good first camera
- Thread starter Bflem55
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RS
Guest
Get a good cheap camera and a good cheap housing.
By cheap I mean recently discontinued, or secondhand.
I had an old Canon Powershot S40 and got a Canon housing for CHEEP on ebay. Takes great pics, small package is easy to handle, and it's simple to use. If the housing floods, it's not that big a deal. The only drawback is I can't power down the camera once it's in the housing, it has to time out to shut down. I figure this'd set you back about $300, maybe less, after you get new / spare batts and a decent memory card.
Oh yeah, if you get a strobe, I wouldn't go with the YS25. It's about the same as the flash on my camera. I upgraded to a YS90.
Have fun!
Here's one I took last week:>)
By cheap I mean recently discontinued, or secondhand.
I had an old Canon Powershot S40 and got a Canon housing for CHEEP on ebay. Takes great pics, small package is easy to handle, and it's simple to use. If the housing floods, it's not that big a deal. The only drawback is I can't power down the camera once it's in the housing, it has to time out to shut down. I figure this'd set you back about $300, maybe less, after you get new / spare batts and a decent memory card.
Oh yeah, if you get a strobe, I wouldn't go with the YS25. It's about the same as the flash on my camera. I upgraded to a YS90.
Have fun!
Here's one I took last week:>)
Attachments
I gave this some thought a few years ago, and here is the product of that rare moment:
I was once a decent land photographer, in another era. As I looked into the techniques required for good marine photography, I realized that I had a lot to learn, and I didn't have all that much time to learn it. I then figured that with the amount of time I had to devote to learning the techniques I needed, by the time I got halfway decent, the camera I bought would be obsolete. It therefore made no sense for me to spend a bunch of cash on a good underwater camera.
I therefore bought a pretty good digital camera that would fit my point and shoot needs on land, and I got a housing for it. My logic is that my total underwater expense was simply the housing, since I would have bought the camera anyway.
With my basic skills, that basic camera fits the bill. I have taken many hundreds of shots, and some of them actually look decent. I was especially lucky taking pictures of the wrecks in Truk Lagoon, since they don't run away at the last second.
At some point, I will get serious. I will learn some more stuff, and then I will get a camera to fit my new skills.
I was once a decent land photographer, in another era. As I looked into the techniques required for good marine photography, I realized that I had a lot to learn, and I didn't have all that much time to learn it. I then figured that with the amount of time I had to devote to learning the techniques I needed, by the time I got halfway decent, the camera I bought would be obsolete. It therefore made no sense for me to spend a bunch of cash on a good underwater camera.
I therefore bought a pretty good digital camera that would fit my point and shoot needs on land, and I got a housing for it. My logic is that my total underwater expense was simply the housing, since I would have bought the camera anyway.
With my basic skills, that basic camera fits the bill. I have taken many hundreds of shots, and some of them actually look decent. I was especially lucky taking pictures of the wrecks in Truk Lagoon, since they don't run away at the last second.
At some point, I will get serious. I will learn some more stuff, and then I will get a camera to fit my new skills.
joetex0777
Guest
I have purchased 2 "cheap" cameras in the past years, and have been very happy with the picture quality from both of them. First Camera (Canon A95) is sitting on the bottom of the Atlantic in about 120 feet of water somewhere near the U-352, but that's another story!
Lots of very good web resources such as Wetpixel, MarScuba, Digideep, etc. Might be good for you to review these to see what is out there.
After my search, I ended up purchasing the Canon A620, 2 GB card, and Canon housing. Total was about $400 for the whole package from B&H Photo.
Lots of very good web resources such as Wetpixel, MarScuba, Digideep, etc. Might be good for you to review these to see what is out there.
After my search, I ended up purchasing the Canon A620, 2 GB card, and Canon housing. Total was about $400 for the whole package from B&H Photo.
RS
Guest
I like the Canon's too.
The first nice camera I bought was a Canon Rebel back in the early '90's. It had a lot of automatic features that took great pictures, plus it was easy to use in manual. I've looked at others but always come back to the Canon, which has the same basic interface. I just got a Powershot S3-IS (not for diving yet) and it is great.
The first nice camera I bought was a Canon Rebel back in the early '90's. It had a lot of automatic features that took great pictures, plus it was easy to use in manual. I've looked at others but always come back to the Canon, which has the same basic interface. I just got a Powershot S3-IS (not for diving yet) and it is great.
My son just got me a sealife d310 3.3 mp with strobe and 3x magnifier for xmas. My first uw camera. I'm going to the lake new years day but the camera will get tried in the pool before I take it in ow. I'm using my bpw with drysuit for the first time. that's enough for this trip.
O'Malley
Contributor
For your price range, I've been really pleased w/ the Canon A620 and Canon WP-DC90 housing, it's a dandy point & shoot and loaded w/ features (no RAW formatting however)...
JMcBrew
Registered
If you are not in a hurry (or happen to be lucky), you might wait for your local dive shop to have a big sale. One of the local shops here in MD has a BIG inventory reduction sale once a year. I already had my camera and housing at the time, but I picked up a Sea&Sea YS-90 Auto strobe for 1/2 price! They also threw in the arm and a Nikonos sync cable (which is of no use to me).
As far as the camera and housing, look for a simple point & shoot with a cheap housing. I was going to buy a housing for the camera I already had, but the only one available for it was an Ikelite that cost $1000. I went out and bought a better camera AND the housing for about $500. A year later, I could have gotten the same thing for about $100 to $150 less, since it was a very new model camera when I bought it.
As far as the camera and housing, look for a simple point & shoot with a cheap housing. I was going to buy a housing for the camera I already had, but the only one available for it was an Ikelite that cost $1000. I went out and bought a better camera AND the housing for about $500. A year later, I could have gotten the same thing for about $100 to $150 less, since it was a very new model camera when I bought it.
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