new rig - camera or video

[kfin]

I double posted, sorry but I thought maybe some people looked at the video forum and others the photo.

I used to be heavily into Photo and macro photo with a Nikonos V. About ten years ago I got a couple of the first digital cameras and tried them for a bit and then had to quit diving foe a while due to a couple of surgeries. It is time to get back at it though and I have a couple of questions since I am totally not familiar with what is out there now.

I have a Sony SR300 video camrea that we use for the grand kids on land. It is an awesome video machine and I thout about buying a housing for it but they are not made anymore. If I want to take both stills and video, can't I just take the stills out of the video when editing?

I know that video cameras don't take the best photos and a camera does not take the best video....but if a person wanted to do both and the wife would kill me if I bought both....what would you guys recommend? I need the whole setup....camera, strobes, arms...starting from scratch..

camera or video cam? Which strobes? Recommended source? Most diving at this point will be tropical as I don't live in Chicago anymore so quick accesss to the lakes is gone. Going to spend a week in Bonaire and a week in Curacao this summer relaxing.

Thanks for the help getting an old fart back into the game. I have been reading here about the new black gopro.....good one? If so, which housing is the best/most versatile?

 

[sinistar]

I fall in the dslr camp. you wil at the very least get very high resolution still images. Plus some of the DSLRs shoot very high quality video, often better than camcorders of similar value. With DSLRs you will not have any useable autofocus in video mode but most people find ways to work around it. Plus some the DSLRs are awesome in low light once again often doing better than good camcorders.

If still quality doesn't matter as much as video quality then get a GoPro or camcorder.

 

[Interceptor121]

I think going back into this with a camera with changeable lens will be an overkill

I have tested the Sony RX100 as a video camera and the results are better than low end camcorders you will need to spend some money on the equipment but then you have something that takes good quality photo and video but not in the same dive

Check my blog here it will help you through the assessment

Interceptor121 Underwater Video