sd800

[meterman]

any canon sd800 and underwater housing users? like dislikes?

 

[CompuDude]

There have been one or two people on the board who have reported good results.

I intend to buy one at some point for use as a fun vacation camera, as opposed to hauling around my full S80 + Ike housing + Inon strobe kit. No manual controls on the SD800, so it's useless to those who are really serious, but you can take some pretty stunning shots once you learn how to work the camera to it's fullest. I saw this based on using the SD800's predecessor, the SD550, for a good while. (And it didn't have image stab!)

 

[meterman]

i have the sd550 and love it and i have a 20d but getting a ikelite case for that and a strobe is to much for me:11: . the wife says the sd550 is hers :no so im thinking of getting me a sd800 with the housing.

 

[AUTiger]

If you already have a pocket sized SD550, why not get a more useful camera (I think folks here like the Canon G series) that is a little bigger, but much more capable? I don't know why you would want two SD sized cameras.

I'm actually going to buy a housing for my wife's SD700 for those days when I don't want to take out my Nikon D80. She is about to get her certification and I don't want to be distracted by a big rig when we start diving together. If I don't bring a camera, I'll probably miss a great photo opportunity.

David

 

[Bluewater Builder]

I recently purchased the sd800 and the canon wpc-9 case for diving. Just returned Saturday from Belize and used it every day while I was there. If you encounter very dark conditions like I had in the Blue Hole at 135 feet, you will want some kind of auxillary flash. The camera was easy to use underwater and while I still have a lot to learn about underwater photography, but everyone said the pictures came out great. I really do not see where the "underwater mode" made that much of a difference and I think I can clean most of the pictures up with Photoshop Elements.

 

[robnbill]

After resisting the urge for many years I finally made the plunge and started taking underwater photography. I purchased the SD 800 IS and the Cannon housing. I picked up a Sea and Sea strobe for a pretty good price from B & H Photo in NY.

Then I headed to Cozumel for 4 days of diving and shooting. In short, the camera is beautiful. I did not require any weights for the case. It is just slightly negatively bouyant and I had a blast with it.

I tried everything. The Underwater setting worked great for setting the balance while using the strobe. Without a strobe I do not think it would make any difference. I even tried capturing short video clips while moving through a cave or watching an Spotted Eagle Ray digging into the white sand.

If you would like to see some of the shots I have taken with the camera, you can go to my home website. web.mac.com/robnbill. There are shots taken in January in Cozumel and then from a number of islands during a Western Caribbean Cruise in February/March.

One thing I am going to try the next dive sets is to zoom the camera slightly so I can get farther from the subjects. The adage I had been told was you could not get close enough. However, what I found was if I was physically very close, the strobe did not have enough time to spread out resulting in seeing the straight edges of the square strobe. Slightly farther back and I did not get the same thing.

All told, I love the camera setup. When I am on shore, I pull the camera out, stick it in my pocket and get great shots on land. After trying this the first time in Cozumel, I bought a second one so I will have a back up should one fail.

Try the website. Enjoy

Bill

 

[AUTiger]

Bill,

I'm sure that your strobe shadow has anything to do with zooming. I think that it might be a strobe aiming issue. You might try some shots out of the water.

David

 

[CompuDude]

The SD800 has a wide(ish) angle lens. The area of coverage of the strobe purchased may not be a good match for the camera.

 

[alcina]

The adage I had been told was you could not get close enough. However, what I found was if I was physically very close, the strobe did not have enough time to spread out resulting in seeing the straight edges of the square strobe. Slightly farther back and I did not get the same thing.

Bill

This isn't a "time to spread out" the light thing. This is a flash coverage thing. Time does not factor in the equation.

Think of the flash/strobe output as a cone of light with the pointy bit at the flash head itself - that's why moving farther back gives you a bit of a wider spread

As for always "get close, then get closer" - it's true...within the limitations of your camera!

You will find a loss of quality on many types of images by moving back and using zoom. Sometimes zoom is very useful - such as for giving skittish creatures a bit of breathing room - sometimes it isn't. You'll have to play around to see what works for you.

Great to hear you had a fabulous time with your camera and that you are getting wet again soon!

 

[nivla80]

got the SD800 IS, with teh WPDC9, and a cheap sealife strobe. Tried it out, and results were (I think) pretty good, but maybe it's because of the fact that I'm still a novice photographer, but this camera served me well on land and underwater. =D

These are some pictures that I took both on land and in water. I was satisfied, especially since I have not much u/w photo-taking experience!

I'm still learning how to take better pics... =D