Dive camera QUESTIONS and advice

[thefarias]

Hello all my wife and i are looking for a good entry level camera that takes good HD pictures and video. We dont want to spend alot (ie. 2000+). What is a good camera that you guys would reccommend? She wants to be able to take very vidid and colorful shots of wild life and such, so the camera would have to have a good light and flash on it. Also I was looking at the DC1400 with light and flash kit here is the link to it. Sealife DC1400 14 Megapixel Underwater Camera Pro Duo Kit with L.E.D. Video Light and Digital Pro Flash SL726 with reviews at scuba.com Please give me input and sugestions thank you.

 

[ChrisSG]

I believe the top selling compact this year for UW pictures would be the Canon powershot S100. Very powerful for its size and tons of options for housings and other add-ons. If I'd be in the market for a new compact, I'd rather go for this or an Olympus than some Sealife set. What I did instead was to buy a high quality used set. Go for an upmarket housing and a good quality camera which isn't the latest and greatest anymore but still a solid performer. We went for Canon's G series (in our case on 9 and one 11, but a 10 or 12 would do the job just as well) where you can hardly make a mistake with.

 

[gstrek]

I am on my second Olympus. I started with the C-5050 and now have a Pen E-PL1 (14-42 kit lens) in an Oly housing and with a Sea & Sea YS-01. I went with ULCS tray, handle and strobe arms. This is a bit larger than a compact but still packs up in my carry-on with no problem. Image quality is great. Because this kit is a couple years old, you may be able to find it used. Absolutely no regrets with Oly.

If money were no object, I would consider the Olympus OM-D E-M5 with a Nauticam housing. Still compact for travel but even better image quality over the E-PL1.

 

[PatW]

It depends on what you want to accomplish. If you want to take snap shots most rigs would be OK.

However, if you are particular about your photos, you will want RAW capabilities in your camera. You will want strobes to provide colors other than blue and green when you get to depth. You will also want add on wet lenses for macro and wide angle capabilities.

At your budget, I would think that you would be constrained to a point and shoot.

 

[Larry C]

You'll find the SeaLife set-up basic and easy to use. People take quite decent pictures with SeaLife cameras, especially macro. For a bit more money, you can have a camera like the Canon S100, a quality strobe like a Sea & Sea YS-01 or Inon S2000, and a decent focus light. This will get you not just decent, but award winning pictures if you have the talent to take them. Many prestigious photo contests have had prize winners shot with P & S cameras that cost under $500. Add-ons include a housing ($2-300 for the factory housing or up to about $1200 for an aftermarket aluminum one, or anything between) a tray and arm which can be purchased for $100-200 or made up for less, a strobe $400-700 for a good one, and a focus light $150-600. For a better than basic set up, you can go with Ikelite housing, tray and strobe for less than your $2K stated limit. For basic, get the Canon housing and spend extra on the strobe.
Olympus also makes some nice stuff for UW. Some people like the XZ-1. Panasonic is another popular choice. Look at the housings available before you decide on a camera, and check threads on this forum for things like strobe compatibility and other issues.

 

[bvanant]

Talent, you had to bring up talent :blinking:
Bill

 

[buton]

+1 to the Olympus xz1 with the pt-050 with a ys02..

 

[indigo_dc]

I've just gone for the S100 with the Canon housing for it - seems to get universally positive reviews, cost me £400 total (so $620ish) and although I have no strobes, for shallow water diving and macro work it will be a very good starting point. If I want to take it further it's easy to add wet lenses and strobes but it means I also have another great compact for use out of the water at a very competitive price. And I haven't wasted tons on kit if I end up not doing much UW photography.