Underwater Photography - camera recommendations

[MSDF]

This is my 1st post on SB - great to be here... I am having great difficulty in choosing a camera + housing to take with me on my diving trips. Anyone have any suggestions? I would prefer something compact (SLR would be too expensive and bulky) with full manual control on shutter/aperture. If you could recommend relevant housing as well that would be great...
Many thanks!!
MF

 

[HollywoodiversImaging]

Welcome to Scubaboard!! First and foremost is answering a few questions so you can be better guided:

1. What is your REALISTIC budget

2. What is your level of dive experience?

3. What is your level of photo experience?

4. Do you want to be able to shoot some video?

Some cameras you might want to check out are the Panasonic LX5, Canon G12, Olympus XZ1. If you are looking for a quality housing made of aluminum and ergonomic controls, check out the Nauticam for any of those. Ikelite makes some great plastic housings that are a bit less but not as ergonomic. We look forward to chatting with you on the boards!

 

[MSDF]

Thanks for the quick response - to answer your questions:

1. Around $1,000 would be my limit (give or take)
2. I am Advanced O/W qualified, and have completed around 25 dives or so
3. I consider myself a serious amateur photographer (I've had a few publishings and won an award last year) and all of my kit is currently Canon but I am open to any brands depending on what is best suited for underwater shots
4. Photo is the priority. The ability to video would be deemed an added bonus but my focus is 100% photography

Thanks again for your help and time on this!

 

[Scuba_Noob]

If you already have a camera, then all your really need to do it buy a housing and maybe a strobe. Many Canon cameras have housings made by Canon, Ikelite, Recsea, etc. That will save you a few hundred dollars.

B&H Photo Video Digital Cameras, Photography, Camcorders is a really good site, often with very good deals.

 

[HollywoodiversImaging]

Sounds good.

For $1,000 you can get any of those cameras with an Ikelite housing, but NO FLASH (which is critical). Pushing your budget to around the $1,600 mark would allow you to get a nice set up with a camera, Ikelite housing, and Ikelite DS-51 strobe with arm set.

Going with the Nauticam housings would bump you up an additional $400 from that mark.

 

[hammerhead man]

I use the Sea&Sea DX-2G that takes great pictures. The camera and housing are around $1000. If you click on the my photos link under my name you can see some pics taken with the camera. The most recent ones are from the Great Barrier Reef. If you have any questons, feel free to send me a message.

Regards,

Bill

 

[MSDF]

Thank you all for your recommendations - very much appreciated