Looking for a digital point and shoot for underwater

[straitscuba]

My old but reliable Canon SD110 finally gave up the ghost on me so now I am in the market for a new digital point and shoot for underwater use. I have used an Olympus with the Olympus housing as well (not sure the model) and liked that camera, but my old Canon was only 4mp so anything seemed like an improvement. I have a DSLR that I use for top side photography but I can buy a point and shoot and housing cheaper than I can buy a lens port for my DSLR. I am looking to spend somewhere in the $350-$700 range for camera and housing. Anyone got any favorites for me to check out? I have browsed a bit but there is just so much out there it can be a little overwhelming!

[Dusty2]

The Canon G series is a great choice. I use the G10 as does Grateful diver and Jan K, Any of the G's above 10 are an excellent choice and with the Canon housing they do just great and have allot of room for growth!

[RoxnDox]

Optical Ocean Sales in Seattle has an Olympus PT6020 camera/housing package right in your price range. link I sprung for an Oly XZ-1 package with grip/tray/strobe, but it was a wee bit more... And it's still waiting to get wet, but I love the camera (yes, it shoots pics above water too, something some of these guys seem to forget )

Jim

[Norris]

Optical Ocean Sales in Seattle has an Olympus PT6020 camera/housing package right in your price range. link I sprung for an Oly XZ-1 package with grip/tray/strobe, but it was a wee bit more... And it's still waiting to get wet, but I love the camera (yes, it shoots pics above water too, something some of these guys seem to forget )

Jim

Nice camera, lots of megapickles

[ktb]

The Canon G series is a great choice. I use the G10 as does Grateful diver and Jan K, Any of the G's above 10 are an excellent choice and with the Canon housing they do just great and have allot of room for growth!

+1 for Canon G series. I'm one of 4 people I know with a Canon G12 and we all love them.

[dphershman]

Any of the newer Canon SD series of cameras would be a great upgrade from your older model. The displays are better than ever and the resolution and lenses have improved dramatically over the years. The Canon S100 or S95 (if you can still find it) would be nice too. The only reason to go with a G12 would be if you want to add an external strobe. In that case the hot shoe on the camera makes it possible to use TTL exposure--- but you have to get a housing that has a hot-shoe/ttl interface built in ($$$). (Ikelight for example). The newer 'mirror-less slr' designs that have come out recently look promising as potential UW cameras, but so far no one has really developed much in the way of UW housings for them. Which is too bad because they have the larger photosensor size of a DSLR but a near-point and shoot over all body size.

[cardiver]

+1 for the XZ-1 with the Oly housing for right about 700.00
The XZ-1 does everything that the G series does with a better,brighter, wider lens and the ability to shoot s ttl in manual.....

[eliseaboo]

I've been recently drooling over the Nikon p7000 (I think that's the model) with the re-designed Fantasea housing. Camera shoots in RAW, with one hell of a diffuser, all the buttons are labelled on the housing, and the housing has a hot shoe. :luv:

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/review-n ... 0-housing/

Of course, the Cannons are all good too, but I'm a Nikon girl. Though I have been eyeing up the "other side" with the newer G-series...

It all depends on the kinds of photos you want to be taking though. If you want to shoot wide, big things (wrecks, seals, people, etc) then make sure you get something that can accept wet lenses and strobes, which means a camera with manual options. If you want to shoot teeny things, or if you just want a pure P&S without the strobe, you might get better results with something like a SeaLife or a housing with a really good diffuser (I talk a lot about diffusers, but that's because I'm trying to avoid a strobe myself, and pictures of little things around here can actually look better without a strobe because you can get closer...but I digress.)

Good luck! It's a dangerous world out there in the realm of underwater photography. So many shiny things...

[Dusty2]

Good luck! It's a dangerous world out there in the realm of underwater photography. So many shiny things...

Now that's a quote worth keeping! You might also add ever changing. Even if you buy leading edge today it will be outdated by the time you learn to use it and buying into new technology can be financially painful.

I am not impressed with Fantasea housings or any of there other stuff. Their support sucks if you can get someone to answer the phone or emails. I'd also be a little nervous about Olympic stuff due to all the hanky panky going on at the highest levels of the company and rumors that they may end up in bankruptcy.

I think for someone just getting into the addiction and on a limited budget I would suggest looking into buying used. There are allot of people out there with the yearning to always be at the head of the line for new stuff. There are sure to be some good deals out there on slightly used equipment.

[straitscuba]

I am actually using an Olympus E-520 DSLR right now for topside stuff. I upgraded from the E-500 because Olympus made a housing system for the E-520 and I had big ideas of buying the housing and strobe system for it. I bought my Canon years ago when I was working in Sitka and it has been great. By the time I buy the housing, lens ports, strobes, etc. for my DSLR I am gonna be in it at least $3000. I talked a couple of friends into the Canon G9 a couple years ago when those came out and I was originally leaning towards the G12 with housing. I started doing a little research and there is just so much out there it is overwhelming when only reading and not being really knowing anyone else that is shooting underwater. Most of my diving is from Neah Bay to Port Townsend so with the exception of Lake Crescent I am shooting mostly macro. I found with my old Canon that the difuser on the housing worked well if I stuck to macro shooting and usually the turbidity of the water doesn't really allow for much wide angle shooting anyway.

How do you folks with the Canon G series feel about the flash? Are you using external strobes? Are you using the Canon housing with that?

The other that I am looking at is the Sea & Sea DX G2 camera and housing. I have read reviews but don't know much about them and have never talked to anyone that uses one. Anyone out there ever given one a shot?

[Dusty2]

I use the Canon case with my G10 and have had pretty good luck with it. Yes the diffuser is fine for close in work. I frequently use the camera flash by its self. For close in work it is just fine up to around 3 feet. I don't use a strobe at all. I have my can light with diffuser for the shots where I would need a strobe and it works great. Others on the board use the Ikelite case and the very expensive custom aluminum cases. The ikelite case is very bulky but built like a tank. The aluminum case that Grateful diver uses is really slick but runs around a thousand bucks so there are plenty of options. The G12 is an awesome camera and with the canon case would come in under your $700 max price. it even has HD video.

[dphershman]

I use Nikon DSLR cameras as I think they're more user friendly than Canon's DSLRs. But I prefer Canon Point and Shoot cameras over Nikon P&S for their image quality. As for the G12, its a great camera but its main advantage for UW photography is the ttl connection through the external hotshoe. If you want that capability go for it, but if not then the Canon S100/S95 is quite a bit cheaper and it has the same photosensor and RAW functionality that the G12 has. Since those cameras don't have the hotshoe connection the cases designed for them are much less expensive. I don't think that Canon's UW housing for the G12 has a hotshoe connection. You have to go to Ikelite or some other higher end product for that capability.

[cardiver]

The things that I don't like about the Canon housings are the same things that I don't like about the Ike housings. No cold shoe mount for a focus light or strobe and no place to mount fiber optic cables without covering your camera in velcro or buying an aftermarket alternative......

[Tom Nic]

OK, no meaningful recommendation here, just a lament... it's really too bad that Casio seems to have stopped making underwater cases for it's point and shoot cameras. They were compact, well designed, neutral to slightly negative, and all in all made a great underwater point and shoot that actually could take some pretty high quality images with the right person behind them. I've nursed my Exz1200 for years and it's done yeomanlike work for me. Won't be too long before I'll be in the market as well. Sigh....

[RoxnDox]

Optical Ocean Sales in Seattle has an Olympus PT6020 camera/housing package right in your price range. link I sprung for an Oly XZ-1 package with grip/tray/strobe, but it was a wee bit more... And it's still waiting to get wet, but I love the camera (yes, it shoots pics above water too, something some of these guys seem to forget )

Jim

Nice camera, lots of megapickles

But is it a kosher mega-dill or a mongo-gherkin?

Jim

[Greg Jensen]

Another vote here for the G12. I wanted a compact alternative to my digital slr, and got an Olympus Tough 8000 and housing because I liked the extra insurance of having a camera that was already waterproof inside a housing. (What I really wanted was a housing for my Pentax W10, but those don't exist. Macro shots with the Olympus were vastly inferior to the Pentax in side-by-side comparisons on land.)
After being continually 'wowed' by Jan, Dusty, et al. and their g-series images, I got a G12 and Canon housing and love it. Even though it is 'only' 10 mp vs the Olympus' 12 mp, there's no contest. And as others have already pointed out, it has room for expanding in the future if one desires. My slr has mostly been gathering dust since I got the G12.

[straitscuba]

Thanks for all the insight! I think I am probably going to go with the G12. The 10mp part doesn't bother me, my DSLR is only 10mp and I learned long ago that the processing software and sensor are much more important when it comes to getting a quality image. The only worry I have is that my DSLR will end up gathering dust.. lol The upside is I can take the G12 backpacking with me and I don't have to carry a 2nd pack dedicated to camera equipment...

Any recommendations on strobes or accessories?

[cardiver]

Thanks for all the insight! I think I am probably going to go with the G12. The 10mp part doesn't bother me, my DSLR is only 10mp and I learned long ago that the processing software and sensor are much more important when it comes to getting a quality image. The only worry I have is that my DSLR will end up gathering dust.. lol The upside is I can take the G12 backpacking with me and I don't have to carry a 2nd pack dedicated to camera equipment...

Any recommendations on strobes or accessories?

SInce you're choosing a camera that will not allow the use of s ttl in manual, I would just go with the S&S YS-02. You're probably going to want a focus light also and since the Canon housing does not have a cold shoe you will have to mount it on a strobe arm when you get a tray.

[Dusty2]

Thanks for all the insight! I think I am probably going to go with the G12. The 10mp part doesn't bother me, my DSLR is only 10mp and I learned long ago that the processing software and sensor are much more important when it comes to getting a quality image. The only worry I have is that my DSLR will end up gathering dust.. lol The upside is I can take the G12 backpacking with me and I don't have to carry a 2nd pack dedicated to camera equipment...

Any recommendations on strobes or accessories?

Optical Ocean Sales in Seattle has some nice trays and handle setups. They also handle most brands of strobes. Keep in mind the the canon case doesn't have a hot shoe so you can't use the TTL feature. However the fiber optic cables work just fine. You'll want to put the pickup for the fiber cable on the top of the case above the camera flash not in front of it unless you don't want the fill from the camera flash.

[straitscuba]

Well the G12 and housing are on their way!! I am excited to jump in and give try it out! Now I have to make time for diving in between dive work, classes, and the real job :(

[Dusty2]

Woo Pee! New gear! You need to come on down to Port Townsend and Dive Point Hudson with me. I'll show you all kinds of pretties to try it out on.

[straitscuba]

I totally missed this last post. I have been lucky enough to get out and shoot a few times with the new camera now. Once on Point Hudson, once on the Ranger, and once in PA Harbor. When are you going to be in PT again Dusty? I would love to come jump in with you! I am usually there at least one day a week to get air fills and chat with Don at the shop. I am usually available just about any morning to dive, I don't work Sunday or Monday unless I have classes going on. My usual dive buddy is laid up right now for the next couple of weeks at least recovering from hernia surgery so I am itching to get in the water.

[straitscuba]

And I am LOVING the G12! I am still learning the camera but I have put up a couple of slideshows of the pictures I have taken with it so far on my website, www.straitscuba.com. I have not posted any video so far but I have taken some with it and I am very impressed by the camera overall! Thanks for all the insights.