Suggestions for Wife's Camera

[Dave Dillehay]

I want to get my wife an UW digital camera and have several requirements.

1. Must be point and shoot capable with auto focus.

2. Must have an external strobe

3. Must be reasonably small

4. Must have a housing good to about 200 ft

4. Budget is $1000

The C5060 looks interesting, comments please?

 

[TedJ]

I'd recommend the 5050 instead. Housing is now down to $139 at newegg. Search the forum, there are lots of threads about the camera and many of us own and use them. There are also a couple of threads about the 5050 vs the 5060. Good luck.

 

[divemed06]

Dave Dillehay once bubbled...
I want to get my wife an UW digital camera and have several requirements.

1. Must be point and shoot capable with auto focus.

2. Must have an external strobe

3. Must be reasonably small

4. Must have a housing good to about 200 ft

4. Budget is $1000

The C5060 looks interesting, comments please?

1. Almost any camera will meet this criteria
2. this is an extra...might break your budget
3. stylus 400 is pocket size...unless you have strobe
4. Why?....Olympus housings are rated to 30meters.... If you want to get a better housing...it might also break your budget
5. Possible, but you'll have to compromise somewhere

You may want to determine what is most important to you and what kind of photography you'll be doing....shallow reefs in Cozumel...won't need a strobe to get nice pictures... As TedJ said, I would recommend the 5050 with Olympus housing... Best of luck

 

[ssra30]

Hmmm, couple of problems with your $1000 budget and your requirement. For 200ft requirement, you are looking at Ikelite, Tetra or some other third party housing which will run you at least $500-600 (for Olympus camera) or more for Ikelite and quite a bit more for other metal housing. Adding a strobe that work with digital camera, the strobe itself will be probably around $500 and up (not sure what an Inon D180 costs in the US). Beside that, you will still have to get tray/handle/strobe arm as well.

Going Olympus or Canon route will be a bit cheaper if you are willing to stay with either 30m or 40m (100-130ft) depth limit as Olympus and Canon offers its own housing which is significantly cheaper. A good setup such as Oly 5050/PT 015 housing (rated to 40m) will probably cost you around $700. I am not very familiar with the Canon line very much.

You can get Oly C4000 with PT 010 (rated to 30m), for probably around $500.

 

[DesertEagle]

Do you want to do wide angle or macro? If it's macro, I would go for an Olympus 5050 in the Olympus housing and add a small strobe like the Ikelite 50 or the Epoque. You could squeak in at just under $1000. For wide angle, add $300 for a wide angle lens, plus an adapter if necessary.

 

[RESCUEDIVER]

I'd get the 5050z, a YS90 product (dx or auto) and PT-015. However, if she's not going to shoot often, and really isn't into digital photography, you might want to look at some of the point and shoot digitals from Reefmaster or Sea and Sea. They are 3 megapixel units, have external strobe capability and meet your budget

 

[hammerhead man]

I rented the Sea & Sea DX-3000 underwater camera for a trip to the Turks and Caicos and was very surprised at the quality of pictures that it took. In fact I was so impressed that I bought the new model, the DX-3000G. The camera and the housing are sold together and are advertised to be waterproof to 150 feet. The cost is around $900.

Another option is the new Sea & Sea Aquapix (DX-3100). That is a 3.2 meg camera that is designed for underwater use. It comes with a built in close-up lens, a color filter, and a difuser for the flash. I just saw that camera for sale on ebay for $429 and advertised as a new camera not used. You could purchase that and a Sea & Sea underwater external strobe kit and be right at $1000. I think that this camera is rated to 180 feet but am not positive about this.

Hope this was helpful.

 

[Dee]

I think the 5050 is a better deal. Why 200ft? If the 200ft depth limit is a definate, you have no choice but to go with a Tetra housing which is $1500 by itself. Your best bet depth-wise is an Ikelite for $600+ but you'll still be over your budget.

The C-5050/PT-015 with a depth rating of 140ft can easily be done within your budget.

 

[emeyer36]

What does everybody have against the Sealife Reefmaster DC310? In the Pro Set configuration it only runs around $700. Has 3.3 Mpixals, Strobe, 3X macro lens, case, etc. Just wondering, but it seems to fit the requirements.

emeyer36

 

[Dee]

emeyer36 once bubbled...
What does everybody have against the Sealife Reefmaster DC310? In the Pro Set configuration it only runs around $700. Has 3.3 Mpixals, Strobe, 3X macro lens, case, etc. Just wondering, but it seems to fit the requirements.

emeyer36

IIRC....there's very limited control with this camera. If all you want is a point and shoot camera in auto mode, minimal strength strobe, macro lens with questionable optic quality, and only 3 MP then knock your lights out! But for $700 you can get a 5MP camera that will take excellent pics no matter what mode you use and if you decide later you want to take more control of your exposures, you'll have the camera to do it with. The internal flash will give you great coverage for a couple of feet for those macro shots you like and the super macro will amaze you! You can always add a good strobe later. The PT-015 housing tops off the combo and let's you access every feature and control on the camera.