Starter camera?

[below_sea_level]

I was thinking about buying my first camera and was wondering what you guys could recommend to me. I am not looking to spend alot of money at all. I was looking at some inexpensive 35mm but was concerned with the small flashes.=-)

 

[El Buzo Loco]

I just got my first UW camera. It's an Olympus C5050 and housing and spent about $700 total.

Here are some shots from my first dive with it last weekend while diving with Surface Time in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico in the Sea of Cortez...

http://members.cox.net/r865/rush_hour.htm (this was shot at Seal Island, San Carlos - shot with wide angle lens)

http://members.cox.net/r865/blue.gif (Blue Damsel -- about an inch long displaying aggressive behavior - shot with normal macro setting)

http://members.cox.net/r865/jewel.gif (Jewel Moray -- there were two of them in the same area and I got a ton of shots of them. The other guy was bigger. - standard lens setting)

 

[below_sea_level]

Those are nice but I am looking to spend under 100 bucks. I know that I am limited to a 35mm.

 

[Tractor Tom]

...from a catalog for $95.00 plus delivery. The vendor is Sierra Trading Post and the camera is a Sealife Reefmaster, good to 165 feet. Here's a link...

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/Search/keyword_results.asp?usersearch=camera&ShowImages=yes

It's the yellow one at the top of the page...

Hope this is a help!

 

[below_sea_level]

What do you think about this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3625042554&category=1300

 

[Tractor Tom]

...but it's only good to 100 feet. Some of the wrecks we were diving in Kingston were a bit beyond that, and I decided that a camera good for 165 feet would be better. Also, the camera I got has a rubberized case, which will stand the punishment of my dive bag a little better, I think.

This is a first camera for me as well, but I wanted something just a bit stronger and heavier than what I suspect the eBay camera is....

Just my opinion, but it isn't all that smart to go as 'cheap as possible' on some things. Shoes comes to mind, as does anything with a lens in it, like cameras and binoculars, especially if you want to use them under the water.

Good luck with your purchase...

 

[tholt576]

Well this is probably still a little lower end than you are looking for but It's less than $90.

http://www.scuba-accessories.com/catalogpage.php?cat=14

 

[Travisc]

Something to remember is 35mm you have processing fees and film. Digital needs batteries and a computer... You can get into a decent digital for less than 500 if you look around, and then use it on land. Also, you don't run out of photos at 24 or 36.

Travis

 

[Groundhog246]

You don't run out of film, you can still fill the memory. Means you then have to travel with a laptop, cords, etc., or invest in several memory cards. With my 35 I can pickup film anywhere if I run short. Too bad someone wouldn't put a lower end digital (2 to 3 mp) in a low end enclosure (like the 35mm point and shoot). Should be able to sell for under $300 and still take a decent pic.

Back onto the topic, I have a Bonica Snapper. Forget the depth rating, I think 130fsw. What I don't like is it has no way to turn off the flash. Lately I've been using faster (400) film and putting my finger over the flash. I've attached a scan from a recent pic (only part of the photo and 50DPI scan)

 

[adder70]

and I like it for the most part. The only real issue I have is the CoralFlash. I would personally rather make the changes on my own. I took some pics in shallow fresh water and they are all screwed up with the yellowish light on closer objects that fades with distance. You can compensate for uniform blueness, but the yellowing from the flash isn't uniform. I will try to get the most obvious example scanned in this weekend to show my point.

They were also good with replacement parts. The "sportfinder" on top got knocked off on my very first dive with the cam, and they promptly sent a replacement for a modest fee.