help a noob

[boondocksaint]

was wondering if i could get some tips/suggestions from some people with experience in underwater photography to point me in the right direction in picking my first underwater camera

 

[Diver Dennis]

It would help if you could tell us how much you want to spend. As you can imagine, there is quite a price range...

 

[boondocksaint]

well i am new would like to get a package that will keep me happy for a while till i get more experience i think i would be willing to spend around 700.00 or so maybe a little more if worth it

 

[Jamdiver]

Hi boondocksaint,

Well the price that you've listed there should be able to get you a mid-range to prosumer level point & shoot digital camera with a manufacturer housing or third party...
Don't think a strobe would fit in with that budget, perhaps a few add on lenses though (macro, wide angle et cetera)

Personally before I even began looking at specific brands of cameras, I took a look at what features were necessary for u/w photography.

You'll want a camera that affords you controls of manual settings like shutter speed, aperture, setting white balance manually and so on..
Not as important but would still factor into my decision are the camera's overall performance.
Does it focus quickly, is there a long delay between shots, how many shots can I take before needing to replace/recharge the batteries, how quickly are photos written to the memory card?

Cameras that are popular right now and have most of those features..
Canon Powershot A6xx, S80 or S70.
Fuji E900, F11 is it?
Olympus SP-350/310, SP500.

The best advice that I can give though is hold off on your purchase, do a lot of reading and research on cameras and underwater photography.
Doing that will make you an informed buyer and greatly increase the chances of you being satisfied with your purchase ... No buyer's remorse!
Here are some useful sites besides this underwater photography forum here.

www.dpreview.com - Great camera reviews
www.stevesdigicams.com - Another camera review site.
www.digitaldiver.net - U/W photography related site.
www.wetpixel.com - U/W photography related site.

Best of luck to you and is your screen-name related to the comic strip The Boondocks?

 

[boondocksaint]

thanks for the info jamdiver

 

[Warren_L]

You indicate you are new to underwater photography, but are you new to photography? What is your experience land based?

 

[boondocksaint]

i have a nikon n55 i play with but i would not say i know what i am doing