Christmas Shopping for New Setup - Please Help

[Beth_M]

Hello all,

I would like to purchase my buddy and me a new camera setup for Christmas. We are both fairly new to photography, having only shot with digital P&S cameras topside. However, I am certain that taking a class and experimentation will help with the underwater photography. In any case, I have read many threads on recommended setups for a newbie on here, Wetpixel, Digideep, and DigitalDiver and it seems that there is no perfect UW camera. To add to the confusion, most of the cameras I have considered have either been superseded by more current models, do not have all the features I am looking for or both. Ironically, it seems that the most current models are less capable for underwater photography than older models.

For instance, after reading all the accolades for the C-5050, I was seriously contemplating on purchasing one. But, since the C-5050 has been discountinued for years, I am hesitant to purchase a camera whose replacement parts might become scarce should I ever need to repair it. Another camera I considered was the Canon S70, but I wanted to purchase a beefier housing for it like an Ikelite. Ikelite Does not make an S70 housing, but will have one for the S80. Unfortunately, the s80 does not have RAW mode.

As I have previously mentioned, we are pretty new to photography and would really appreciate some adivce on a good setup that is (in order of preference):

1) Easy to use - should be able to take decent shots underwater without too much fiddling. But, should have good manual controsl once we learn to use them.
2) Flexible - a camera that will grow with us as we become more experienced photographers. It should be easy to upgrade it with trays. arms, strobes, lenses, etc.
3) Fairly compact - the size of the C-5050 and housing would probably be as large as we would like to go.

Ideally, the camera should have RAW mode, and be able to swap wide angle and macro lenses out underwater. I have a soft budget of around $1K for camera plus housing.

Hopefully, some knowledgeable elves out there will be able to help Santa put some nice presents under the tree. Thank you for the input!

 

[Ishie]

Unfortunately, the two I'd recommend have been discontinued.

I adore the C-5060 and it's been out of date for less time than the 5050, but still... I haven't shot with the 7070, but what's nice is that it uses the same Ike housing as the 5060, so if you can't replace the 5060, you don't have to rebuy everything. With the Ike package, you can buy the add on, wet mount Inon lenses so you can swap WA and macro. The 7070's discontinued, but fairly recently, so that might be a consideration, since the parts will probably be available for quite a while.

For stuff that hasn't been discontinued, I have no idea. Is Olympus planning any of that same line? The 8080 seems to be a very different camera.

 

[alcina]

I think there will still be 5050s etc around for quite a while so that wouldn't be a major concern for me. I like my 5050 so much that a few months ago I bought a backup body and backup housing, even though I knew I was also purchasing a dslr setup!

As you said, there is no one perfect camera out there so you'll probably have to just bite the bullet and go with the one that you think is right for you as you've done a lot of homework already!

If you can live without RAW, the Canon A620 looks like a nice camera.

You might want to consider the Canon G6 - I haven't used one but I've seen good reviews and it might just fit the bill for you.

Fuji's got a couple out there too, but the reports seem to be inconsistent...Ike does have a housing for the new 900 now...

Not sure how much more help this is!

 

[Ishie]

I'm thinking of buying a back-up 5060 after the holidays because I love it.

I shot with a friend's 5050 and loved it. At the time, I didn't know much about the systems, so I didn't notice much of a difference, but it seems to be a great camera, and she got some gorgeous shots, both above and below water with it.

The Oly housing on it also seems a bit more reliable than the one for the 5060 (grumble grumble)

 

[Monkey Knife-fight]

I would say the Fuji E900 + ike housing is your best bet. I have the F810 and love it.

 

[Jamdiver]

I'd say you can't go wrong really with the Canon Powershot A6xx series or the Fuji F10.
Just noticed your budget hmmn, maybe the Olympus Sp-350 or SP-500 would fit the bill for you. I think Ikelite has housings out for them??

A friend of mine has the G6, but hasn't housed it yet or anything. Only thing that I can say about is that it can fire a lot of shots in a short period of time (Great burst mode).

Best of luck, as they say it's a buyer's market out there.

 

[RonFrank]

I'd likley go with the OLY 7070 at this time.

Actually, I'd suggest the Nikon D50 as a better alternative, but that is going to go outside your budget.

Other options like the Canon G6 maybe worth consideration. I'd not worry too much about getting an Ikelite housing. They generally run over $500, and realistically, I don't see why that housing is all that much better than the less expensive options.

If you are willing to dump $500 on a housing, again, I'd think about a DSLR.