Requesting input from photographers

[j.k.jetton]

I greatly enjoy photography, as an enhancement to my dive experience... for a number of reasons I definitely prefer digital, and don't have a huge budget, but want to buy something nice...My last camera (Canon A70 3.2 MP with Canon housing ) is on the bottom of a cave in Belize...it's a long story...
I am considering upgrading to a camera with more MP and better optical zoom...I have been to Consumer Reports .com and it seems that Canon, Sony, Panasonic and Olympus are on a list with "fewest problems and needed repairs", and since i am relatively familiar with Canon, I looked there first I have been looking the Canon Powershot Pro 1, and the Canon G6...both look good, both are similarly priced, the Powershot Pro is 8MP 7X optical zoom, and the G6 is 7.1 MP and 4X optical zoom...I would probably buy the Ikelite case (which costs as much or more than the camera!!!) and I have a Sea and Sea YS90 DX digital strobe, which seems to be compatible with both cameras...The Pro, has a number of available lenses, but the lense has to be in place prior to putting the camera in the case, the G6 case from Ikelite has an available external lense adapter which can be changed "in mid dive" which is good if you are shooting a wide range of subjects...
OK, those are my current circumstances, so, please be so kind as to offer your advice and reccomendations, I have received much sage advice from this community and am placing myself in your capable hands...thank you, Kyle

[curtschu]

I don't know anythig about the cameras except that I to plane to buy an underwater camera soon so will be reading the replies. But please write up the story as a dive report on the loss of your canon.. We all what to know Don't we :-D

[FW]

One bit of advice. I have a Canon PowerShot S30, with UW housing. It is nice, but has no connector for an external flash. It does ok in open water, but the flash is so close to the lens that it causes bad backscatter.

Get a camera that can drive an external flash, and have the flash at least 2 feet from the camera.

[normblitch]

I greatly enjoy photography, as an enhancement to my dive experience... for a number of reasons I definitely prefer digital, and don't have a huge budget, but want to buy something nice...My last camera (Canon A70 3.2 MP with Canon housing ) is on the bottom of a cave in Belize...it's a long story...
I am considering upgrading to a camera with more MP and better optical zoom...I have been to Consumer Reports .com and it seems that Canon, Sony, Panasonic and Olympus are on a list with "fewest problems and needed repairs", and since i am relatively familiar with Canon, I looked there first I have been looking the Canon Powershot Pro 1, and the Canon G6...both look good, both are similarly priced, the Powershot Pro is 8MP 7X optical zoom, and the G6 is 7.1 MP and 4X optical zoom...I would probably buy the Ikelite case (which costs as much or more than the camera!!!) and I have a Sea and Sea YS90 DX digital strobe, which seems to be compatible with both cameras...The Pro, has a number of available lenses, but the lense has to be in place prior to putting the camera in the case, the G6 case from Ikelite has an available external lense adapter which can be changed "in mid dive" which is good if you are shooting a wide range of subjects...
OK, those are my current circumstances, so, please be so kind as to offer your advice and reccomendations, I have received much sage advice from this community and am placing myself in your capable hands...thank you, Kyle

Kyle,

I am afraid I am not como se habla with Canon products, although I DO know a number of folks who favor them...I am a happy OLY user (30 years)...Are the ones you mention DSLRs? If so, and you want a Canon, consider a NON-DSLR; I will explain...

My current kit is an OLY C-5050 in an Ike housing, with DS-50 and ds-125 strobes, and slave controllers. The 5050 is to a DSLR as a rangefinder 35mm is to a film SLR...5 megapixel, which is IMHO MORE than plenty unless you are looking for 20x30 poster prints...(again IMHO) water column and exposure will define your ultimate print rez more often than the size of the file...I'm getting pleasingly sharp 11x14 prints (IF the original file was good) using the super JPEG setting...

The price of a Ike (or other) DSLR housing is WAY high...the $$$ drop SIGNIFICANTLY for non-DSLR's...I bought a 5050 AND the Ike housing for less bucks than just the housing for a DSLR...in the water sooner, and so started the Learning Curve sooner.

Optical zoom (IMHO) doesn't do THAT much good UW...better to have a wide-angle, and reduce the camera-subject distance...

If I had to do it over, I would go with a C-5060 (better WA lens), and the Ike housings and strobes...

http://www.pbase.com/eanx/diving has Gallerys in chronological order, so you can see my progress as I added bits and bobs to the Kit...<g>

Norm

[normblitch]

I don't know anythig about the cameras except that I to plane to buy an underwater camera soon so will be reading the replies. But please write up the story as a dive report on the loss of your canon.. We all what to know Don't we :-D

Curt,

I would be HAPPY to let you "demo" my kit sometime in Ginnie...The beauty of the 5050 kit is that SO many folks use it; a quick Google gets you SCADS of tips, tricks, and settings.

The Bowl and Ballroom at Ginnie offer the UW photog just about ALL the major shots needed for testing and trials...

Norm

[divers4life]

Preface: I'm completely an amateur when it comes to photography.

We have a Sony DSC-P150 and absolutely love it for open water or cavern photos. We only tried it in the cave once, and that was before we learned most of its tricks. It performed wonderfully on night dives as well.... On our night dives, if we used our HIDs as lights for the camera, the photos still turned out perfect, so we're going to try that next time we're in cave country. It has a compact underwater housing that fits in my drysuit pocket! Colors are beautiful (if you're in daylight in open water, it has an optional red filter for the underwater housing), plus the housing has a built in flash diffuser for underwater flash photos. It supposedly works with an external flash but has no external connections so I don't know, it must be a strobe.

It's tiny (fits in the palm of your hand), is 7.1 megapixel, takes 640x480 movies too, has a massive battery life, and it takes great pictures and movies. It's not your typical underwater camera because it and its housing are so small, but it suits us extremely well. BTW if you shop around for price on the components, you can get them MUCH cheaper than retail.

Indepentent review here: http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_p150-review/index.shtml I'll try to post a few of the photos and movies in the next few days, if time permits.

[j.k.jetton]

Thanks to everyone for your contributions, I have added your input to my still ongoing search and will report back the end results,


Hey Norm,
thanks for your reply and input ...on the advice of my "guru" community, I have expanded my camera search beyond the walls of Canon, into Olympus and since you seem to be pleased with their products i thought i would bounce this question off of you...I am now looking at the C-8080 and the Wide angle lense capabilities astound me...I am even considering adding the wide angle conversion lense and Ikelite dome port to accomodate even a wider angle ( the kelp forest here in so. Calif. really demands a wide angle lense, not to mention my annual July trip to Cozumel): here is a link :

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=1&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=SearchBar&A=search&Q=*&shs=WCON-08D

My budget has expanded abit and by the time i add a couple of big memory cards ( 1 GB I guess would be appropriate) I will spend about 2000.00 which will be tight , but I don't mind, if i wind up with something that i won't regret 18 months from now when a newer better thing comes along...

One concern: the Ikelite housing, good down to 200 feet (that is my current limit with deco...trimix being at least a couple of years off) does not allow for use of the built in flash, committing me to always use my external flash...which could be prohibitive for a casual drift dive with my wife on vacation when i don't want to be quite so encumbered...what is your imput regarding that? Do you miss being able to just grab the housing and hop in without the added complications of using the external flash, or am i just being lazy...I look forward to your further input, thanks, Kyle,


jkjetton@hotmail.com

[FW]

J.K.,

Your question inspired me to do some tests on my Canon S30. I discovered that I can put it into "manual" and get it to sync with an external slave strobe. I just need to get a fiber optic cable, so I can block the in-camera flash.

Basically you saved me a couple of grand :-)

[Line Squirrel]

J.K.,

Your question inspired me to do some tests on my Canon S30. I discovered that I can put it into "manual" and get it to sync with an external slave strobe. I just need to get a fiber optic cable, so I can block the in-camera flash.

Basically you saved me a couple of grand :-)

Forrest,
Edmund Scientific has a selection of fiber optic cables and they sell it by the foot. At least they did last time I was looking for a fiber optic cable for the very same thing.

[cavdiver2]

I use a 5050 with a L&M housing and a sea & sea 90 strobe. I just got back from Saba and got some great shots. I would of had more but I need some help with strobe settings. I would have to say it's a great kit.


Norm I'd like to meet up with you at ginnie sometime to get some help and with my set up.

Michael McDonald
NACD Publications

[normblitch]

I use a 5050 with a L&M housing and a sea & sea 90 strobe. I just got back from Saba and got some great shots. I would of had more but I need some help with strobe settings. I would have to say it's a great kit.


Norm I'd like to meet up with you at ginnie sometime to get some help and with my set up.

Michael McDonald
NACD Publications

PM sent

nhb

[Genesis]

I shoot more video than stills, but I too have a Sony P150 and love the thing. For a small camera it takes amazing stills, and the video mode isn't bad either.

The only downside is the backscatter problem due to the internal flash.

Shutter lag is almost non-existant which is a REALLY big deal. Compared to the Oly 5050, which I have also used, its a dream. Olympus makes some very nice cameras but the shutter lag can be a real drag underwater.

[normblitch]

I shoot more video than stills, but I too have a Sony P150 and love the thing. For a small camera it takes amazing stills, and the video mode isn't bad either.

The only downside is the backscatter problem due to the internal flash.

Shutter lag is almost non-existant which is a REALLY big deal. Compared to the Oly 5050, which I have also used, its a dream. Olympus makes some very nice cameras but the shutter lag can be a real drag underwater.

Even as a devoted OLY user, this is PAINFULLY true...any 8080 users out there who have seen improvements in this?

Norm

[normblitch]

Thanks to everyone for your contributions, I have added your input to my still ongoing search and will report back the end results,


Hey Norm,
thanks for your reply and input ...on the advice of my "guru" community, I have expanded my camera search beyond the walls of Canon, into Olympus and since you seem to be pleased with their products i thought i would bounce this question off of you...I am now looking at the C-8080 and the Wide angle lense capabilities astound me...I am even considering adding the wide angle conversion lense and Ikelite dome port to accomodate even a wider angle ( the kelp forest here in so. Calif. really demands a wide angle lense, not to mention my annual July trip to Cozumel): here is a link :

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=1&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=SearchBar&A=search&Q=*&shs=WCON-08D

My budget has expanded abit and by the time i add a couple of big memory cards ( 1 GB I guess would be appropriate) I will spend about 2000.00 which will be tight , but I don't mind, if i wind up with something that i won't regret 18 months from now when a newer better thing comes along...

One concern: the Ikelite housing, good down to 200 feet (that is my current limit with deco...trimix being at least a couple of years off) does not allow for use of the built in flash, committing me to always use my external flash...which could be prohibitive for a casual drift dive with my wife on vacation when i don't want to be quite so encumbered...what is your imput regarding that? Do you miss being able to just grab the housing and hop in without the added complications of using the external flash, or am i just being lazy...I look forward to your further input, thanks, Kyle,


jkjetton@hotmail.com

JK,

my 2 cents (OK, 10 cents)...

Counterpoints:

a 1 gig CF card should be OK IF you travel (like me) WITH a laptop and download nightly...the last big UW trip I did was using a single .5 gig card; I shoot in hirez JPG, and got about 170 exposures on it over 3 tanks/1 day and night...if you are NOT d/l'ing, yeah maybe two cards BUT be sure you have a static-free way of transporting the card not in the camera...if you end up shooting RAW, you WILL need multiples!

Although I am an unabashed OLY fan from way back, the thing that pushed me into the 5050 was simply the numbers of them in service, and the resulting plethora of tips and tricks available...There MAY be better non-DSLRs out there, but I don't see them being touted...look at "Steve's Digital Reviews" on the www; he has VERY objective stuff to be viewed...don't know much about the 8080; as I said, if I had to do it over, I'd go with the 5060 for better WA lens...which leads to:

Consider NOT getting the outside WA port at first...work the learning curve with the OEM stuff first...K.I.S.S. at the beginning...<g> As to the flash, consider starting with the DS-50 strobe, auto slave controller or TTL cord, and simple arm...it is not THAT bulky...a LOT easier to handle at first than the 125.
In short, less gear at first, get your arms ALL the way around the basics, THEN accessorize...

AND, by ALL means, get Top-notch NiMhs and chargers...my personal choice is the Maha line...they now have 2500 mAh AA's...the earlier 1 day 170 exposure dive set was done on ONE set of 2300's...I have a hard and fast rule: NO OPENING of Camera/Strobe while on the boat...WAIT for the Motel!!!

I worked at first with the internal strobe only, and while it WILL get proper exposures, it causes backscatter unless the vis is gin-clear...

Have you looked at Wetpixel and Digideep for alternate opinions?

and sure, public post! there are some DYNAMITE UW shooters here!!

Norm