Help a newbie find a good "first" dive camera!

[Valadian]

Hi guys

I'm in the market for a good yet not overly complicated, beginner's dive camera. I'd like a digital camera but dont have the money for some big multi-thousand dollar monstrosity. Probably just something good for point and shoot type stuff. I'm a total newbie when it comes to photography (land or sea), never taken a photography class and only have limited experience with underwater photography. We (family) used to have a Sealife Reefmaster 35mm camera, but it was mainly just the "family camera" that my dad and I and my brother would trade off and take pictures with. As you can imagine most of them were rather crappy to say the least. After it flooded about 4 years ago we were told it would be more economical to just buy a new camera then bother with trying to fix it, so we just said screw it to underwater photography for awhile. Now however I'd really like to be able to start accumulating some pictures.

So with a dive trip to the Cayman Islands coming up at the end of August, I was hoping to find something, and start learning to use it in time to get some decent pictures. I first noticed the "Sealife DC500 Digital Pro Elite Set" and was pretty set to buy that, but after checking reviews and reading some stuff on this site I'm a little wary. Seems to be alot of Sealife hate and I think a big problem is that alot of "pro" photographers out there seem to be pretty hung up pushing the big expensive DSLR setups which quite frankly I dont want to mess with at the moment.

So what's something good for a newbie like me? Something that gives me a bit of versatility yet doesnt require me to take a semester of photography lessons or bankrupt me (poor college kid here) in the process? I'm hoping to keep it in the $1000 dollar range, plus or minus a bit. I understand that I'll never have the "Discovery Channel" / "National Geographic" photos that the big boys will be able to produce, but I'm not after that. So any suggestions will be very welcome, thank you!

p.s. Sorry for the length!

 

[Larry C]

The Sealife is a decent camera that takes decent pictures. I've seen some really nice ones done with one. The knock is that Sealife doesn't make cameras. They buy an off brand camera, do their UW thing to it, package it with a nice usable set of accessories and sell it at a very reasonable price. It's a package set-up, so it's easy to deal with and add to, and all the stuff has been tried and tested together. That said, for about the same or a little more money, you can put together a set-up from Canon, Oly, Sony, Nikon or Fuji that will be a far better camera topside with more features and better quality. It will also take better pictures underwater. If you want a package set-up, you can go to Backscatter, Ikelite, Reef Photo and many other specialty shops that will put together a very nice UW point and shoot set-up that will take marvelous pictures above and below. Currently, Canon S80, Fuji E900, Oly SP-350 will all do very well. My suggestion is go on line to one of the specialty outfits that advertises here and look at their packages. If you don't want to spend that much, you can piecemeal the parts online at a substantial discount and build your set-up slowly. If you check what other people are shooting on this forum, you'll find many of the best pictures are shot with cameras people have been using for 5-7 years, so there's plenty of room to grow with experience.

 

[Valadian]

Thanks a ton for the info Larry, I'll head over to those sites you mentioned and see what they have to offer.

How user friendly will these setups be? I've only got about...........a month and a half or so to get it, get it together and then learn to use it.

Thanks again!

 

[Larry C]

Generally, there are levels of user friendliness. That is the advantage of a quality rig, they grow with you. I own an SP-350 Oly, with Oly housing. When I started, I just shot it in the automatic underwater presets and took some quite decent pictures (if you check the SP-350 thread, you'll find a link to some shots a new owner took last week this way). As you get more experience, all the cameras mentioned previously allow you manual adjustments similar to a DSLR. In a few years, if you want to take professional quality pics, you can move up to one of those. On the other hand, if you look at some of the people who post pictures, you'll find some awesome shots with p&s cameras. Check any of Gilligan's current postings, all taken with a several years old Oly C5050(60?) for a great example of what can be done with about $12-1500 worth of gear. Good luck & welcome aboard.

 

[Dive-aholic]

A caution with the package setups - my 1st camera was a DX3000G. It flooded and I almost couldn't get a replacement camera. They're not made in the US and not distributed in the US outside the package. Fortunately, I was able to find a refurbished camera. I still have it, but I bought a Canon Powershot A510 while waiting for the refurb and the housing separate. If I flood the camera, I can buy a new one at Best Buy.

 

[victor]

Another option for this trip might be to rent a camera out there and get a short underwater photography course at the same time.

To take photo's underwater there are a few very important rules that you need to learn. A couple of dives with an instructor plus a few hours instruction on looking after your equipment, what to look for, what to avoid, these are well worth the money. I would not bother with a card, but thats up to you.
Using rental equipment, having the instructor watch you prepare it, decisions about wide angle or macro. All of this info will help you decide what type and how much you want to invest in the hobby. Beware it is addictive and can be very very expensive.

Before you start you need to get your buoyancy and trim up to scratch.

The other big issue is the buddy system. Once you have a camera in front of you eyes you don't make the best buddy. Your buddy has to consider that they are diving solo but looking after you. If you both have camera's then you are both diving solo.

 

[Mike Veitch]

Larry C gives good advice. i would go with a canon, oly or fuji before the sealife.

T

 

[Valadian]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Im now also thinking about what Victor said and might just go ahead and do a course on the boat (gonna be on the Cayman Aggressor) though at the same time, might still go with the camera.....

After reading reviews at dpreview.com and liking what I heard I think I'd go with the Olympus if I were to pick a camera. Then I checked out those various sites and it seems that Backscatter is the best of the three, they offer this nice package http://tinyurl.com/z7f89 but it's pretty dang expensive for no camera, and then I gotta add all the extras that I'll need like batteries, mem card etc...

Is there another way I can go about assembling a bit cheaper yet still decent setup?

Thanks again for all the help!

P.S. Oh also forgot to mention, I've got the bouyancy and trim parts down pretty decently (after 12+ years of diving I'd hope so , not tooting my own horn just for reference). Though I do understand how vital those are for good pictures. Also on the buddy thing, very true, I remember how that became something noticable even when diving with the dinky little Reefmaster 35mm.

 

[Mike Veitch]

Try Canon A620 and housing from www.bhphotovideo.com

Add a 1 gig card and i think you come out at around $500...

 

[Valadian]

Hmm another possibility! That Canon gets good reviews, yet the housing they sell for it is apparently only worth around a hundred dives before the O-rings give out.........and then you gotta buy a new one Ikelite has a housing for it but it's 400 bucks ouch. Upon further review seems that Ikelite is expensive as all getout......