Dive Report: St. Andrews State Park 04 March 2010

[baydive20]

(Can't remember the name of the place where we had some great Sushi.

SAKE HOUSE.

 

[MRXRAY]

Sake House II, directly across from the entrance to the Navy Base.

Yeah, That's the place. It was GOOOOOOD! NY Roll tops the list!

 

[PatMyGreen]

Man you guys did some fantastic macro work! What cameras were you all rockin?

 

[Hetland]

Man you guys did some fantastic macro work! What cameras were you all rockin?

Thanks!

XRay has an Olympus SP560UZ camera (and an Oly strobe I think). I use a Canon G11 and a single Inon D2000w strobe.

It's pretty funny. I can usually get a decent photo or two in the worst conditions, but I can't take a shot in clear water to save my life. I think that says a bunch about my diving experience LOL.

 

[PatMyGreen]

That pretty interesting on both of yalls camera and gear selection. I am pretty interested in seeing what experienced divers have settled on and are having good results with primarily because I am about to open a shop up here and I'd like to stock quality gear at reasonable prices. There was a great article on backscatter where they rated the best underwater camera housing combos and Cannon and Olympus held their own very well against Sea and Sea and were both quite abit cheaper. Of course it would be hard for me to compete against best buy for business on either of those to brands but then again the same is true about liesurepro and dive gear express....

So I guess what I am asking (and let me know if I should do this in another thread) is what drove your decision making to traditional cameras versus the others? The biggest draw back I can find is that alot of the mainstream brand's housings are not rated to the depths I tend to do alot of my diving on. But as Joe Dirt pointed out its not about me, its about the (potential) consumer.

 

[Hetland]

So I guess what I am asking (and let me know if I should do this in another thread) is what drove your decision making to traditional cameras versus the others? The biggest draw back I can find is that alot of the mainstream brand's housings are not rated to the depths I tend to do alot of my diving on. But as Joe Dirt pointed out its not about me, its about the (potential) consumer.

I was a Canon fan before I started diving, but I looked objectively at the market once I started researching underwater gear. Canon's biggest sell points for me are the wide selection of cameras from $150-$4000 that they have available, and I can buy housings for many of them, either through Canon, or through a second party (Ikelite). 130ft is fine for me to take a camera. If I ever need to go deeper I can always sell my Canon housing and buy a fix or ike.

Personally, the "made-for-scuba" cameras I see are ho-hum. They are fine if you are a point and shoot photographer, but Canon, Nikon, Sony and Olympus are the cameras I would stick with for serious work. I also prefer a housing with clear plastic so I can see the o-ring when the housing is closed.

You can't compete with Best Buy on Canon gear, but Best Buy does not sell Canon HOUSINGS or complete underwater packages. $300-$350 will get you a nice uw camera and housing by Canon. You'll also be able to sell them a weight kit to keep the camera neutral or negative, trays/arms/focus lights and a strobe if you decide to carry such. I went with INON, and would perhaps consider Ike if I were to re-invest, but realistically, I would buy another INON (probably a D2000s) if I wanted a 2nd or replacement strobe. You can't buy them around these parts, so you might have some luck selling the brand. I use ULCS hardware, which is expensive also, but It works flawlessly, and is a minor investment considering the cost of a strobe or G11. JHayes has an Intova strobe that seems to put out a good bit of light, and is considerably less expensive than INON. I would consider Intova after additional testing.

Where you might make some money is fabricating speargun mounts for cameras. Everyone drools over mine

 

[PatMyGreen]

Thank you, that is exactly the kind of feedback I have been sorely needing! If my fabrication skills get up to speed you'll see plenty of links to vimeo from me. Until then it'll have to be when I remember to take the pics only, which never happens although I drag my camera with me every dive.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Yeah, I've always been a big fan of actual cameras made by companies who specialize in photography. Not scuba companies, marketing something(typically rebadged budget cameras) to a niche crowd with technical handicaps.

The "scuba" cameras are great for tourists, who want to point and click. If you want flexibility, you need a camera with more control though - any of the primary brands will work, Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony, whatever.

Ikelite would be a great company to look into as they carry quality housings, lighting, and hardware for a variety of cameras, setups, and budgets. If I were to open a shop, I'd let the customer buy their own camera and help them mate it to an Ikelite housings that I'd(you'd) provide and all the cool accesories to go with it. Possibly have a limited stock of turn key kits if you must.

Intova offers alot for the price, but its definately got limitations as well - makes for a great budget brand.

 

[jhayes75]

The camera selection is important as far options and quality go, but I am not sold the idea of the camera being the culprit for great photos. Allot has to do with the photographer behind the camera. Knowing how to set up your camera underwater and selecting the right lighting is what makes great photos. I added the Intova 2000 strobe to my rig as Hetland has stated and it does have allot of power. Most of my pictures were over exposed. This led me to read a guide to underwater photography and then I realized how my settings on my camera were way off. For 1, I was shooting too high of an ISO. 2. Had my EV setting too high. Just by adjusting my ISO to 100 and my EV to -1.00 made a huge difference top side in a dark room. I have not been able to get in the water since I discovered this, but I am expecting some really nice macro shots on my next dive. here are a couple of examples. All three photos were taken with the intova strobe on its lowest power. I did not edit the photos.

ISO 400 EV 2.00 my original Setting. Pitch black room using my nano phocus light.

ISO 100 EV -1.00

ISO 100 EV -2.00

 

[Hetland]

I'd let the customer buy their own camera and help them mate it to an Ikelite housings that I'd(you'd) provide and all the cool accesories to go with it. Possibly have a limited stock of turn key kits if you must.

I tell everyone and their sister to do this, but they almost always walk into their closest dive shop and buy a turnkey "made for scuba" camera, and pay way too much for what they are getting. This is great for the folks that run dive shops, as I'm sure the markup is favorable, and it's great for people who take out a camera once or twice a year and point and shoot at what they want to photograph.

I also see that the resale value is pretty decent too, so maybe I'm being overly critical or snobbish (I've been known to be both). Jason has taken better photos than me with his Intova system in some pretty terrible conditions. IF I were to run a shop and carry a "made for scuba" system, it would most likely be Intova, as the pricing is more in line for what you get, but I'm guessing you could make some money on canon or nikon starter-packages.

Speaking of Intova, their flashlights are pretty damn sweet too. I have a wide angle LED light that I use for video, and it's a really good buy for the price, and comes with features (magnetic switch) not usually found in lights under $100.