New camera housing for older camera?

[Flotsam]

I have a Lumix DMC-LX7 which is around 5 years old, but still works fine. The Ikelite housing I found for it is $440 new on ebay. Is it worth putting money into a digital camera that old, or should I think about a Canon G7x II setup, with housing, for just over $1,000?

I'm an avid amateur photographer, but have only used a gopro underwater. I have a Canon dslr for dry land, but would like to keep it simple underwater, at least for now.

Thanks!

 

[Compressor]

The way I would approach this problem is this way: Let's say the camera is destroyed (flooding, mechanical malfunction...): would you buy the same camera to put in your housing? If the answer is yes, then go ahead..

I have a Nikon P5100 camera malfunction recently. My Ikelite housing now is not going UW because I will not buy the same camera. They are available online for <$100 but the camera in my case is subpar to recent cameras.

Hope this helps.

 

[mattia_v]

I would go for the G7X (or Sony RX100), no question. The 1" sensors (all of them, from the mark I to the slightly better ones in the more current series) are really quite incredible for their size and outperform every other small sensor camera of yesteryear by a fair margin.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I've been going through my photos from the past twelve years. Yes, dive conditions suck right now. I wish I had bit the bullet a long time ago rather than spend the money on a variety of cheaper camera systems. 99% of my older images are pretty much unusable. If I knew then what I know now I would have bought the most expensive system I could afford.

 

[CaptainCalamari]

I'd say don't do it. You can pick up a 2nd hand package of camera, housing and strobe for less than that.

I just picked up an Olympus 1030, housing and Af35 strobe for $200. I was only after the strobe and got the rest as a bonus.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

There are always good deals to be found. People stop diving or move up to a more expensive rig and sell their old one. I found a Nikon D300, two lenses, housing with two ports and two strobes for $1200.
Ikelite 6812.3 underwater camera system with Nikon D300 Camera, Lenses & Strobes | eBay

 

[Flotsam]

Thank everyone for the input! I think it's unanimous I need to move to a newer camera . Was just hoping to make most use of what I already have, and see how much uw shooting I do, but digital equipment ages in dog years! Thanks again

 

[Flotsam]

There are always good deals to be found. People stop diving or move up to a more expensive rig and sell their old one. I found a Nikon D300, two lenses, housing with two ports and two strobes for $1200.
Ikelite 6812.3 underwater camera system with Nikon D300 Camera, Lenses & Strobes | eBay

I've always been a committed Canonite (still have an AE1 somewhere that works), but that's a great deal! Would love to buy a second-hand setup. Thank you! I will check it out...

 

[Compressor]

Canon or Nikon makes no difference in my opinion. Both are excellent cameras. Its the person behind the camera that makes the great shot.

 

[jmartel]

Thank everyone for the input! I think it's unanimous I need to move to a newer camera . Was just hoping to make most use of what I already have, and see how much uw shooting I do, but digital equipment ages in dog years! Thanks again

Also consider a camera that can change lenses and ports if you are looking into a new camera. Sure, it's more expensive, but quite a bit better image quality than a compact. If you are concerned about size, look into Mirrorless cameras. Olympus has underwater housings for their cameras (made by AOI under the Olympus name), and they tend to be cheaper than the other offerings. I just switched over to an E-M5 mark II with a Nauticam housing that I picked up used with the camera body, kit lens, and a bunch of other accessories for the cost of the bare housing. And it's even the current mid-range model in the Olympus lineup. 95% of the image quality of a DSLR, way smaller package and cheaper.