I'm buying my first camera! :]

[EllieS]

Hi there!
I had asked on a different forum about which camera would be best for my first camera, but I wanted another opinion. :]

At first I was told to use the Fuji F30, but then was told that the Canon A570 would be better. I don't want to spend more then $1,000 on my first camera, so this seems like a great idea. With the camera and housing it is $442.25, which is perfect for me because then I can save up for a strobe. Here is the link:
Amazon.com: Canon WP-DC12 Waterproof Case for Canon A570IS Digital Camera: Camera & Photo

On the camera's page it says that there is a newer model available. Should I get this newer model instead? Or what? I see on the bottom of the housing's page it has the A720's housing.. so would this be better, because it is newer? The 720 also says that is has 8MP, while the other has 7.1, although the 720 is overall $363.97. This doesn't make much sense to me..

Another question, with this camera do you NEED a strobe, or can you work with the flash built into the camera?


Thanks so much!

 

[pl_silverado]

I just went throught the same thing last month. I wanted a Digital SLR to use underwater, but for now just freediving i couldn't justify the costs. The cheapest one i came up that i wanted would have set me back about $ 3000...so i tried to find the next best thing.

Check out Welcome To The Digital Camera Resource Page for reviews on digital cameras, it influenced my decision greatly.

Im going to recommend a Canon G9, with Canons DC-21 underwater housing. I bought one last month for my trip to Florida, and the pictures turned out great. You really should be shooting pictures in RAW underwater, so you can do further corrections on your computer when you upload them. The difference is night and day. Do not forget to buy the weight kit for your underwater housing. You want neutral buoyancy, you dont want it to sink, or float.

Camera was $ 429.99 at Circuit City (i couldn't find it any cheaper online, so i bought it locally, and no sales tax in delaware)
Housing was $ 177.28 from Amazon, weight kit was $ 25.45 from Amazon, and if you are going to be shooting in RAW, get the biggest memory card you can afford. I got a Sandisk 4 GB Extreme III for $ 41.91 on Amazon.
Total came to about $ 675, and its a very capable camera.


As far as strobes go, you will need one for any type of underwater photography. But if the waters fairly clear and your staying above 30-40 ft, you can get away without one for now.

 

[ScubaSteve]

My recommendation is that if you are planning on getting into UW photgraphy and plan to expand on your system, get a housing from a manufacturer like Ikelite or Fantasea that allows it to be expanded on. The Canon WPDC housing do not allow for any sort of options like strobes so the parts will never "belong together". I used a Canon and WPDC housing for 4 years and loved it but never thought I would grow my system. Hidsight....I perhaps could have saved myself some money.

Just my opinion.....it may cost a bit more but in the end, you may avoid replacing things later if you do expand.