Sony Or Canon

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jjagreen

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Hi All,

I am a magazine journalist and want to get into underwater photography to help sell some of my stories.

I wanted an inexpensive way to shoot reasonable quality stuff underwater without lashing out a fortune. Up top I use a Nikon F100 but want to switch to a D100 later.

Housings for these cameras are crazy expensive.

So I came across the Sony DSC W1 which is about to ber replaced by the Sony W7 - which is 7.2 megapixels and I also came across the Cannon A95. Both have $200 housings by the manafacturer which seem fine.

The advantage of the Sony is that I could replace the W1 with the W7 when it comes out and still use the same housing. The Canon I couldn't but the Canon seems teh better camera.

So would these cameras be OK for 5 megapixel magazine quality work? Would I need more strobes or would they be OK with the built in flash? And would I need a wideangle on these?

Anyway which one shuld I get if at all?


For any help I would be indebted.

Kind regards,


Jonathan
 
And, on another point, would wide angle lenses work with those cameras in the housings?

Best,

Jonathan
 
I've thought about this question overnight and I just can not reccomend the Sony given your requirements. Two major issues, Sony's lousy white balance underwater and the lack of add-ons. The Sonys have a nasty tendency to shift colors towards green underwater when you are out of range of the flash. The Canon has more stuff that will attach to the housing and more people that use them. YMMV.
 
Gotta go with Cecil on this one. My mileage tells me the Sony's are great for the "point and shoot" people like me who want pics to record what we saw and share with family and friends. They have limited functions and accessories are not geared toward application to them. I got my P10 as a land camera and only added the housing later.

Magazine quality? I'm not sure if a prosumer digital would pass that test unless it was a DSLR(much money). And add to it the simple fact that the shot is only as good as the skill of the operator. The camera only knows what you tell it to do.

I've seen 3MP shooters with great pics and 5MP ones like myself with serious issues, so I don't think more MP's is the answer. My answer is get a camera you can afford and start practicing. I can say the Sony line is an affordable way to get started.

Jet
 
Jetwrench:
Magazine quality? I'm not sure if a prosumer digital would pass that test unless it was a DSLR(much money). And add to it the simple fact that the shot is only as good as the skill of the operator. The camera only knows what you tell it to do.
Jet

http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.php?board=6;action=display;threadid=11254
http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.php?board=6;action=display;threadid=11394

Those two photographers will make you a believer in the potential of point-and-shoot cameras. Like you said it's largely about the diver/photographer. BTW the first link's photographer uses the Olympus 5050 and the second the FujiFilm F810 (which i'm gonna be buying soon :)). Both point and shoots. Probably macro lenses and a strobe involved.

That said it seems like for the underwater point and shoot camera most people prefer the Canon A and S series, Olympus x0x0 series(5050 in particular), and Fuji F810.

Check out www.wetpixel.com and www.digitaldiver.net for TONS of info on all cameras. There are lots of professional underwater photographers on those forums as well as newbies like me :D
 
Monkey Knife-fight:
http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.php?board=6;action=display;threadid=11254
http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.php?board=6;action=display;threadid=11394

Those two photographers will make you a believer in the potential of point-and-shoot cameras. Like you said it's largely about the diver/photographer. BTW the first link's photographer uses the Olympus 5050 and the second the FujiFilm F810 (which i'm gonna be buying soon :)). Both point and shoots. Probably macro lenses and a strobe involved.

The second shot has been heavily photoshopped, as you can see. Far too much for my taste. I haven't seen as many great shots with the 810 as with the 5050, but this is probably just because there aren't as many people using it yet (and perhaps ever, since DSLRs are becoming more affordable).
 
Yeah there was photoshop involved but my point was just that digi point and shoots are more than capable of taking phenomenal underwater pictures. dSLR's are (i'm sure) very cool but also very expensive (for my budget). P&S's are small and cheaper housings are available for many brands.
 
Out of the two choices, I'd head to Canon for the reasons above and more.

You can check out LukeRob's gallery for what the Canon A series can achieve with practice.

The Oly 5050 offers more than the Canon's but also takes a heck of a lot more practice to acheive great results. For use of internal strobe you can't go past calypsonick's gallery.

You will definitely need a strobe or two for most shots that aren't macro - think sea fans, wide angles of wrecks/reefs etc. Natural light shots do work, but they can be tricky and you can only really use so many of them in a single story, IMHO.

No matter what you end up with please be aware that magazine worthy shots don't come from the camera. They come from the photographer. And pretty much that is going to mean mucho time in the water practicing.

Then again, some dive mags put really average images in, so mabye I am being a bit idealistic...
 

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