Need advice on selecting a Canon

[Freeflyer]

Hi all,

I currently have a Canon G3 as my primary camera, which I love. Unfortunately, Canon doesn't make a housing for this model (can't figure out why). My option for underwater photography is to either spend $700 on an ikelite housing, or buy another camera with a housing for less money.

As my wife wants a new camera, that seems the best way to go. I want to stick with Canon, as that's what I'm used to. So, I need something that is small enough to fit in a pocket (the g3 isn't), can use an external strobe and that there is a reasonable price housing for. I want to have manual controls, and for it to use compact flash cards for storage, as that's what the G3 uses.

What suggestions would you make to fit this, and what underwater experience have you seen from your suggestion.

Thanks,

Justin.

 

[alcina]

Have a look at the A series and the S series.

For photo examples have a look around in my gallery (those with A70 are noted), in the Getting started thread and in LukeRob's gallery.

Do a search on these, too, as there are a lot of users here and several very recent threads about a couple of different ones.

Ask questions as they pop up!

 

[ChrisA]

I like the "A" series camers. One reason is that they take four AA cells. This gives enough power that I can take 200+ photos without a need to open up the housing. Opening and closing the housing on the beach is a sure way to flood a camera. Even on a boat, I won't do it unless there is a well protected and clean place below deck. One hair or grain of sand in the o-ring will do it. So in my opinion battery life is a big deal. I have a Canon A80 with a 512MB compact flash. I can soot all day with no need to open the housing. You might like the S sereis but check ou the battery life.

Also look at the housing for both the S and A camera. The
A housing has a flash defuser which helps a lot in macro work.
(Of course you could make one out of a plastic milk jug if you wanted)

I like the A80 but now they make a 90 and 95. Just pick your price point. 3.2 megapixels is the minimum I think for good result. So a A70 or A75 would be OK and they sell for under $200 now.

One other thing to look at is the video modes. the A75 and A85 have a higher resolution video mode although my A80 does OK and makes watchable video. You may or may not care about this feature.

That said. The optical quality of any of these small Canons is not perfect. Good enough for a point and shoot. I notice some color fringing on the edges of wide angle photos. I think however it is due to the flat glass port. Image qulity above water is beter. The Oly-5050 is a bit of a step up but if you want Canon....

Hi all,

I currently have a Canon G3 as my primary camera, which I love. Unfortunately, Canon doesn't make a housing for this model (can't figure out why). My option for underwater photography is to either spend $700 on an ikelite housing, or buy another camera with a housing for less money.

As my wife wants a new camera, that seems the best way to go. I want to stick with Canon, as that's what I'm used to. So, I need something that is small enough to fit in a pocket (the g3 isn't), can use an external strobe and that there is a reasonable price housing for. I want to have manual controls, and for it to use compact flash cards for storage, as that's what the G3 uses.

What suggestions would you make to fit this, and what underwater experience have you seen from your suggestion.

Thanks,

Justin.

 

[DesertEagle]

Having seen Alcina's photos, it's easy to agree with her! My friend has an A95 and he raves about it. It has a great manual mode with a "somewhat unique" feature. Like the Olympus c-5050 you can set the flash to fire only once on manual (and three levels at that!) It should reduce recycle time.

Canon's S60 and S70 are great cameras but they are not a good choice for underwater photography. Their lenses are too wide to effectively be used with a wide angle converter. Because of that, companies like Inon don't provide mounts to place accessory lenses.

Personally I shoot underwater with a housed Nikon F801 film SLR because I already have it. The viewfinder is so small that I can't even read the exposure scale. Somehow I manage to shoot slides and get about 70% exposed properly. But I would really love to be able to view photos during the dive! Right now I have a Nikon Coolpix 4300 for snapshots. Outdoor photos look great but indoor focusing on the 4300 stinks. My next trip is in March, so I'm going to wait until PMA in February when the new cameras are announced. I will bet that the A95 will then be had for $225-250. Whatever replaces it will probably have a faster processor and a better video mode.

 

[Freeflyer]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll have a look at the A series and read some reviews. I had been thinking of the S series, but may rethink that now. I know what you mean about the oly 5050, a couple of people in our club have them (one with the regular housing, one with a huge ikelite housing and dome lens). The oly is equivalent to my G3, and I would dearly love canon to make a housing for it, as I know the camera well and it takes great photos, but I think the smaller A series with a housing will make a great alternative and has the high wife acceptance factor.

Thanks for all the help, and Alcina you sure do take some nice pictures.

J.

 

[alcina]

Thanks for the nice comments, Guys!

I don't think you can go wrong with the A series...I love 'em.

Have fun

 

[liberato]

Canon's S60 and S70 are great cameras but they are not a good choice for underwater photography. Their lenses are too wide to effectively be used with a wide angle converter. Because of that, companies like Inon don't provide mounts to place accessory lenses.

That is a pity because I noticed the S60 (and I would guess the S70) has a built-in underwater white balance setting which I thought was a neat idea. If Canon had made the near end of the zoom even wider then one could probably have bypassed the converter altogether and saved the $300.

 

[alcina]

That is a pity because I noticed the S60 (and I would guess the S70) has a built-in underwater white balance setting which I thought was a neat idea. .

This is a lovely idea but unfortunately not a perfect one. Light changes dramatically underwater with angle, time of day, clarity, depth and other factors. There is no single white balance setting that works for every situation. The new Underwater WB will probably work for some shots and not others - pretty much like the other existing settings!

If you are going to use the WB, make sure to take a clean slate with you and learn to set it on land in the housing before you get wet. You'll need to change the WB manually every few feet of depth change and anytime you change the lighting angle. See Gilligan's threads - he has a few images done with MWB. It's a great way to work without strobes or internal flash (just think no backscatter!)

 

[RonFrank]

Some big things to like about the S70 are:

High level of control, including RAW support. The ability to adjust WB after the fact in software when shooting RAW IMO is huge when UW. 28mm WA lens.

The S70 looks like a true contender for TOP UW with an inexpensive housing.

The battery life is NOT that of the A95 which would be another choice.

The A95 boasts a CIPA Battery life of 400 shots... The S70 only 140 (CIPA).

Considering that until just a few years ago UW photographers were limited to 36, 140 is nothing to sneeze at, and should get one through a couple hours of diving easily unless one is truely trigger happy.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons70/

If people on this forum have never heard of DP review.. well there is a link. Phil does VERY fair reviews IMO.

Ron

Hi all,

I currently have a Canon G3 as my primary camera, which I love. Unfortunately, Canon doesn't make a housing for this model (can't figure out why). My option for underwater photography is to either spend $700 on an ikelite housing, or buy another camera with a housing for less money.

As my wife wants a new camera, that seems the best way to go. I want to stick with Canon, as that's what I'm used to. So, I need something that is small enough to fit in a pocket (the g3 isn't), can use an external strobe and that there is a reasonable price housing for. I want to have manual controls, and for it to use compact flash cards for storage, as that's what the G3 uses.

What suggestions would you make to fit this, and what underwater experience have you seen from your suggestion.

Thanks,

Justin.

 

[alcina]

dpreview is great and well worth the time!

I haven't seen the S70 but did have a diver a few weeks ago with the 60 - his battery conked partway through dive two...first dive 49 minutes - 64 photos, dead battery at 19 minutes, additional 13 photos, into second dive. No surface review/use between dives. Water temp 23C. Fresh battery.

Next day he swapped between dives, worked fine; the boat has a dry cabin. Just something to think about if you are getting to the wire and need to start looking at the tiny details....