need help with what i should go with.

[scubav85]

ok so i'm looking to get my first camera, but need advice on what to get. i have always borrowed my friends old olympus camera, but i'm looking for something a bit more new. as of now i am only looking for the camera and housing, as i do not have the money to get the strobe setup i want.

I want something that takes decent/good pictures, and would be cool if it could do HD recording. price range is $700-750. i sometimes go below 130ft deep, so a housing that would go beyond that would be ideal for me.

i saw a lot of people suggest others the canon s95 with the recsea housing, but i do not have the $800 to spend on the housing itself. i saw people say the ikelite housing is cool, but you can't really adapt anything other than its own products to it.

i'm open to any brand camera that does the job.

here are some pictures i took using my friends old olympus with no strobe.

thanks!!

 

[snowdog]

Start with a camera you like or feel comfortable with (there are a few threads on task loading and keeping things simple), and do your research, is there an U/W housing for the camera (be careful U/W housings are Model specific), if you don’t go with one of the waterproof manufactures, the price of adding a U/W housing will be shocking.

I like a simple system. so I use a Canon sure shot, the cost for the camera was about $200, the U/W housing was $450, and the added strobe was $1600, hence the investment in housing and strobe was ten times the cost of the original camera. After reflecting on my investment in U/W housing and strobe, I found a second (back up0 camera of the same model.

 

[scubav85]

yeah i have been researching a lot.

there are so many options, just trying to decide which one suits me.
i've looked at canon S95 with Ikelite
Canon PowerShot SD980IS with Ikelite
Canon Powershot SX130 with ikelite...
Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 with ikelite..

i really like the manufacturer housings, but i will be on some dives where i'm over 130ft

and the list goes on...

ahh so much to chose from

i'm just trying to see what opinions people have.

 

[scubav85]

Canon PowerShot SX230 looks nice too

 

[BrianBruemmer]

I just bought the Canon G 12 with the Canon housing. Have not used it other than taking test pictures, but I have read a lot of good reviews on it. The camera was $500, and the housing alone is about $180, but I found the housing, starter strobe, extra batteries and case along with some misc items for $379 on Amazon. Couple people at my LDS said it was a hell of a deal, so we shall see when I use it next month.

 

[snowdog]

don’t forget about a strobe. I find It's a must below 30 ft.

I love my Ikelite, the housing is a bit large but neutral buoyant without the strobe.
When I put the Ikelite DS161 on it. it becomes negatively buoyant.

 

[Gilligan]

Your diving depths have ruled out the Canon and Olympus housings so you have no choice but to select between the higher priced housings.

Keep in mind that many of the Ikelite housings, as well as some of the other brands, will require you to have an external strobe as the lens tunnels partially block the internal strobes. Check this out before you buy since you will not be getting an external strobe to start with.

The Ikleite G12 housing will require an external strobe.

Take a look at the Panasonic LX5 with a 2.0 lens versus the 2.8 on the G12. The Canon S95 has a 2.0 lens. Ikelite has a housing for it but their info states there is no control to open the pop-up flash. I am not familiar with this camera but if the flash stays up after you put it in the housing then no problem. If the flash drops down when you use a setting that does not require it then what? The Canon S95 also has a pop-up flash that goes up and down automatically every time you turn the flash on and off.

Take a very close look at the Olympus XZ-1 with a 1.8 lens. Olympus claims to have the largest sensor of any point-and-shoot camera currently on the market. Ikelite is still developing a housing for this camera. Olympus already has one but only to 30 meters. The 1.8 lens should yield the best results in low light conditions where you are not using a strobe. The XZ-1 also has a pop-up flash so check it's function out as well.

IMO you should not buy any camera that does not have RAW capability for your non-strobe shots. All the cameras I mentioned have RAW.

 

[scubav85]

im pretty sure i'm going to go with the S95 with Ikelite housing. i'll just have to start saving up for wide angle lens, and strobe setup.


yayyy i'm excited.