W300 or Nikon 1 J1 w/ WP-N1 and WU-1b?

[jerbee]

Hey guys, I used the W300 for about 6 months in the Philippines. It was fine for what it was - a compact that could shoot up to 30m, but I ended up selling it to someone at the dive shop before I left for almost exactly what I paid for it new. I’m moving to the Philippines for a few years in about 8 months and want to get a new system together.

I can either go with another W300 ($300), or I’m thinking of a Nikon 1 J1 (about $125 with lens, used) plus the underwater housing good to 40m ($100 used) and a wireless adapter ($25) to shoot the photos to my iPad between dives. The J3 has WiFi built-in but the UW housing is a lot more expensive.

The J1 shoots in RAW, whereas the W300 doesn’t.. which makes post impossible (jpg sucks in post). Plus an extra 10m depth.. which matters a lot to me. Downside is no built-in flash on the J1, but now that I think about it, if I’m going to be living there diving every day, I probably should have something better than a built-in flash, anyway.. which the J1 allows for (multiple strobes). I want something (relatively) cheap enough that if it gets lost or stolen I won’t feel terrible for weeks afterwards, but not so cheap I sacrifice on photo quality. The W300 has higher MP (16 vs 10 on the J1), but since I don’t plan on making poster-size prints then the 6mp difference really shouldn’t matter.

So, 300 for the W300, with no RAW, only 30m depth, and no external flash..

or

J1 with case and WiFi adapter for $255, with 40m depth, external flash capability, and RAW.


Ok, it looks like I should be going with the J1.

Right? I’ve pretty much talked myself into it while writing this.

 

[Oz Chris]

Glad we could help

 

[jerbee]

I pulled the trigger and got a mint Nikon 1 J1 w/ 10-30mm lens for $90, WP-N1 housing for $70, and a Toshiba Flashair 64gb Wifi SD card for $50... $210 out the door. I didn't know such a thing as the Flashair existed, so I'm excited to have added WiFi without having to keep track of an adapter. Now I'm looking at strobes.

Do you think that the Sea & Sea YS-17 would work? From what I found searching old threads, "almost any strobe that has fiberoptic sync will work"... how accurate is that statement? (source: Non-Nikon strobe for Nikon J-1 housing? )