First Time Buying Question

[kweaver]

Hello Canon Corner! I am considering buying a digital camera primarily for use on dive trips but also as a secondary land-use camera. My LDS pushes hard the Sea & Sea DX8000 but after doing some scuba board reading I have decided that I would rather not look like an amateur even if right now I take pictures like one. With that said, I have looked at the Canon Powershot A710IS with the Canon UW Housing and down the road getting the Sea & Sea or Sea Life External Strobe attachment. Now, I am not totally sold on any particular camera. I am trying to keep the initial purchase (housing and camera) at or below $500 and I can do that with this set-up (not including strobe). Canon has some pics on their website with just the camara and housing and they are WAY better than what we get right now with our OLD SeaLife Reefmaster 35mm film camera. Canon seems to be very popular with the underwater photogs so I thought I would start here. My other camera I have is an Olympus C2020 and while only 2 mp's it takes GREAT pictures. While open to Olympus, like I said, it seems Canon has more choices and takes great pictures for not a huge outlay of expense. Thanks for any advice as well as alternative suggestions.

Keep in mind we live in Atlanta and do most of our diving in the FL springs with at least one Salt Water dive each year (going to West Palm in June for 10th Anniversary and hope to have camera by then.) Manual control features, while not important to me now as I don't have a good understanding of them, would be something I would like to "grow" into so possibly important down the road. Most important is good picture quality and quick shutter speed.

Thanks to your responses!

 

[Willar]

Canon is a great choice for US photography, and the A710IS is one of the hottest cameras with the available WP case. I was leaning toward the A710IS until Canon just came out with the A570IS. Very similar but 4x zoom instead of 6x, and lower retail price for the A570. The one advantage of the A570 is the Digic III logic - a definite step up in speed and features.

Your idea of the camera plus WP case now and adding the strobe later is a good one. I like the Canon without the strobe because it is a very compact setup. Very easy to travel with and easy to clip onto a BC. Add the strobe and you add to the size, weight, and complexity. I like to KISS!!! But of you want the better photos the strobe can provide, this series of cameras can handle it.

Canon leads the pack because they lead photography worldwide in many forms. Buy a Canon and you know you have a well designed piece of equipment.

 

[alcina]

I think the Canon A series is great!

Buy and get in the water!! Have fun!!

 

[jdf]

I have a Canon A540 with the Canon underwater case. It has underwater settings, good for those new to photography (like me) and also has manual settings that I am just starting to learn. Went from a Nikonos V to this because I wanted to go digital and smaller. Takes great land photos and better than average point and shoot underwater photos. I just bought a Sea & Sea YS-110 strobe and Ultralight tray, handle and arms. I am looking forward to using these in Sipadan next week. It's also nice and small for traveling. I took it to Belize last year and got some decent photos. The colors came out brighter than my friends digital camera. Very happy with it so far.

Janet

 

[kweaver]

Thank you to all who responded. I decided on the Canon Powershot A570 IS with the Canon WP-DC12 Case. I found the camera for $238 and the case for $159.89 at 17thstreetphoto.com who is an authorized Canon dealer. While I was also geared toward the Olymmpus SP 350 with an Ikelite housing, I felt that the Canon has more of the features I was looking for and the Canon case would be more than adequate to us. Thanks again for everyone's imput. Now I can't wait to try it out in West Palm in June!