Help picking a camera for snorkeling...

[nightowl_MD]

I know this is a scuba board but I have been having a hard time finding some good pictures from an affordable set-up by real people and not from review sites. I have looked at the SeaLife DC2000 but for as good a some of the reviews have been I have seen mainly videos. In those videos the color seems a bit off at times and even though it has the 1" sensor the RAW picture capture has not been that great. I have taken underwater pictures before but want to upgrade the cameras I have. The last few vacations I have used and old Olympus TG-2 or and old Olympus C770 with an underwater housing. I have been able to make both work but I want more detail in my pictures and feel I need to update the camera. I am looking for some guidance on some possible cameras that have been proven by real users. In regards to the camera I am looking for something that can take RAW pictures. I want to try to keep the cost around $1000. Any help would greatly appreciated.

 

[Chris Ross]

With your budget I'd look at a TG-5 and the olympus housing, it's waterproof to 10m but it's not if but when the seals fail, they are recommended for annual replacement by Olympus. The housing will be more robust if you maintain the o-ring. The TG-5 shoots raw and produces nice results. The limiting factor with snorkelling is getting close, the less water between you and the subject the better the shot and having strobes also helps a lot to get a picture with good punch and definition. If you know what you are doing though, a properly processed pic from a RAW file can look great - generally needs levels tweak and proper color balancing I find using levels channel by channel to do this works best once you get close with colour temperature and tint in the raw conversion.

Otherwise look for a second hand Canon G7X or Sony RX100 and housing on the classifieds section here or on wetpixel.

 

[DivealotZA]

Otherwise look for a second hand Canon G7X or Sony RX100 and housing on the classifieds section here or on wetpixel.

Agreed, The TG-5 or look at this:
Fantasea G7X Mark II Housing and Camera Bundle

I can never recommend the Fantasea housing enough, and you can use the built-in flash on your camera quite well with the diffuser provided by fantasea. You won't be dissapointed

 

[dhaas]

The Canon G7X II and Fantasea housing plus a compact dome to widen the view will deliver what you want.

It's all I use these days

David Haas
www.haasimages.com

 

[nightowl_MD]

Anyone have any sample pictures from the cameras they are using? I am trying to get an idea how grainy some of the images are. For example the picture below is a bit soft and not as sharp as I would have liked it to be .

Riu Bachata Snorkel P6180638 - 2008-06-18 at 16-45-01 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr[/URL]

P5070021 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr

They were taken with my Olympus C-770 UZ and underwater housing and a single flash. The next picture was with the Olympus T-2. I have used this camera on a couple of vacations and always felt it was not as good as it was hyped up to be.

P7040351 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr

Hopefully the newer cameras have better processing these days.

 

[Altamira]

You might also be able to find a Canon G7X/Fantasea housing which, unlike the G7X II, has the one button white balance feature. I have been very happy with that camera and housing.

 

[nightowl_MD]

Any Pictures? If possible for any future recommendations and those that have suggested a set up please provide a sample picture from using the suggested set up similar to the example dhass did. I have looked at a few cameras but I want to see sample pictures from real people so I can get an idea of how the pictures will look.

 

[Altamira]

Deleted. Photos did not load.
PM me with your email, and I will send some photos from recent dive trip to the Red Sea.

 

[nightowl_MD]

Address sent...

 

[Chris Ross]

Just looking at your photos, they look typical for a shot out of camera on any system where flash exposure is not right, also the water clarity robs them of a bit of punch, a lot of this can be fixed in post with some simple adjustments. The ray for example is a little underexposed and need a white point tweak in levels. I re processed a few of your shots to demonstrate:

these are simple processing tweaks, adjusting level by channel and a light "s" curve for contrast and a touch of USM. The point is you can get better results from what you have been using and also small cams have less room for error, they need low ISO and good exposure. Bigger sensors are more for giving, but unless you nail 100% strobe exposure you need to tweak them a little to get the colour balance right due to ambient light.