What digital camera do you use?

[Wreck Ranger]

I have an Olympus C-3020 and a PT010 housing. I also don't have a strobe yet, but it's the next thing on my list. I've posting a couple of pics from it on the board. I am working on uploading lots of pics to the internet, but I am not finished. As soon as I do I will post a link so everyone can see.

I'm extremely happy with the quality of this camera and hw the housing operates UW. I would recommend it to anyone who is thinking of a digital set-up.

 

[trymixdiver]

work was nice enough to get me a Nikon 5700 but i hear the housing is alot of $. Not sure yet if i am willing to spend that kinda dough. I dont do any warm water diving and vis locally just doesnt make it a good investment.

Andy

 

[Aggie Diver]

Put me down in the Olympus camp, with a C-4040.

Takes great shots on land, can't wait to get my PT-010 and go underwater!

 

[ScubaPaul]

Well I finally got around to editing my 300 digital shots from my August trip to Cozumel. All in all I learned that learning to take photo's in the drift dives of Cozumel can quickly be a challenge, especially when you have to go back up current to get the shot you want!

As for equipment....

Sony DSC707 in an Ikelite Housing
1 DS-125, and 1 DS-50 (which I ended up not using)

Everything was fine for the first 3 days of diving until one of the control seals popped off of the metal lever.. fortunately I found this during a surface interval equipment check..

I also had some frustration in trying to get the strobe to fire consistently, as it would seem to not fire on about 10% or so of my shots.. I am not sure if this is related to the sensor problems experience by others or simply not allowing enough recycle time

Here is a link to the pix..I have yet to complete captions

800x600 Higher Bandwidth

640x480 Lower Bandwidth

Paul

 

[Dee]

Very Nice, Paul!

 

[ScubaPaul]

I am amazed at how many shots it takes to get just a few "keepers"!


I did discover one annoying issue with the Ikelite Housing and the silver DSC-707... if I were in relatively shallow water (<20 ft), in bright sun, the reflections from the sun on the equipment would set off the flash sensor.. I had to end up wrapping the camera in a plastic bag to get this to stop happening!

Paul

 

[clive francis]

my ikelite ds-50 does that if it is really sunny when i get out of the water and the sensor happens to catch the sun.

 

[freddie]

I was at first too but as long as you take care of your o-ring maintenance after every dive it should be fine. I think the Marine Pack is a pretty reliable housing as long as you are careful with it.


__________________
gp


I too am thinking about spend a paycheck on U/W photographic equipment, but am scared. So, is the reson for flooding mostly due to a lack of o-ring maintenance? Operator error? Or what? If it's simply o-ring maitenance, it seems easy... Just lube and replace the o-ring on a regular schedule.
Is it that easy?

Thanks!

 

[Dee]

freddie once bubbled...
I too am thinking about spend a paycheck on U/W photographic equipment, but am scared. So, is the reson for flooding mostly due to a lack of o-ring maintenance? Operator error? Or what? If it's simply o-ring maitenance, it seems easy... Just lube and replace the o-ring on a regular schedule.
Is it that easy?

Thanks!

Flooding is usually an IO problem...Idiot Operator! Seriously, most floods are caused my carelessness...dirty or pinched o-rings, or even no o-ring! Rushing is the major cause of that carelessness.

I do my maintenence at night, when I've got time to concentrate on what I'm doing. I inspect my o-rings when I change batteries and memory cards but o-rings are removed, cleaned and re-greased at night. If for some reason this isn't done and I have to hurry through it in order to get on the boat in time, I'll leave the camera rather than chance it. Leave it for one dive and miss a few shots or flood it and lose a the rest of the trips worth of pictures?

So yes...it can be that easy. In 7 years I have had 1 strobe flood and that was due to a defective battery cap on a strobe. knock knock knock on wood!

 

[TJO]

That is good advice Dee.

Sometimes I go down without a camera just to enjoy the
diving and try to find something interesting. It is amazing
how much more you can see without a camera.