Looking for a new digital camera...

[bigfeller]

Right, have been thinking of upgrading the ould digital camera. Reasons are:
1. Want to get one I can use with an underwater housing - heading to the Red Sea in the summer
2. Want on that moseys a bit quicker - the times between taking photos with the current one are too long, expecially if using the flash.
3. Want to get something a bit more compact, easier to carry about.

At the moment I am using a Sony DSC-P52 and am happy with the pictures themselves but the unit is a bit too big to carry about and the shutter times are slow.

Have had a look about and narrowed it to the following:
Canon PowerShot S70
Fujifilm FinePix F810 Zoom
Olympus Stylus 500 Digital
Olympus C-7000 Zoom
Sony DSC-P200

See here

Think housings are available for most of them, will obviously double check before buying. If there is not one for the P200 then there is one for the P150. But would really prefer the 200 for the larger screen.

What I was wondering was has anybody used any of these cameras or has anybody any recomendations???

I know this is in the sony forum and I guess that's because I am leaning towards the sony. Just wondering if anybody can throw a yay or nay into the dilema!!

Cheers!

 

[Jetwrench]

Wish I had more knowledge about your selection list, but I can only say that you should pick the one with the most versatility and still be size friendly. Sony's are good for the size issue, but may fall short of the other ones, so it may be a give and take. Looks to me like it's a personal preference that you will have to make and pass along your experience after the fact. Canons are popular as are Oly's, but the bottom line is the shooter behind it all. Add on all the strobes and lenses and the pics are still only as good as the person behind the camera. Pick your poison, then learn how to use it by a lot of practice. IMHO.

Jet

PS: Have a Sony DSC-P10 and am still playing with the settings and modes. It's a learning proccess no matter what you buy, and it seems to never-end.

 

[gert7to3]

I have used both the DSC P-5 and the P-10 with their respective housings. The larger LCD on the P-200 view screen will be great help. Sea & Sea wide angle lenses have adapters for the Sony MPK underwater housings. I Just tried the 20mm lens 2 weeks ago and was quite satisfied. I use the fluorescent light white balance setting. I have a Sea&Sea YS 25dx strobe and a fiber optic flash control. Always try auto-levels in PhotoShop on each underwater print.

Pluses: compact size.

Minuses: Small battery. You will probably need to open the case and change batteries between dives if you used the camera much, especialy with flash. Somewhat slow lens speed. Limited user settings and manual mode controls.

I see there is a different battery for the P-200. I would hope so, because the larger LCD would eat even more battery power.

I might be more prone to go with Olympus or Canon knowing what I know now.