What would you do?

[jeanne001]

I would like to start taking underwater pictures. I currently have a Nikon D40. I was looking online and a housing is in the neighborhood of $1400 and that's not including the strobe or any lenses. I have one friend telling me to buy the Sea & Sea DX 1200 HD with the housing and strobe and lens for around $1100, because the Nikon housing will cost more than the camera; and another friend that says I should buy the housing for the Nikon and get a strobe for it when I have the money, because I will grow out of the Sea & Sea within 6 months. I don't know what to do. Any opinions? What would you do? FWIW, I am a novice photographer. I appreciate all your help.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Join a local UW photography club. Offer to purchase well-cared for second-hand gear. You'll save a bundle, grow your circle of dive buddies, and get some great photo tips.

If $1,000+ seems like too high of an entry point for the hobby, for $300-$400, you can get a brand new entry-level Canon point-and-shoot with some manual features + UW housing. At some point in the future, you can sell off the system to finance the inevitable upgrade to a DSLR setup.

 

[Maddog59]

I would like to start taking underwater pictures. I currently have a Nikon D40. I was looking online and a housing is in the neighborhood of $1400 and that's not including the strobe or any lenses. I have one friend telling me to buy the Sea & Sea DX 1200 HD with the housing and strobe and lens for around $1100, because the Nikon housing will cost more than the camera; and another friend that says I should buy the housing for the Nikon and get a strobe for it when I have the money, because I will grow out of the Sea & Sea within 6 months. I don't know what to do. Any opinions? What would you do? FWIW, I am a novice photographer. I appreciate all your help.

Hi jeanne001,
Great to see a newbie photographer taking the time to get some advice before they jump in with both feet and their wallet.

Be aware you will get many varying opinions from this post so all I can say is sort through them as best you can and make your decision based on your needs and not someone elses doctrine.

I have been diving for over thirty five years and taking photo's for almost as long and for the last twenty years I have owned a company which started out manufacturing underwater camera systems for recreational divers. The company no longer makes consumers products so I have no agenda to push here.

Personally after all these years of photography I have only recently jumped into the digital market and I am finding the choices absolutely breath taking. There is just so many options to choose from and I know what I like, so for a newbie it must be most disturbing.

I have a Nikon D300s with many lenses that I use top side but after a lot of thought and many lists of my individual and company requirements I actually ended up going with a Canon G10 P&S in a Patima Aluminium Housing with 2 x Inon z240/4 Strobes.(Total cost about US$3000.00) The main reason for this was that I travel a lot and the weight factor and bulk of a housed DSLR and Lenses and ports was prohibatave

What I suggest you do is to sit down and make a couple of lists which outline your requirements for underwater photography for now and into the future and then see which system best suits your needs and budget.

The other main concern for you will be budget, make sure you take into account all the hidden cost involved with each system. (Types of strobes, Extra Lenses and Ports, Carry cases and the many others that people will tell you about)

Remember also that you already own a DSLR camera and this will go a ways to alleviating the cost burden. But the expense of the right lenses for this camera may be prohibative? ( You can start out with one lens and add to a DSLR system as you grow more confiident and skilled. I would suggest a 60mm Macro lens to start and then a W/A at a later date! IMHO!)

Lastly and probably the single most important peice of advice I can give you is to find a supplier whom you can trust and talk to them about your needs and wants.
There are many good suppliers in the US, I personally use Reef Photo in Florida for any gear I get from the USA.

Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros



Maddog59:mooner:

Canon G10, Patima Housing, 2 x Inon Z240/4 Strobes hard wired(because I'm old fashioned) and my own Dome Port and W/A Lens arrangement.:mooner:

 

[marcaumarc]

I started with a very inexpensive setup: canon powershot, canon housing and used sea & sea 27dx strobe for about $700. I guess I also got an inon wide angle lens for about $200 or so. This was a convenient, portable setup that was pretty good. I eventually got a DSLR rig, but I still take my P&S if I'm just headed out for a snorkel. I think this is a good way to get into underwater photography.

As far as housing your D40, I would recommend against getting a housing for an older DSLR unless you get a great deal on a used one. Also, since there's no focusing motor in the D40, make sure the lenses you want for UW have their own. For example, the 60mm macro is one of the most popular choices for underwater macro photography and it will not autofocus with a D40.

 

[bvanant]

Jeanne: Despite the fact that I have more camera gear than I ever thought I would have, I would suggest you ask yourself what you want to do with your UW images. If you want to make big prints (like 16x20) for hanging on the wall of your office then you would get one answer. If you want to email some friends some snapshots of cool fish you saw then the answer is different.
I would suggest that most of your non-diving and even many of your diving friends will be much more impressed with some simply edited video clips rather than snapshots. Most of our diving friends are indeed much more interested in my wife's video than in my pictures but of course her videos are indeed much better than pics. If I were starting out, I would get a cheap HD video camera ($500) and a cheap housing (Ikelite) and go from there. You can take really nice stills with these cameras. Alternately, get a good P&S that shoots good quality video (G11) and the Canon housing and some lighting and go for it.
Bill

 

[alcina]

How much do you dive? How many dives have you done?

I personally would suggest you head for something like the Canon G series and start with the basics. Learn what the camera can do, learn what you don't know and learn those skills.

Add a strobe when you can even if you can't do it right away. Once you add a strobe, start learning all over again. You won't outgrow this in a year unless you are diving every single day and really concentrating on your photography. You can also add a second strobe coz if you ever decide to move to dslr you're going to want one.

Once you are nailing your shots with this more than capable compact system, then consider if a dslr's extra flexibility is worth the cash to you. That's a lot of diving trips for the upgrade

But learn the basics first - both in your diving abilities (adding a camera does change things) and in your photographic goals and abilities.

 

[fredaroony]

How much do you dive? How many dives have you done?

I personally would suggest you head for something like the Canon G series and start with the basics. Learn what the camera can do, learn what you don't know and learn those skills.

I got my G11 a couple days ago and the underwater case is turning up today. Going to do my first dive with it this afternoon and hopefully the pics will come out good.

I took quite a few low light shots at sunset the other night and they came out very well so hopefully it should work well underwater

 

[hammerhead man]

My daugher is trying to sell her DSLR setup for about the cost of the housing. Email me at jamescrew6@verizon.net if you want any further information.

Regards,

Bill