensive, try to take your development lab with you underwater) and the speed which the camera reacts to your command.

In this sense, it is easier to shoot with a DSLR than a compact. With my DSLR I get what I want when I want. With compacts I am always looking for something hidden in the menus...

In good light the d300 and the G11 can be close, but if the light start to get low, the dslr wins hands down with the larger sensor and a fast prime without a flash. I think the g11 is a great camera, but it is not going to do certain things a dslr can do. Especially in low light or action shots. It is not correct to say a high quality bridge camera can match all the ability of a dslr. If that is the case, there is no reason to dive a 5dMKII or any DSLR. I think you are over simplifying things.

But like anything practice makes perfect. Couple of good books, and allot of practice and you can get quite good at shooting with a dslr pretty quickly, not disagreeing with that. But it seems like you are doing what allot of sales guys do and saying that the dslr the best picture. No need for anything else. Which is not the case.
 
With the housings for dSLRs being so expensive and you not having any above water water dSLR experience I think you would be better off with a point and shoot in the water. Canon makes their own housings for several cameras in their Powershot SD series. I know, because I've owned one for several years. While the pictures might not jump out and say wow I think they are well worth the price (the housing for my SD550 was only $160).

Once you become proficient with a dSLR on land then I'd approach the possibility of taking it down with you. Housings alone run around $1,500 and that doesn't include the port for the lens or the strobes.

All that said we will be taking our Canon 40D underwater for the first time next month. We seem to pick the most expensive hobbies... SCUBA, photography!

Ooh. When it comes to video the point and shoots even do HD video now and at much less than the price of a dSLR.

Nah, the most expensive is motorcycling for the average person. H-D 30K dollars. :D
 
Nah, the most expensive is motorcycling for the average person. H-D 30K dollars. :D

True enough. In these colder months I tend to forget about warm weather activities. I'm only thinking about the diving stuff because we are flying South!
 
True enough. In these colder months I tend to forget about warm weather activities. I'm only thinking about the diving stuff because we are flying South!

I do all of the hobby mention. And the motorcycle thing is the most expensive. :D

Enjoy your dive trip and your first dslr dive, hope you get some big fishes to photograph.
 
Once again, thank you all for your input.

I am considering an DSLR since I no longer use Auto functions in my camera (nor in my Inon Z-240 strobe) practically all of my shots and lighting are in Manual, and like I said previouslly, I'm getting ambitious (eheheh). I'll try to post an example here and I welcome all critiques.

The one thing that I believe I'll miss the most if I crossover from my compact into a SLR will be the wide range of UW shooting possibilities without the need to come up to change lenses.

I find the "learn more topside before you take the SLR with you on a dive" advice to be a sound one, and that will definitely be my course of action (specially because the money will just be enough for the camera and a couple of lenses, the housing will have to wait :( )

In the meanwhile, please keep advising which setup (with lenses) you would choose and why.

Do you run your photos through a photo editing program like apple aperture or photoshop lightloom? If you do not, that would be a good investment. Just one clik and improve details, color and clarity. But can you way more if you enjoy playing with your photos especially if you shot raw.
 
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All the things you describe should be used on DSLRs and compacts alike if you want good results.

Believe you can, believe you can't.
Anyway you're right...

I started taking pictures uw before shooting outside, in film. When I bought my first SRL I started using fisheye lenses (another myth) straight away... and I am definitely the least smart of the pack. If you want a compact because of budgetary problems is one thing and I respect that, but please don't tell me things are difficult with ALL the digital technology in our favor.

I just find so funny how people rely on "UW" mode, or worry too much about WB these days.
UWPhoto is more than 100yo. now and for it's first 100y we have achieved all these epic amazing photos with WB locked in "daylight" (the film we used).

Film SLRs were something compared to compacts, compacts at the time did not have Manual control. And we only had 36 shots/film... or per dive!!! We HAD to get it right without looking at the back LCD (we had none!!!).

Today, you can shoot until you get a blister on your finger on a single dive. You get instantaneous film development after each shot. We can change film (ISO & WB ie.) for each shot!!! And the way to shoot (for good results!!!) a G11 or a D300 is pretty much the same, same M mode, same strobe position issues... exactly the same... the ONLY difference are price (after all these benefits people still thinks DSLRs are expensive, try to take your development lab with you underwater) and the speed which the camera reacts to your command.

In this sense, it is easier to shoot with a DSLR than a compact. With my DSLR I get what I want when I want. With compacts I am always looking for something hidden in the menus...

I have to agree 100% with you Mariozi, when I started taking photos underwater I had been taking photos topside for over 10 years. The first camera I had for underwater was a Calypsophot 35mm with 35mm lens and no flash( I still have it and it still works well BTW). The only way to change WB was to change film types, with there only being two available (Kodachrome 25ASA for the red spectrum amd Ectachrome 64ASA for the blue green end) the camera was very basic and it was nothing to wait up to 3 weeks for developing. So by the time you got week 1's film back you had already shot week 4 with no knowledge of what the results would be except for gut instinct and experience. ( BTW each roll of 24 exposure of slides cost about $5 to buy and $8 to develope) There was no WA lenses available or even close up kits at that stage so you used what you had and practiced.

Todays cameras take such good photos easily and cheaply and the results are there to see straight away and with software manipulation of images there is almost no such thing as a bad shot. So if you wish to use a P&S or a High End dSLR the learning curve is just the same as you are not so much learning the equipment as learning what you can do with it to achieve your full potential as an underwater image maker!



Peter
 
Actually if you learn your craft, you can do it right; then it is not about the equipment, just look at the standard that Ansel Adams set. None of the high tech gear we have. He learned his craft and knew his equipment backwards and forward. And we still reference his work to this day. So if you learn learn the craft of photography and know your gear. Then you can take great pictures regardless of the equipment. So it is still true 2/3 person 1/3 equipment. So if you learn you gear properly you will be able to improve your photos and use it to it's fullest ability. And the G10 is really an excellent camera in every right.

That is why to this day Ansel Adams originals still sell for 10's of thousands of dollars.

Or to put it into diving terms, does buying the top of the line diving gear make you automatically a better diver. You actually become a better diver by learning how to use the gear properly. Same thing with photography. :D
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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