Open to Suggestions

[Blackwood]

my current underwater camera is an old-ish Canon SD550.

Before I head to Cozumel in January I've been wanting to pick up something new (at a minimum I'd like SDHC).

Topside, I shoot canons due to my collection of glass, but underwater I'm looking for a reasonably cheap solution, so will be be getting a new P&S, and don't care about brand.

I'm looking to budget around $500 for both the camera and the housing (no strobes, but attachments would be a plus) but not memory.

A buddy of mine has the Canon SD980 and watching some video on its screen, it looked good. I've been reading mostly bad reviews online, though, regarding the full resolution video (720P), and regarding ISO noise (CCD sensor).

Manual controls and the ability to save RAW files are a plus, but a lack of them is not a dealbreaker.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
MB

 

[Maddog59]

my current underwater camera is an old-ish Canon SD550.

Before I head to Cozumel in January I've been wanting to pick up something new (at a minimum I'd like SDHC).

Topside, I shoot canons due to my collection of glass, but underwater I'm looking for a reasonably cheap solution, so will be be getting a new P&S, and don't care about brand.

I'm looking to budget around $500 for both the camera and the housing (no strobes, but attachments would be a plus) but not memory.

A buddy of mine has the Canon SD980 and watching some video on its screen, it looked good. I've been reading mostly bad reviews online, though, regarding the full resolution video (720P), and regarding ISO noise (CCD sensor).

Manual controls and the ability to save RAW files are a plus, but a lack of them is not a dealbreaker.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
MB

Canon G10 - G11!

 

[Blackwood]

With the Canon housing (the only one in the pricerange)?

Is it any good?

 

[Maddog59]

With the Canon housing (the only one in the pricerange)?

Is it any good?

I use the Patima Housing but that is out of your price range, from all I hear the Canon Housing is OK for the G10 and the G11 version is still an onknown quantity! Read some of the older threads in the Canon Corner sub heading and you will find the pros and cons of all the housings. The two favourites seem to be the Canon and the Ikelite Housings,

 

[Blackwood]

Yah that's a bit much. I don't do a whole lot of underwater photography. I often dive with LimeyX from these boards (nickambrose.smugmug.com), and let him handle that. Dropping a thousand dollars on a camera that I'll only use a few times is probably out of the question. I'll look into it, though.

Thanks.


-MB

 

[Blackwood]

I ended up buying an SD960 at Fry's with the idea of returning it if I don't like it, but the video and photos seem good enough. I'll be getting a housing and hauling it down to Coz. Will review when I've used it enough, but first impressions are as expected: poor low-light performance.