Image Quality of DSLR vs advanced P&S?

[ejg62]

Approx. 6 months ago a purchased a Nikon D90. I have been taking photos for years using a DSLR for surface and advanced P&S's for underwater. I am very close to purchasing an underwater housing for the Nikon D90. However, before putting that camera and a lens at "risk" I do have a question.

How significant is the image quality taken under water of a photo taken with a DSLR vs one taken with an advanced P&S?

I define an advanced P&S as one that the user can set the ISO, Shutter Speed and aperture setting.

As stated the DSLR I have is a Nikon D90 and the P&S I use is a Canon G9, both produce 12mp photos.

Because of sensor size I would expect the DSLR would produce less noise at a higher ISO, but what if any other improvements are their with a DSLR.

Thanks

 

[Larry C]

Pluses are speed and lens choice. Even the fastest P & S cameras seem to have annoying shutter lag that lets you get the tail end of that fast moving critter. Your preflash sends him swimming and you get a lovely picture of his butt or a swirl of sand where he used to be. With the DSLR, you can also swap between a super WA lens for that close focus/wide angle shot of a Sea Lion with kelp and a sunburst behind him, then you can swap lenses to get down in the muck and shoot nudis the size of a fingernail. You also have a huge range of apertures, so you can crank it open to f2.8 for the pretty blurred background or bang it down to f32 for that sharp front to back focus.
Minuses are size-by the time you get the housing, tray, arms, strobes, focus light, etc. together you're not going to get it into the crevice where that little kelpfish is hiding out. It will also dominate your carry-on luggage when you take a trip. The other downside is flexibility. Unless you choose a zoom lens, like the 17-70 Sigma, you have to choose your subjects before you dive. The zooms tend not to be fabulous at real wide or real close, so you'd better like fish portraits. Otherwise, put on your 60micro and take your choice of nudis, blennies and tight fish portraits or put on the wide and get those big kelp and reef shots with a seal or a school of fish 6 inches from the lens because otherwise they disappear into the background.

 

[scottfiji]

However, before putting that camera and a lens at "risk" I do have a question.

Thanks

I don't understand, why would it be at risk?

 

[ejg62]

I state at "risk" as you are taking the camera in the water, 50-100 feet down. The housings can leak or flood. Granted most of the time this is a result of user error/issues. But a flooded housing is a risk that is not on land.

 

[marcaumarc]

I went from regular P&S to D90 and the D90 is fantastic. It doesn't make me a better photographer, but the image quality is much better. Get insurance and go for it.

 

[scottfiji]

I state at "risk" as you are taking the camera in the water, 50-100 feet down. The housings can leak or flood. Granted most of the time this is a result of user error/issues. But a flooded housing is a risk that is not on land.

Like marcaumarc, just get flood insurance, assume you will flood something one day and don't worry about it because the insurance will cover it.


good luck!

 

[Puffer Fish]

Huge differences between the best P&S and a Dslr... some though are not in favor of the DSLR underwater.

On land, SLR's kick butt, you have a huge usable iso range... a large f-stop range... tons of settings... interchangeable lens....better dynamic range...

I can only directly compare the G10 and 50D (as I have both)...

Underwater... with two strobes, in dark water....actually the G10 is far more flexable. Image quality... well at its best, the G10 may be just a tiny bit better.. but it's best is a tiny range of setting....macro.. macro with zoom are a joy with the G10.. no such lens exists for a DSLR.

If I were shooting in clear, shallow water... absolutely no question.. a DSLR...all I can take there with a G10 is regular P&S type images.... but I don't take many pictures in that environment.

If I was shooting a lot of images that were not close... DSLR... (I don't).

I've had an slr leak underwater... don't want to ever go thru that again...so I will stick with my G10, and shoot in that very, very narrow range that produces amazing quality images.

One other note: DSLR's have far better dynamic range.. but most of my underwater images are not effected by that....

 

[Mariozi]

And if you want some WA UW the DSLR also kick ass, specially compared to the G10.

 

[marcaumarc]

I think DSLR is also much better on the macro side. I never took photos like this with a P&S:

Not that it's even a super photo, but a total amateur like me can point a DSLR at a coral and do that on the first time out. I was pretty amazed by the difference.

 

[jcclink]

Any housing you take underwater can leak, so that should not be a consideration. Maybe a more expensive camera & lens is your main worry. Get insurance that covers you for anything anywhere. If you really can't afford a flood, then you probably shouldn't be shooting underwater. Underwater photography is something like auto racing - if you part a car on the track you have to be willing to write it off. A DSLR has advantages over P&S in terms of lenses with quality optics, sensor size, shuttle lag, menu functions, etc. A D90 would make a great system. Just get a very reliable quality housing for it.