Point & Shoot - Digital?

[Bacunderagain]

I do not dive enough to justify the cost of a good 35mm camera and housing. I have a great 35mm Digital for land shoots and I was wondering if anyone can
recommend a good point & shoot digital for UWP.

Any suggestions would be greatly apprecaited.

Tanks,
Jim

 

[PatW]

It depends on what results you want, how adept at photography you are and how much you want to spend.

You will need a camera that shoots RAW. RAW allows you to adjust white balance in post processing without penalty. That ability is a real big deal in underwater photography.

For the best results, you will want a strobe. As you descend, the water column absorbs long wave lengths of light first. Red light is gone along with red colors in just 15'. If you want "normal" colors, you have to have a strobe. But strobes cost $$$. Underwater photography is not cheap even with point and shoots. Still with a good camera and a good housing, you can get decent photos in shallow water, 30' or less.

I use a Canon G11. It shoots quite a bit like an SLR which is easy for me. It also takes very nice top side shots. It makes for a nice compact camera to have along when lugging around an SLR and lenses is not practical.

 

[Bacunderagain]

Pat,

Thanks for the reply. What kind of housing do you have?
What strobe do you have? I also own a Canon 30D.

Jim

 

[Peter Guy]

An age-old question -- what is the "right" camera. Just about everyone will tell you the camera THEY have is "the right one" (note -- my wife won't, she's not happy with hers). But you need to make some decisions and then ask -- What is the right camer given my parameters?

a. MONEY -- How much are you willing to spend? $300, $600, $1000, $1500?

b. What do you want to shoot -- macro, wide angle, snapshots, art shots? Depending on your photography goals, you can limit, or expand, the possibilities.

Backscatter.com often has a report, Best Point and Shoot Cameras of 2011 that should help.

 

[Bacunderagain]

Peter,

Thanks much for the url, much apprecaited.

Jim

 

[Tigerman]

As Peter Guy says, it really is a matter of purpose.
However I'll mention that there is a lot of people on scubaboard using the Canon s95 and G-series cameras.

When it comes to wether or not you need strobes it makes a huge difference what conditions you're planning to use it in. If the conditions is generally clear, sunny waters you can get away with just shooting RAW and pulling out the colors in post-processing. In lower vis and/or darker weather the strobes might be a requirement.

 

[Bacunderagain]

thank you, sir! Much appreciated