Digital camera suggestions?

[blackvans1234]

Hey photographers, another noob looking for suggestions. I have looked at the forums, and there seems to be a million different cameras.
Budget $600 for BOTH camera and housing
when reading the sticky "Everything Photo-dslr, compacts...." I now know what to look for in a digital camera, but there are seemingly millions of options

Can you give me suggestions with camera's that have:
Features I want (as stated in the sticky)
-Manual mode
-Manually adjustable shutter speeds
-Adjustable Aperature
-Macro mode
-Manual white balance
-Histogram
And any other features you feel are important

If you know of a camera that you feel is excellent and it does not have one of these features, just let me know.

Any opinions are greatly appreciated

 

[Gilligan]

blackvans1234 if you are not going to use an external strobe then consider the Canon S95 in the Canon housing or the Panasonic Lx5 in a more expensive brand housing as they don't make their own housing.

Both are excellent cameras and have RAW capability which is a must for your non-strobe shots.
The built in strobe will do fine for macro shots.
They both have custom white balance settings which you don't need if you shoot your non-strobe shots in RAW.
IMO you should not buy a camera that does not have RAW capability.
If you don't like to spend a lot of time-post processing then shoot your strobe shots in JPEG and your non-strobe shots in RAW.
Calibrating your white balance underwater for non-strobe shots is a waste of time compared to using RAW.
Long zoom capability is of no use underwater so don't let that be a factor.

 

[blackvans1234]

I would consider using an external strobe in the future, as my budget/ shooting skill permits
So the question would be, do those housings allow the attachment of external strobes?
Thanks for you advice

How about the addition of lenses?
is this applicable to those cameras you listed?
(im going to search around on the forums, but figured i'd ask before I forget)

 

[Rascally Rabbit]

I would suggest a Fuji F300 EXR. Any camera with a built in strobe can be used with external slave strobes that would sycn with fiberoptic cables. As for additional lenses that would depend on the individual camera but the majority of point and shoot cameras that have underwater housing available also have wet conversion lenses available also for wide angle and macro. As for RAW file handling some photographers won't buy a camera without it while others find it isn't a necessity.

 

[Gilligan]

I would consider using an external strobe in the future, as my budget/ shooting skill permits
So the question would be, do those housings allow the attachment of external strobes?
Thanks for you advice

How about the addition of lenses?
is this applicable to those cameras you listed?
(im going to search around on the forums, but figured i'd ask before I forget)

Just about any housing will work with an external strobe as the housing/strobe simply needs a tray/arm.
If you are going to add wet mount lenses in the future then you have introduced other factors into the equation. You then need to consider a housing that is wet mount lens "friendly"
Wet mount lenses are either thread-on or bayonet mount type. For example many Ikelite housings accept the thread on type. I used them for several years and found them to be annoying and time consuming to put on and off and if I was to now entertain a camera setup with wet mount lenses I would go with the bayonet type.

The bottom line is you need to decide what your equipment goal is and buy a camera and housing accordingly. For example the Canon S95 in a Canon housing is a compact, fully loaded camera at a good price. But if I was to want to add wet mount lenses I would go with a different housing and that increases the price. Some camera manufacturers don't make underwater housings so you have to purchase other brand housings. Some of those housings are not functional using the camera's strobe so an external strobe is required from the get go.

I have a G10 and G12 in Canon housings with an external strobe, no wet mount lenses and am satisfied at that level. If I wanted to step up with wide angle and macro wet mount lenses and dual strobes I would not have bought Canon housings. It's all about what you want to do and invest accordingly.

Underwater photography takes practice and that translates to dives. If you are diving once a year on a two week vacation consider that, unless money is no object.

 

[PatW]

Currently, I am using the Canon G11 with an Ike housing. I like the camera quite a bit. On land, I use a Nikon D300. The camera has some limitations but it does fine.

At your price point, the best camera I can think of is the Canon S95 which has the same chip as the Canon G12. You could go for the Ike housing or the more inexpensive Canon housing.

I have found that a strobe(s) are a virtually essential part of the package. I started shooting with an Ike DS51 and just recently got another. The 2 strobes work quite a bit better than one.

 

[nudibranco]

for the ergonomics I love the SEA&SEA DX2g. However the Olympus XZ1 seems quite compelling. A Nauticam housing just came out which supposedly accepts some nice Inon addon lenses. In the Canon area the S95 makes more sense than the G12.... Just my thoughts... )

 

[mainedvr]

I bought my wife the Sealife DC1200 for her birthday, never had a underwater camera before so was looking for something above entry level what things could be added to in the future. Anyhow, out of the box as long as you set it for the correct depth it takes decent pictures even for a beginner. Can also add len or len's strobes ect.... Price is in the range you mentioned but for the basic camera and housing. I think if you add the wide angel its just about 650bucks. I am not an expert but have used it and has most if not all of what you are looking for.