Worth the expense?

[Dirty-Dog]

Hi all,
I love to take pictures of our outdoor adventures, whether it's jeeping or diving or whatever. Currently I use one of two cameras. I have an Olympus E-410 DSLR and an Intova IC-600. The intova came as part of a set with the bubble for underwater use. I do not have a strobe, but I do have a red filter. Considering the price, it takes suprisingly good pictures.

My question: Would it be worth the expense of buying a bubble for the Olympus? I've looked around, briefly, and it would seem that a bubble will cost about $1400.

 

[davelew]

A housed E-410 with strobes is a HUGE step up in photo quality from an IC-600. It will also be larger and harder to handle underwater.

There are other options as well- there are plenty of cameras between an IC-600 and a dSLR, and at some point adding strobes, wide angle lenses, and macro lenses is more important than the camera.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

I would ask yourself what is limiting your photography underwater. I suspect it's the lack of a strobe. It could be the image quality or features of the IC-600. It could be user skill. Since you have both the cameras, you should already know how the images compare on land. The comparison underwater should be similar. Though you may want to consider how the cameras compare in low-light situations as there is normally much less light underwater than above.

Based on your post, my suggestion would be to buy a good strobe that works with the P&S but would also work with a dSLR housing should you later decide to get one. Then go out and practice with it. You can learn a lot about getting good photos underwater with a simple camera. If you get a strobe, practice frequently, and still find you are limited by the features of the P&S, then is the time for a dSLR housing.

 

[Becca_007]

I, too, think strobes are your best answer. You would want them for a dSLR underwater setup anyway and this way you could use them with the P&S first while you save up for that dSLR housing. Just make sure the strobes you get are compatible with both systems. Since most (if any) P&S don't have a hot shoe to talk to the strobes they have to be 'tricked' into going off automatically.

 

[IntovaJoe]

One of the biggest challenges for underwater photography is the loss of “hot” color spectrum (reds/oranges) as you descend. A red filter helps a lot but a strobe will bring back natural colors and also illuminate the scene. The Intova slave strobe is a universal model that will work with IC 600 or an upgraded camera.

One note on IC 600 is that it was a terrific price point with a very basic feature set. It does not have the ability to set manual white balance which is a significant benefit to underwater photography. Most current Intova cameras do have this abaility and that is something to consider in upgrade. Dollar for dollar however, IC 600 was an incomparable value.

 

[Shayne]

hi I have a intova IC-800 with strobe and it takes great photos have some on this site if you want to see the quality also my wife uses Intova ic-600 with an intova strobe and she also gets good photos worth getting a strobe first probably cheaper optiopn