Questions on Canon A series

[Mr. Sunday]

I'm strongly leaning towards a Canon A series for my first underwater camera but have a few questions.

My concern is the batteries. I typically steer clear of non lithium battery packs. I'm concerned about the rechargeable nickel batteries not having enough life in them. I hate constantly having to change batteries or worse having them die while in use. I owned an A series years ago and it was dieing on me all the time.

1) Can anyone tell me how much life they are getting out of there Canon recharge-ables?

2) Also is it worth the extra money to go with the Ike-lite housing over the OEM? I dive deep and the Ikelite is rated deeper. And I do plan on adding strobes someday.

3) What Camera should I be looking at as well that is comparable to the A series?

4) Is there an A series that stands out above the rest? I'm leaning towards the 720is


Thanks very much!

Ken

 

[jaybombs25]

A 640 stands pretty tall. The canon housings aren't bad, may want to go ike for depth, add on lenses and even ease of adding strobes. The A 640 uses standard AA batteries and takes a hell of a while before you need to change them, you can also get rechargeable AA batteries which work wonders.

 

[sunnyboy]

After a pretty good search, I chose the Canon A570IS and an Ikelite housing. This model of Canon is very inexpensive right now, has a decent # of mpixels, and uses standard AA batteries. I'm using a set of rechargable Energizer Li-on batteries that are older - would no longer drive my old Sealife 100, but drive the Canon very well. So it seems to be good on batteries.

I chose the Ikelite housing over the Canon housing due to the depth rating. The list price on the Canon is $250, and the Ikelite for this camera is $300, so for $50 I get a lot more depth capability.

-S

 

[Zeeman]

the A640 doe shave the advantage of 4 x AA's, I normally get through 3 dives worth of shooting (many hundreds of shots) with mine.

Z..

 

[Mr. Sunday]

Thanks. Thats all helpful info

 

[Mr. Sunday]

Is it worth adding a slave strobe to a point and shoot such as the A series?

Ive been looking at the Ikelite Autoflash AF35.

Anyone know if it can be used with the Canon OEM housing?

 

[sunnyboy]

Don't know about the OEM housing, but eventually I will be adding a strobe to my rig (A570 + Ikelite housing). Just for now I wanted "less is more" diving, and the strobe adds to the package. Once I'm comfortable with the camera, and want more out of my pictures, I'll get the strobe.

-S

 

[diver 85]

I'm strongly leaning towards a Canon A series for my first underwater camera but have a few questions.

My concern is the batteries. I typically steer clear of non lithium battery packs. I'm concerned about the rechargeable nickel batteries not having enough life in them. I hate constantly having to change batteries or worse having them die while in use. I owned an A series years ago and it was dieing on me all the time.

1) Can anyone tell me how much life they are getting out of there Canon recharge-ables?

2) Also is it worth the extra money to go with the Ike-lite housing over the OEM? I dive deep and the Ikelite is rated deeper. And I do plan on adding strobes someday.

3) What Camera should I be looking at as well that is comparable to the A series?

4) Is there an A series that stands out above the rest? I'm leaning towards the 720is


Thanks very much!

Ken

I got the A570IS last May, see my pics below in my sig.....The 1st link was from Little Cayman & the Flower Gardens in July(all shot with rechargeable batteries, changed batteries after 2 dives every time)...The 2nd link is from Cozumel earlier this month(all shot with non-rechargeable Energizers, got 3 to 4 dives before changing---had a lot on hand left over from my 35 mm Sea& Sea MMII & wanted to use some of them before they got too old).....No external strobe used, only internal flash.....IMO, you can't/won't go wrong with it......good luck.........

EDIT:..use the Canon UW case..........

 

[lmorin]

I researched the topic pretty heavily and saw what my neighbor's 2 yr old A series could do. Opted for the A570is. In my view, the only thing that holds it back is the extra flash charge oomph you'd get with 4 batteries rather than the 2 for the A570is. I decided I could live with that, and I can. Obviously, more is better--if you want it. One reason I opted for the A570is was that I really wanted a camera I could easily carry in my pocket when not diving. It's a bit smaller and lighter than the A650is (4 batteries) or A720is (2 batteries).

As for batteries, I use the recommended NiMH AA's. Get those with the largest # of milliamphours you can. Mine are Energizers rated 2500 mAh. Two, fully charged, are good for over 500 images with the flash used on 300 of those. Note that the flash recharges fastest early on and the rate wanes with repeated battery used. However, the biggest problem has not been the battery charge, per se, but whether I remember to turn off the camera after a dive. I do not use the "auto-off" feature when diving and I all too often leave the camera just sitting, but switched on and running down the batteries between dives.

 

[diver 85]

I researched the topic pretty heavily and saw what my neighbor's 2 yr old A series could do. Opted for the A570is. In my view, the only thing that holds it back is the extra flash charge oomph you'd get with 4 batteries rather than the 2 for the A570is. I decided I could live with that, and I can. Obviously, more is better--if you want it. One reason I opted for the A570is was that I really wanted a camera I could easily carry in my pocket when not diving. It's a bit smaller and lighter than the A650is (4 batteries) or A720is (2 batteries).

As for batteries, I use the recommended NiMH AA's. Get those with the largest # of milliamphours you can. Mine are Energizers rated 2500 mAh. Two, fully charged, are good for over 500 images with the flash used on 300 of those. Note that the flash recharges fastest early on and the rate wanes with repeated battery used. However, the biggest problem has not been the battery charge, per se, but whether I remember to turn off the camera after a dive. I do not use the "auto-off" feature when diving and I all too often leave the camera just sitting, but switched on and running down the batteries between dives.

I agree, batteries are not a problem with this camera........