strobeless vet student seeks digital camera

[H&E]

First of all, I've been utterly impressed by the wealth of information present on these boards- it's been a pleasure wading through them.

Here is my situation. I am currently a veterinary student (read as relatively poor) that has been diving for ~21mos or so in the frosty but still lovely New England waters. As I'm becoming increasingly confident in my diving skills, buoancy control, etc I'm hoping to begin introducing photography into my diving. I am currently looking to purchase a digital camera that I can use above and below the water so I was planning to go with a decent camera and separate housing.

Because my funds are limited, I will not be able to purchase a strobe in the near future. It would probably not be an option for at least 2 years if not 3. With this in mind and the research I've done on the boards here, the 3 cameras that stood out and my concerns/thoughts regarding them are as follows:

Fuji F30- not fully manual, no RAW, but allegedly great in low lighting. I guess my question is whether the improved low light abilities would outweigh the lack of some of the more advanced features of the other cameras, given my lack of strobe. Perhaps it would be a good way to learn most of the basics before graduating to more advanced features once I'm through with my residency and start having an income. Other question is regarding the F30's batteries with traveling. Is it hard to deal with charging batteries at locations that don't use US voltage? For example, I am fortunate enough to be traveling to bonaire for a week before I start clinics this spring and I haven't been able to find specs as to whether the battery charger for the F30 can handle the different electrical parameters. Is the use of more readily available batteries for the other models a significant advantage (or even an advantage at all)?

Oly 350- more manual options, RAW, roughly same price range as the F30. This camera obviously seems to be more expandable than the F30, but is thinking about expansion 3+ years down the line even worth considering (will everything just be obsolete/nonsupported) or should I just go with the better low light camera (assuming the F30 is truely better in low light) for the time being and just assume that I'll probably be in the market again for a camera by the time I'd be looking for strobes.

Fuji E900- advanced features like the 350, a bit more expensive. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts/knowledge regarding the use of this camera without a strobe as compared to the other cameras above. I guess I'm just assuming that it might be towards the other fuji in terms of low light abilities, but really wasn't able to verify this.

If anyone has any other thoughts or suggestions (ie did I miss the camera that'd be perfect for my situation?), I'd love to hear them as well. While I'm clearly a newbie, I'm a pretty patient guy and am not too concerned about losing interest in the hobby down the road. Also, if it makes a difference, I'll be using a mac for my photo managing (sorry, I haven't really done my homework yet with regards to compatibility--that is, if there are even any compatibility issues).

Thank you so much for any help and for putting up with the long drawn out post- I was just trying to be thorough.

-sam

 

[dbh]

I would go with the 350. I think that RAW is important in underwater photography. The E900's battery life stinks (you will be changing the 2 AA battereis between every dive).
If you are worried about low-light focusing, get a small dive light to use as a focusing light.

HTH,
Dave

 

[AndyT]

Ditto Dave's comments - the 350 also has a hotshoe which IMHO puts it ahead of the Fuji which would be my 2nd choice. Just buy one ASAP, they seem to be in short supply.

Don't be suprised if you find yourself wanting / needing a strobe sooner than you think !!!

 

[Penopolypants]

I have never used a strobe with my SP-350, and I dive almost exclusively in dark water here in the Sound. I'd like to get one eventually, but I've been happy so far. So I wouldn't worry too much about it in the beginning. Just get used to the camera, first.

Here's some pics I've taken (fairly) recently, with no strobe, in murky water:

and

Obviously macro shots are going to work best....my attempts at wide angle type shots have turned out pretty green during the day, or black and blurry at night.

NWGratefuldiver doesn't use a strobe with his SP-350 either in our dark waters. Here's one of his slideshows:

http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/WP4gT9ZK

Good luck, and post some pics when you do get a setup!

 

[H&E]

Thanks for the input!! I was leaning towards the 350 in my mind, but hearing resounding support for it (and the great examples of strobeless photos from penopolypants and NWgratefuldiver) made the descision much easier. At AndyT's suggestion, I found a good deal on the 350 and went with it...so I'm pretty excited.

Now I'll just have to snatch up a housing and start putting my pennies away for a strobe in the hopefully not to distant future

I can't wait for it to arrive to start working with it.

Thanks again,
sam

 

[Penopolypants]

Yay!

17th St. Photo has the housing for $179. I bought both my camera and housing from them, they have great customer service.

http://www.17photo.com/product.asp?id=202021

 

[dhokens]

The E900's battery life stinks (you will be changing the 2 AA battereis between every dive).

I was choosing between the 350 and the E900 last Oct for my first underwater camera and ended up going with the E900 because of what I had read about the shutter lag and poor battery life of the 350 . I had no problems doing 2 tank boat dives on one set of batteries with my E900 during a week of diving in Nov. in Cozumel.

I don't think battery life is a valid reason not to choose the E900, but the price of the 350 with the Olympus housing is probably a pretty good reason to go that route if you can still find one. And I also agree that RAW is valuable to have. I switched to shooting RAW after my first dive and never shot JPG's again after that.

 

[H&E]

Happy New Year everybody!

Thanks for the housing link Penopolypants. also coincidentally, good choice of birthday--Groundhog's Eve has worked out for me as well.

dhokens, that is pretty interesting how multiple reviews can seem to blatantly contradict each other at times. glad to know that I probably would've been fine with either setup, but the price was right on the 350 for me this time around.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Penopolypants]

Well, hello to you, my fellow Aquarian. Happy New Year to you, too!

 

[H&E]

Hi guys, I'd just I'd let you know that my lovely new Oly 350 finally arrived. Had a brief moment of panic when I found a single pixel that was stuck on white, but pixel mapping took care of that and now all is right with the world once again.

Now on to mastering the controls!!!

Thanks for you help!
sam