G7 and Canon housing

[MMM]

I have an olympus stylus 400 and olympus housing - it's worked well for past couple of years. But I don't like the UW photo quality I'm gettin on anything further away than a couple of feet away (or any closer for that matter). Any comments or thoughts appreciated from people who have bought this system and their experience with external strobes. Thanks.

Marg Moran McQuinn

 

[MMM]

Obviously, on a Canon forum, I mean the Canon G7 camera and canon housing...not my existing Olympus... just thought I should clarify, however!

Any comments or thoughts appreciated from people who have bought this system and their experience with external strobes.

Marg Moran McQuinn

 

[Jamdiver]

Hey MMM,

No first hand experience with the G7 or the associated housing.
However based on my past experience using other Canon Cameras and the predecessor to the G7 the G6, i'm fairly sure that it'll make a wonderful rig underwater....

Dpreview is always a good bet to get feedback from G7 users and their review is also up there...

Try the Canon Talk forum.

 

[Gilligan]

MMM,

Check the specs between the G7 and the A640. Both are 10 megapixel cameras. The G7 has a 6X zoom and the A640 a 4X. The G7 has image stabilization and the A640 does not. If you are buying the camera primarily for underwater use the A640 will likely deliver the same results as the G7 and for less money for both camera and housing.

For land use the image stabilization and greater zoom of the G7 may be worth the added expense.

Keep in mind both have the same processor.

Neither has RAW capability which is a major disappointment on the G7 over the G6.

You will not be able to add wet-mount lenses to either of the Canon housings for the A640 or the G7 because of the shape of the lens ports.

 

[azcaddman]

MMM,

(SNIP)

You will not be able to add wet-mount lenses to either of the Canon housings for the A640 or the G7 because of the shape of the lens ports.

With the Ikelite housing you can, the one difference of the G7, you can use a hardwired strobe, probably TTL (ike housing isn't out yet, but they do TTL with other canons) .. and you can use the Inon (and ike's own new) wet lens on them.

Art (enjoying his A640/ike combo)

 

[jbb]

With the Ikelite housing you can, the one difference of the G7, you can use a hardwired strobe, probably TTL (ike housing isn't out yet, but they do TTL with other canons) .. and you can use the Inon (and ike's own new) wet lens on them.

o.k. I have the G7 and canon case. I tried to respond earlier but the post failed so I'll keep it brief for now.

Ikelite is working on a case - in R&D. Assumption - Will probably have the flash hard link for the hot shoe.

Inon - emailed response. They may be developing an adaptor for these new canon cases that have an oval enclosure for the lense. No details but the Ikelite case would probably be cheaper than getting the canon case and inon added bits.

Canon case - in manual mode you lose some adjustability with aperture and shutter speed - no buttons or wheel to spin this adjuster on the camera. Not sure if ikelite will be able the accomplish this either. Did have problems with the ISO speed dial - just didn't want to move the setting at times. I forgot my flash defuser at home in the box - i hope. Met some people with canon case that never had them. It came with on my canon s400 case. I really missed it for macro photography - this is what I love. The 35mm equiv. lense is noticable after the 28mm on my s400.

I need to learn and play a lot more with this camera and the manual settings. Had issues with the manual white balance. I am more used to the manual setting on an old manual film camera - simpler and easier to access.

Recommendation -wait for the price to come down and make sure you get a flash diffuser with case. I don't think under water shots are worth a crap unless you have a strobe/flash (you'll never get those brilliant colors). Although taking a far off wide angle isn't bad (i don't mind blue shots in this case).

Good luck.

 

[MMM]

Thanks all.

 

[randini]

I just posted this the other day in another thread HERE and thought you might be interested:

The G7 has caught my eye as well (as has the A710 since I could just about get the camera an dthe housing for the smae price as the G7). The only UW pics I've seen from the G7 are HERE (the guy used a canon husing with the camera set in UW mode, no strobes or filters). HERE is a link to his post in another forum where he talks a bit more about his setup.

If I decide to go with the G7 (it'll be my first camera) I want to get the canon housing to start out with (I won't have the money for the ike anyways). Then, if I decide to add some strobes and get more serious I'd probably get the Ike housing later since it has TTL through the hotshoe (the canon housing does not) which will increase my strobe options.

I'd still keep the canon housing to have something more compact to take the camera with me when I'm actually working or doing something else underwater.

 

[CompuDude]

Inon - emailed response. They may be developing an adaptor for these new canon cases that have an oval enclosure for the lense. No details but the Ikelite case would probably be cheaper than getting the canon case and inon added bits.

Canon case - in manual mode you lose some adjustability with aperture and shutter speed - no buttons or wheel to spin this adjuster on the camera. Not sure if ikelite will be able the accomplish this either. Did have problems with the ISO speed dial - just didn't want to move the setting at times. I forgot my flash defuser at home in the box - i hope. Met some people with canon case that never had them. It came with on my canon s400 case. I really missed it for macro photography - this is what I love. The 35mm equiv. lense is noticable after the 28mm on my s400.

I disagree about the cost... Ike's cases for these larger cameras are spendy enough that it is likely that the Canon case + Inon adapter is going to be cheaper than the Ike case alone.

I actually really dislike Ike's system for spinning the wheel on my S80, so much so that I am seriously considering selling my Ike case and buying the Canon case (+ Inon lens adapter) with the proceeds. Hopefully they will improved it with the G7, but we'll have to wait and see. Do you know if the workaround used on the S80 have a similar method for the G7?

After using the 28mm lens on my S80, I don't know that I would want to go back to a 35mm equiv lens again, for anything other than a full SLR where I can pick and choose my lens.

 

[gert7to3]

Don't mean to be poaching here. Since you already have an Oly, have you considered the SP-350? I think lenses are slightly better on Canon cameras, but the SP-350 does offer RAW capability, full manual control, TTL and accessory lens compatiblity. This camera is also going out of production so the price is pretty good right now.

The G7 would probably be a better all around camera, so long as you don't flood it.