Good basic point and shoot?

[tombiowami]

I am looking for a basic camera. I have scouted the Sea and Sea mx5 and the reefmaster rc or cl. I know virtually nothing of land photography nothing of it below the water.

I am just looking for something that is a step up from the disposables and can go to 100' or so. Thanks for any help on these or other recommendations.

Tommy

 

[Tavi]

I use the Sea-life Reefmaster with one strobe. I added the strobe at the recomendation of people on the boards. I'm glad I did! I am real happy with the results (there is room for improvement, but that's us not the camera). If you'd like to check out some of the pics click on the www at the bottom of this post. The dive trip photo albums are on the sidebar of my home page.


I used a disposable once (my very first dive 12-15fsw). After that I remember going on deeper dives and wishing I had a camera. So I bought it for my wife for X-mas!

We use the Kodak Sea&Sea processing. They will put the pics on disc too (costs a little more). It makes it a whole lot easier to uplaod to the web.

Now I've been thinking about digital (Sea-Life makes one now). It would be a whole lot cheaper to be able to delete the pics that didn't turn out so good .I could print the ones I want, and would still be able to upload.

Hope this helps,

 

[Stone]

Here's a previous thread that discusses three of the least expensive "Point and Shoot" cameras:

Click Here

 

[herman]

Hi Tommy,

Don't bother with the MX-5, you can't get a strobe for it. To do any UW photography you really must have a strobe if you are going to get any good pictures. Without a strobe you can do ok to about 10 ft on a sunny day but any deeper and a strobe is necessary. The internal flash on any of the point and shoots (MX-5, MX-10, Reefmaster, ect) are at best useless and usally make things worse. Take a look at the Ikelite Auto 35 or the Reefmaster and if you want a little more camera the MX-10. I own an MX-10 and it does a nice job....By the way, Dave over at Gypsy had one on sale the other day for a really good price. Don't hold me to it but I think he had the camera and strobe for $350. He also has a new one by Reefmaster (I think) that is digital. It's a little higher but with no film it may be better in the long run. The pictures are not super high quality but not bad if you don't want to blow them up a lot.

In any case, do yourself a favor and don't buy anything that you can not get a strobe for and when you do buy, go ahead and spend the extra money for the strobe. You will end up with one if you want good pictures and usally the package deal is a little cheaper than buying them seperately.

 

[tombiowami]

Thanks for the info.

Herman, I was just over at Gypsy's new digs. A buddy and me did a skills/pool dive there on Saturday. It is pretty nice.

Tommy

 

[herman]

I have 2 "dives" in the pool myself. Got to play with a rebreather and a scooter, fun stuff.

 

[Rick Murchison]

I use the Ikelite Aquashot 3e; my bride uses the Auto 35. Here are some examples of what you can do with those...
http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/SupportSt/rickmurchison/bonaire00.html
Rick

 

[DawgPaddle]

I've seen several camera's on Ebay, but as I'm new, very new, ok ok, extremely new to the scuba world, I wouldn't know a good deal if I saw one. Today (2/2/02) there were 74 underwater camera's for sale. Good luck and let us know how you like what you get...

DawgPaddle

 

[AliKat]

I have a Reefmaster I've been using since last June. I started out with the Pro set (camera plus 3x lense and 1 strobe). I added the macro kit and most recently a second strobe. I have been really happy with it. I've gotten some decent pictures, but I think the issue between OK, and great is with me, not the camera! One advantage to the Reefmaster, especially if you are just starting out is that there is nothing to adjust; no f stops no aperatures, nothing. If I ever start getting some of those "great" pictures (and I have seen some award winners from this camera), I may upgrade. But for a beginner, the Reefmaster has been a great camera.

Oh, and my original strobe broke within 6 months. I don't mean the flash stopped working, I mean the strobe broke in half. My instructer, who does a lot with this camera including lending it to students, said he had never seen that happen. Anyway, Reefmaster sent me a brand new one, no questions asked!

 

[MNScuba]

Sealife Reefmaster SL200C Scuba Camera & Case for $139.00