Entry level camera

[RetMTFE]

Yeah, yeah, yeah....you don't have to tell me this has been asked 1000 times before and I should do a search

I'm looking for a basic entry level camera. Not interested in bells and whistles or trying to impress anyone. The simpler the better. I ran into a guy on a trip that had a Canon he loved. He said he paid around 200 for the camera and 150 for the housing. Wish I had asked the model number.
Thanks

 

[cardog]

If you just go to the Canon web site you can see the retail price of all of their cameras and housings. You could get a SD760 IS for around 229 and the housing is 150. It's 12 mp and shoots hd video.

 

[Nemrod]

Get this:

Underwater Housing for Canon A580iS & A590iS Cameras

Or this:

Underwater Housing for Canon Digital Cameras

N

 

[Tigerman]

Id say get the Canon G10+housing. That way youll have the next best thing to a dSLR without blowing money like a drunken sailor. Itll have all you need untill youre ready to put out some serious money for dSLR with housing and strobes.. Which is in the "ouch my wallet hurt" price range..

 

[WOODMAN]

Id say get the Canon G10+housing. That way youll have the next best thing to a dSLR without blowing money like a drunken sailor. Itll have all you need untill youre ready to put out some serious money for dSLR with housing and strobes.. Which is in the "ouch my wallet hurt" price range..

The G10 is an awful lot of camera to start someone with, and is certainly not in the $200 range. However, seeing as how he will probably end up with something like a G10 when the limitations of a cheap camera finally catch up with him, I suppose a case could be made for starting out with the advanced model and growing into it. But he specifically wanted a basic unit without "bells and whistles", remember? Woody

 

[Tigerman]

The G10 is an awful lot of camera to start someone with, and is certainly not in the $200 range. However, seeing as how he will probably end up with something like a G10 when the limitations of a cheap camera finally catch up with him, I suppose a case could be made for starting out with the advanced model and growing into it. But he specifically wanted a basic unit without "bells and whistles", remember? Woody

Thats the great thing with the G10.. You can go entirely basic P&S or you can make use of all the "bells and whistles" that you get in a dSLR - the limitations are basically in the sensor and fixed optics..
Its not in the $200 range, no - More the $4-500 range but a very basic camera you wont get much out of for very long either..

 

[Nemrod]

I don't know what bells and whistles are but the G10 has some serious limitations, the main one being is that it has little or no wide angle support. If you get the expensive FIX aluminum housing they have, finally, a wide angle port with a 160 degree FOV. However, I saw some pics taken with one and the edges look very soft, more so than with the Inon wet lenses on my little 570 which would be terribly disappointing to me if I had spent 3,000 dollars on the outfit.

If all the OP wants to do is take basic pics without any accessory lenses or external strobe there are any number of cameras that will do for him. If he wants wet lenses and ultra wide the G10 really does not work that well. If macro is his interest, maybe a better choice then. The G10 is a very limited camera, small sensor, expensive somewhat, wide angle options don't perform as well as cheaper Canons with Inon lenses, RAW is good. It is an OK camera within it's limitations, some serious, but nothing to get all excited over. I don't get this G10 fascination. N

 

[Krazytomdiver]

Check out the small Olympus 1030 SW ($300usd) water proof to 33',drop & dust proof,10.1 mp.
Put a PT-43 housing ($150usd) good for another 100'plus & if your housing floods your camera isn't burnt toast.

"living life without a hard bottom"
KT

 

[scottfiji]

The oly 1030SW lacks a couple important features, imho

 

[CA_Diver]

If you want a decent camera that will take good and possibly great pictures on occasion, but don't want to deal with all the bells and whistles and prices of dSLR. Any of the SD series cameras will probably work well, I'd suggest one with the "IS" (image stabilizer) option. Canon Digital Cameras You can probably find a good deal on a new one on amazon or something of the like without much trouble. To match the camera, canon sells an array of cases which again you can probably find on amazon for about 150 bucks. Digital Cameras - Canon U/W Cases Just make sure the camera you choose has a case. The more die-hard camera guys will probably disagree with me, but this set up works well, essentially point and shoot for underwater. Not to mention it also comes out to be like $350 total and you have a small camera that fits in your pocket when you're on the surface.

I have the SD790IS and the canon case for it WP-DC24; my buddy has the SD750 and its case the WP-DC14 - essentially the same camera I believe except for the IS part (I think it makes a difference, but I may be fooling myself), but he did buy his camera several months before me (12/08 vs 06/08) and now the price is probably negligible. The other camera I was thinking about when I was looking to buy was the SD880IS, but I chose the 790IS for some reason but am not sure what it was, sorry. If you want to see some pictures, just message. Hope this helps.