Help on a Canon A570is needed.......

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diver 85

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Wanting to make the change after 12 years of 35 mm to digital........For no special reason, looking @ Canon's(have had several Canon retinal cameras in my office is maybe one)...Anyway, the A570is(thanks to SB'er willar) has caught my eye...Question, does anyone here shoot this camera UW??...If so, what results have you gotten and what (slave) strobes are options??? Also, if not for UW use(yet), do you have one for topside(with results)...Thanks a whole bunch in advance, any/all help would be greatly appreciated.......Joe
 
This camera is so new I would doubt anyone has dove with it yet. I just ordered the A570IS and WP-DC12 off Amazon and can give you a report after my next dive trip in June. I'll try to give a land-use opinion sooner.
 
just wanted to let you know I use this camera with an ikeilite housing and absoluteley love it I am wondering though dose anyone know what strobes I can use with this setup??
 
I use the A570 with the canon WP-DC12 housing and so far so good although as a photographer I have a ways to go. I took it to Grand Cayman and Cozumel at the end of July and had a very easy time with it once I counter-weighted the housing (this is very important as far as I'm concerned). I haven't invested in a strobe yet, instead I picked up a Magic Filter which works well in clear water conditions such as the Caribbean. The macro on this camera is fantastic both under and above the water and the manual white balance is extremely easy to set once you memorize the sequence.

HOWEVER, the one serious shortcoming thus far is the lack of RAW support for this camera. As I mentioned, I used the Magic Filter but didn't realize how often you have to reset the WB. Some of my shots have 'burn spots' where very bright objects have a red tint to them. It would be nice to have a raw image in order to fix the WB in Photoshop.

Here are some samples (the photos of the watch are for another forum but they demonstrate the camera's macro)
StSumwhere - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Cheers,
Hector
 
This camera is so new I would doubt anyone has dove with it yet. I just ordered the A570IS and WP-DC12 off Amazon and can give you a report after my next dive trip in June. I'll try to give a land-use opinion sooner.

I was wondering if you had a look at the A710IS and if you selected the A570IS over it, what were some of your reasons?
 
The A710IS but it is an older generation of camera with the Digic II processor. The A570IS has the newer Digic III processor which gives faster response times and additional options. Overall specs make the A570IS a superior camera, IMHO.

I have been shooting the A570IS on land for several months now and dove with it in June. It is a big step up from my old Canon S30 with Canon WP case. The focus speed is much faster, colors are improved, UW setting is good for starters, manual modes give great performance, IS feature is great on land and does have benefits underwater, and this is a sweet little camera. Another great feature is the ability to capture long videos with the A570IS. Get a big SD or SDHC card and you can almost take movies! (Well, not really, but it does capture nice clips upto 1-2 minutes.) The battery life is good but not fabulous since it uses just 2 AA batteries. Be sure to get 4 good 2700 milliamp batteries and a quick peak charger (Canon & Sony make a nice compact 4-AA charger). Considering this camera can be had for under $200 now (plus WP case), I think it is a fantastic deal.
 
I have taken the 570is on two trips since July. Like it a lot. Very versatile and easy to use. Good results with the UW setting. I am presently practicing with the white balance in order to reset it as needed for various depths. Pretty simple, actually. I posted some battery/shooting data that were lost in one of the site crashes earlier this year. But, the bottom line was that I shot in excess of 500 images (over 60% flash) from one set of 2 rechargeable Energizer 2500 mA batteries. Cameras with 4 batteries will charge the flash faster and that certainly is a positive. But, the camera then is bigger, heavier and more batteries are needed. The only problem I've had is setting the camera to the power constantly 'on' mode (i.e., it does not turn off after x minutes of no activity), then forgetting to turn the camera off at the end of a dive. My fault, of course, but it resulted in the camera running out of power in the middle of a dive. Get the largest mA capacity batteries you can find and a decent charger. I bought this smart charger that seems to be doing the trick plus 2 sets of above AA batteries. Changed and re-charged batteries once a day.
 
The A710IS but it is an older generation of camera with the Digic II processor. The A570IS has the newer Digic III processor which gives faster response times and additional options. Overall specs make the A570IS a superior camera, IMHO.

I have been shooting the A570IS on land for several months now and dove with it in June. It is a big step up from my old Canon S30 with Canon WP case. The focus speed is much faster, colors are improved, UW setting is good for starters, manual modes give great performance, IS feature is great on land and does have benefits underwater, and this is a sweet little camera. Another great feature is the ability to capture long videos with the A570IS. Get a big SD or SDHC card and you can almost take movies! (Well, not really, but it does capture nice clips upto 1-2 minutes.) The battery life is good but not fabulous since it uses just 2 AA batteries. Be sure to get 4 good 2700 milliamp batteries and a quick peak charger (Canon & Sony make a nice compact 4-AA charger). Considering this camera can be had for under $200 now (plus WP case), I think it is a fantastic deal.


I agree mostly with him.

This camera is really easy to use for a PURE P&S photographer like myself. The best way to get used to this new toy is to spend time with it as much as possible. I didn't read through all manual before trying it in UW. However, I could figure out most functions in UW through a trial and error path. I did two 100 min (each) long dives with this camera at the local quarry. The white balance function works great in a murky environment as well. It is a digital camera, so there is nothing to lose. Shoot as much as the battery lasts in UW. It took a long time to use 2gb memory space based on my trial.

Cons that I found in the limited usage:

1. The shutter speed is still slow (maybe my lack of knowledge) to catch a quick fish.
2. The long lock-up time after a flash sho. It will lock up for about 10 sec. to recharge the flash, so I haven't use a flash option that much. Does it matter with an additional strobe?
3. If you prefer a video clip, get SDHC card, not SD. As I understand, DTS (data transfer speed) is another difference between SD and SDHC card. Canon supports up to USB 2.0 high-speed, 480 Mb/s peak speed, so you can see the difference with SDHC on the video clip. And, get more than 4gb size. Video runs upto 4gb or 1 hrs (whichever comes first)
4. In addition, ISO 1600 function is crap. Don't use it and I couldn't get any better pictures after touching up the pictures with PS CS3.
5. Wide Angle Lens: "MUST HAVE" item

Just my 2 cent.
 
You may what to consider the Canon A630 @ 8mp, A640 @ 10mp or the A650 @ 12mp versus the A570 @ 7.1mp.

The A600 series also has a larger sensor @ 1/1.8 (for more pixels) compared to the smaller 1/ 2.5 of the A570.

Plus the A630/640 uses 4 AA batteries for faster flash recycle times (needed to fire the external strobes) and auto focusing power vs. just 2 AA for the A570 (try replacing those batteries U/W).

And the A630 cost less than the A570 and not too far in price to the A640.
 
But, A630/640 looks bulky to me, specially for the ground purpose. IMHO
 

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