Need Compact (preferably sealed) camera + Strobe recommendations...

[Ganesh Chandrasekaran]

Coming off of a 10 year old Canon (with housing) + Inon S-2000 setup that flooded on the same dive (What are the odds ??). I put that gear together based on recommendations from this community 10+ years ago (Thanks fellow divers)... What that basically means is I have no idea what the latest options are available today !!

Here is what I am looking for. I will forever be grateful for your recommendations Thanks in advance !!

- ~1000 USD budget
- Compact lightweight gig.
- Considering the psychological scarring from my flooding, I would prefer something sealed.
- At this budget I think I am stuck with a single strobe (and not two) - Are there sealed (poweful) strobes without having to handle O-rings ??

Thanks in advance

 

[runsongas]

olympus tg5 is pretty much the top recommendation in that price range. unless if you want to run with a sony rx100 and one of the meikon housings.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Get an Olympus TG5. It is waterproof to 50 feet without a housing so in the event your housing leaks, you will most likely be fine as the water pressure won’t be as great if it’s a small leak or a flood. The waterproof housing will still be taking on or protecting it from most of the pressure if you are below 50 feet. Not so on a RX100. The TG5 sounds like a good fit for you, especially given your flood scarring concerns. Plus, housing and camera costs for the TG5 will leave you with budget open to buy a strobe or a wide angle wet lens. You won’t need a macro wet lens with it since the microscope mode is quite fantastic. I don’t know of any sealed strobes, only sealed lights like from Light and Motion Sola.

My partner/dive buddy has a TG5. I have a RX100. I dive with it in a housing that has a vacuum valve as well as a water alarm. I can’t imagine putting my camera (at that price, not water resistant in the least bit) in a housing that didn’t have that, especially the vacuum valve so the decision would be easy for me here. The TG5 is perfect for you.

 

[Barmaglot]

SeaLife DC2000 is another option that can survive a housing flood. I'm not aware of any sealed strobe option - Ikelite DS160/161 probably come closest, but they can still flood, they're very bulky, expensive, use proprietary batteries and they need an additional trigger to work with fiber optics.

 

[Chris Ross]

Unfortunately you need to deal with O-rings. The sealed cameras like the TG-5 have a limited lifetime outside a housing. If you read the fineprint in the literature supplied Olympus recommend replacing the seals every 12 months! The vulnerable ones seem to be the seals under the buttons, this is a membrane seal and will eventually hole. You also need to carefully inspect the door seals.

BTW a small leak at depth will pressurize the inside of the housing to the same pressure at that depth - eventually. Even if it doesn't fill the housing the leak continues until the pressure equalizes.

Also BTW in theory an INON S-2000 should survive a battery compartment flood. It may not - depends on how much pressure is generated inside the battery compartment. You can wash it out to get rid of the gunk from the dead batteries, clean the contacts and try again. Of course if you can see water inside it's dead.

 

[Barmaglot]

BTW a small leak at depth will pressurize the inside of the housing to the same pressure at that depth - eventually. Even if it doesn't fill the housing the leak continues until the pressure equalizes.

Some time ago, I read a post on another forum from a user who torture-tested a TG-4 (without a housing) to beyond rated depths. At 20-25 meters, it stopped working, giving a 'No SD card' error, but recovered around 15m. At 45m, the screen cracked and that was that. Going by that, a TG-4/TG-5 housing flood at recreational scuba depths (up to 30m, maybe 40m) will disable the camera for the duration of the dive, but most likely will not kill it.

 

[KeithG]

Coming off of a 10 year old Canon (with housing) + Inon S-2000 setup that flooded on the same dive (What are the odds ??). I put that gear together based on recommendations from this community 10+ years ago (Thanks fellow divers)... What that basically means is I have no idea what the latest options are available today !!

Here is what I am looking for. I will forever be grateful for your recommendations Thanks in advance !!

- ~1000 USD budget
- Compact lightweight gig.
- Considering the psychological scarring from my flooding, I would prefer something sealed.
- At this budget I think I am stuck with a single strobe (and not two) - Are there sealed (poweful) strobes without having to handle O-rings ??

Thanks in advance

Have you searched eBay for a used direct replacement?

I know we all love to piss our money away on buying bigger and better. BUT: Have you considered a direct replacement? Or maybe a something-close used replacement?

Half of my camera gear is used stuff.