Oly EPL 1, Panasonic GF1, Canon S90 ??

[slowhands]

I would like...:

..compact..
...live view
...wide angle and macro on a single dive
..Low shutter lag and fast autofocus...

Contenders are:

1. Canon S90 in Fix housing with Fix 2 element flip lenses and a Inon ufl165
2. Panasonic GF1 in a 10bar housing, probably with 14-45 lens or ????
3. Oly E-PL1 with a 9-18mm lens (which may not work for macro?)
4. None of the above, stay with Canon G10 and OEM housing and see what turns up over the next year.

[FONT=&quot].....My G10 isn't bad, but I would like to have a wider angle and I wonder if focus speed and shutter lag can't be improved a bit.
...[/FONT]

No one setup gives you all you want today. I'd say stay with what you have.

The Canon S90 is compact and brilliant for macro and OK for wide, but has long shutter lag and AF delay compared to DSLRs (like what you have).

The GF1 and E-PL1 are faster, but don't allow macro and wide on the same dive. If you add a tray and strobes, the setup is almost as bulky as a DSLR.

I'm wanting the same qualities you are in my next rig, and I almost think I want two: a compact one for easy shooting on casual dives, and a DSLR for the performance and image quality when I am after a particular critter. I took a look at the Oly 4/3 line and realized that they overcharge for ports and strobes, so there is minimal size or cost advantage over a Canon or Nikon DSLR system when you add up the size and cost of all the parts. Did someone say there is no free lunch?

 

[nudibranco]

Well I just decided to sink into the M4/3 route!... EPL1 with Oly 9-18 and Panasonic 45mm macro lens...

Now hoping to get the 67mm adapter so I can attach a 4x or even 6x magnifier lens and get a underwater coverage from 24mm to about 1:4 (or at least 1:2) for macro coverage... The 9-18 mm lens promises to be very fast focus wise and the EPL1 is giving me image result top side as good as my Canon DSLR.
I looked at the option of some compact casing for the Canon and both money and size just did not make the goal. And I needed to do better than the Sea and Sea Dx1G which is great especially when traveling but just does not cut it in image quality for larger prints and for noise control.
Probably from what I am reading in your message the S90 in its compact underwater case with some INON attachments may fit you best. At least for now.

Andrea

 

[shoturtle]

update the firmware on the epl-1 to 1.1 and the AF will be as fast as the gf1. It just came out on 4/22/10