I want a camera

[BASIL]

Hello, I am a new diver - got my card in June 02 . I have been on about 35 dives so for and it is my newest bad habit. I now need to take pictures! I am looking at the "Sea life ReefMaster"
" DC PRO " . My dive buddy has a basic UW camera and it is no good if you're not in the pool. Could anyone tell me if this one is OK for REC diveing pictures,as I do not know anything about UW photography. Thanks for any opinions. Please help.

 

[Dee]

A little farther down you'll see a poll of what we all use... http://www.scubaboard.com/t12671/s.html

It depends on what you want out of a camera. Snapshots to show your friends, email and web use only, do you intend to print pics, how much money do you want to spend, etc.???? Film or digital?

The Reefmaster is a decent beginning film camera. Unless you plan to use an external strobe, you won't be seeing pictures like are regularly posted here. With no strobe you'll lose color, and with only an internal strobe you'll get lots of backscatter.

It all goes back to how much you want to spend and what kind of pictures you expect to get out of it.

 

[scorpionfish]

Hi, Basil!

I started with a throw away camera that could go down to 25 ft. (I think) and was disatisfied with the deep blue, poorly defined shots that I got. The cost, as I remember, was around $10.00

Then I progressed to a simple point-and-shot Minolta Weathermatic (This was sometime ago!) and the pictures down to about 25 ft., where there was sufficient ambient light on a sunny day, were okay, but just okay. The cost, I think, was around $75.00???

Then, after doing a lot of reading about u/w photography, I decided to get a "real" u/w camera. The process I went through narrowed it down to two cameras:

(1) Nikonos V
(2) Sea&Sea Motor Marine II

I chose the Nikonos because of my perceived notion of superior optics and more flexibility in bracketing shots by using the ISO setting. I have been more than happy with the Nikonos. Both cameras, though, are excellent choices, in my opinion. I also note that with both cameras one must add stobes and the attendent attaching gear to the list. Also, there are additional lenses and other jimcracks that you will want to consider.

The cost for the Nikonos was ca. $600.00 for the camera with the 35mm lens (The lens is nearly useless without a macro kit of some sort.). The strobe and "tray" assembly cost ca. $600.00.
Then I added a 20mm Nikkor lens for ca. $350.00. There were a few other gadgets, too, but the bottom line was in the neighborhood of $2,100 just to get "started".

Later, I added more lenses and macro equipment and was delighted with the results, but only after about a year of really learning how to use the camera--judging distances, setting strobes and f/stops, u/w composition, and, VERY IMPORTANT, learning a lot about fish behavior!

I have since added a Nikon F100 + housing + more powerful strobes to my list of toys, but I still take the Nikonos along and use it joyfully.

My point in all this is to say in more words what Dee said so economically: It depends on what you want--and what you can afford. However, my advice: start out simply and relatively cheaply until you know that you really have the "bug"!

Scorpionfish

 

[Wreck Ranger]

Basil,
I've done some research on the digital cameras and housings that are inexpensive yet have good quality. For the money ti seems to be one of the better ones out there. The simplicity of the camera's operation underwater is a plus. The price is also a plus. 1.3 megapixels is okay, but the highest resolution on the camera can be as high as some fo the 3 to 4 megapixel cameras. One of the dive shops in Orlando uses one and they love it. He talks about getting one in the underwater forum pages. So I called him to ask how he liked it. He loves it and with expansion card he can take about 80 pictures at high res. Mine will be here in less than two weeks and I plan to post pictures here as soon as I can.

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

I recently went through the same couldnt afford the digital even though I really wanted one , \ I went purchused a friends camera for couple hundred bucks its the sealife reefmaster with a strobe and macro set and three lens so far the picture seem ok took couple rolls of film to get used to it so the advantage over digital is great over film but some bugets cant afford same also with me having the strobe later at least I can up grade to the sealife digital just my 2 cents

 

[Wreck Ranger]

Me again
I have been doing alot of research on the available digital cameras on the market that have housings. I have now decided to go with Olympus c3020 or the c2040 with the Olympus housing over the Canon A40. Both the Reefmaster DC200 and A40 shoot the digital stills in compressed form and really the uncompressed is much better in quality. The A40 is cheaper than the DC200 and is better, but the Olympus isn't much more. It's only about 25-100$ more depending on which model you buy( c3020 or c2040) and gives you almost twice the resolution on the c3020.
www.pricetool.com has some of the very best prices that I have found. Hope this helps you in your quest for the best camera and housing for you.