What camera do people recommend for a beginner?

[Nemrod]

I agree, money spent on good equipment is never a waste. When I had my Nikonos III the most important thing I owned for it was my twin strobes and followed by my Sea Sea WAL adapters. Now with my little Canon 570IS the most importat thing I own for it is my Inon D2000 strobe and my Inon wide angle lenses.

This excellent, sharp, well lit, photo taken by a friend with a high dollar DSLR:

This photo taken the same day and place with my "cheapo" Canon 570IS:

LOL, note camera in the gents hand above.

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[Nemrod]

In this one I turned my strobe way down to keep the dark, moody look.

These are posted just so you can see real world differences between a twin Ike strobe Ikelite housed Canon dSLR vs a Canon 570IS P&S with Inon D2000 single strobe with diffuser. I think that in the photo above I actually fired the strobe aimed behind me to bounce the light. The light colored limestone made an excellent diffuser.

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[RAWalker]

I also am an advanced amateur on the surface with 30 years experience.
I've been shooting underwater for a couple of years now.
My first outfit started as a Fuji F-700 in it's matching housing. I added a pair of inexpensive strobes (Pixtreme PX21 (Same as Fantasea Nano)) for $99 each.
On my last dive trip my camera got flooded. Keep in mind that it is not a matter of if you will flood a camera but when. For this reason I originally set up a P&S and will continue to use P&S cameras underwater.
My replacement is a Fujifilm F50fd it is a 12 meg, advanced P&S with full manual control
The camera can be had for less them $150 and so can the housing. Fantasea makes a port adapter that will allow the use of their Macro, wide angle and filter lenses with the housing. This makes for a very versatile outfit at a tight budget price.
I've yet to use it underwater but I have a strong feeling it will set a price/performance ratio mark that will be hard to beat.

 

[hammerhead man]

I would buy a camera that you can initially use as a point and shoot but has a manual option that you can use as you get comfortable with using a camera underwater. I learned early on that taking UW photos is not easy because of bouyancy, currents, and viz greatly affect your ability to take pics. I have used Sea&Sea cameras and have been very happy with them. I know own a DX-1G that can be used as a point and shoot camera but can also be used in a manual mode. I have two Ys-110 strobes and a wide angle lens as well. I am not a professional photographer but I am happy with my results. Click on my "photos" link in the left side of my post to see pics I have taken.

The amount of money you are willing to spend obviously dictates what you will buy. My rig will run well over $1000. There are other cameras that you can get for less. A DSLR rig will cost several times that amount. I would also recommend taking an UW photography course. I took the PADI course through my local dive shop and it was helpful. I also took a couple of online courses that were very helpful. Here is a link to the courses I took: The Underwater Photographer, Underwater Digital Photography Classes: Improve your underwater photos.

If you have any questions, email me at jamescrew6@verizon.net

Regards,

Bill



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[Peter Guy]

Back to the OP's original question:

What camera to get? First question -- What do you want to do with it? Are you primarily interested in taking "good" images (see my prior post -- at least I think some are "good") or are you primarily interested in taking "very good/great" images?

Second question -- What is your budget?

If you want "great" images (of the "I want to sell these" type) -- I'm convinced you need a dSLR and at least two strobes. The jump in pure image quality due to the choice of lenses just makes a dSLR a "better" camera than any Point 'n Shoot. Yes, the most important piece of camera equipment is the eye behind the lens BUT, the lens is number two and does make a huge difference.

If you are willing to be satisfied with merely "good" images, then go the Point 'n Shoot route due to the cost and flexibility of them -- not to mention ease of use and ease of transportation. To determine WHICH Point 'n Shoot -- I'd suggest looking at the following:

a. How "wide angle" is the native wide angle? For example, my Canon S80 has a 28mm wide angle (35mm equiv) which is why I went with it over the Olympus SP350.

b. How "macro" is the native macro? A lot of shooting tends to be macro (and this is where the dSLR's shine) so how good is the "macro mode" on the P n S?

c. How much control will it give you? Does it have a manual mode? Does it have manual focus? And if so, how easy it is to use when housed? (BTW, I didn't consider the ease of use of those two items when my S80 is housed and I wish I had because it is near on to impossible to change settings in manual mode with my housing in cold water -- i.e. with dry gloves one.)

d. Another issue I'd look for is RAW capability. I know it is a big thing for a lot of people but, for me, it is not all that important but then I don't use RAW when shooting with my dSLR on land. (Also, most of my UW shooting is done with a strobe so I'm not doing the blue color correction.)

e. The last issue is video. I don't use video very much but I'm very happy I have that option with my P 'n S. For example, when we dropped off the boat into a pod of dolphins I shot a few still and then switched to video and got several priceless minutes of us playing with the dolphins -- not to mention a much earlier video of a humpback doing a loop and swimming around us. Video is a very good addition which most dSLR's don't provide (the new D90 does, right?).

Anyway, to the OP, those are my thoughts -- and I still don't have a clue what is the "right" camera for UW photography -- although I believe there are many that are the wrong camera!