New camera advice

[Padowan]

I'm thinking about getting a bit into photography, and I'd like to get a digital camera setup. Being a bit of a kit freak ideally I'd like something like a Canon 300D and a housing, but that's stupid kind of money, specially as I'd only be starting out, and also really bulky, and I don't really like the idea of being hugely encumbered (or is this concept something thats unfortunately inherrent with underwater photography?)

Here's some of the features that would be inmportant to me in both the camera, and it's underwater capabilities:

• Digital - minimum 4MP, probably more.
• Manual white balance (I ve seen the difference this can make and I feel it's critical for underwater work).
• Decent screen for reviewing shots.
• Reasonable (ie short) shutter lag.
• Brighter the optics the better.
• I'm a bit of a techie, so the deeper the rating the better (what are people's feelings on the ratings housings get - there are LOTS of housings I've seen rated to 40m, this doesn't seem that deep to me, and how deep would you take/have you taken your housings sucessfully)
• Ability to fit a wide angle or fish-eye lens (again, have seen the kind of shots of wrecks you can get with a fish eye, and these are really nice).
• I like the idea of something compact (for use on land), but if this does not allow the features I want and I'm resigned to the fact that an underwater config that fits my needs is gonna be big and bulky then I'll focus on the features, rather than size.

The kind of photography I think I'm interested in at this point, is wrecks, wide angle stuff, people, scenery. Not so into macro or close up stuff, but I'm sure that this would change with time.

What would people recommend. Budget would be probably £500-750 for camera + housing then extras (fisheye, strobes) perhaps on top at a later date.

Thanks for any info....

[turbanator]

Hi
An Oly 5050 or 5060 would fit the bill, For the money that you are thinking of spending, you could stretch to the Ikelite housing which is good to 60m.

The 5050 (obsolete, but sometimes available) has a faster lens, but apparently a noisier ccd.

It meets most if nat all of your requirements and for the propeller-head in you has full manual overide, even on focussing.

r
Paul

[John N]

Yeah,

I use the 5050 in an Ikelite housing. It's fairly bulky but rated to 60m.
A wide angle lens will set you back about £200 - I got an Epoque but if you're after fish eye as well I think the Inon wide angle lens has a thread on the front to take an additional dome lens.

Fits your requirements well.

[sch]

Originally Posted by John Nortcliff

Yeah,

I use the 5050 in an Ikelite housing. It's fairly bulky but rated to 60m.
A wide angle lens will set you back about £200 - I got an Epoque but if you're after fish eye as well I think the Inon wide angle lens has a thread on the front to take an additional dome lens.

Fits your requirements well.

5050 in an olympus housing, rated down to 30m here.

As John said, the wide-angle lens makes a big difference - I've got the inon, and yes it can take an additional dome, although it actually screws over the end. Got mine from this place in Japan - saved a fair bit, even including the £30 I got stung for duty. Very fast delivery as well, think it was with me in about 4 days from ordering!


Simon

[JohnK]

Your approach is right - DO NOT go for the 300D set up as a first camera. It is pricey and bulky (topside) and a waste if yo0u decide you dont like UW photography. If you want info on the above, feel free to pm me.

Starter kit based on what you state is the Olly 5050 0r 5060 plus housing. The 8080 is a lot bigger and the housing is huge in comparism.

For more info, try www.digitaldiver.net - there are a lot of users on the forums with loads of info

[Ron Mahoney]

I'd try looking at the likes of the Olympus 5060, Nikon Coolpix 995, Canon PowerShot G5 cameras housed in either Aquatica, Light & Motion, Subal or Sealux housings. The housings are quite small and rated to 100m (though the Subal states 70m I'd be confident of taking it to 100). The housings take wide angle lenses and strobes to build up a decent system. We've been using the Olympus 5050 in a light & Motion Tetra housing for the past twelve months and have been very happy with the system as a replacement for the Nikonos V system, something it isn't much bigger than.

Check out the following sites:

www.subal.com
www.sealux.de
www.uwimaging.com
www.aquatica.ca

Hope this helps

Ron

[John N]

Mmmm, I wonder how much they cost though.

I started digi with a Canon G1 which was £800+ on it's own but when I later looked for a housing it was about £1200 (unlike the cheaper Canons which had cheap housings available).

The 5050 setup is fantastic but, having used a Nik V setup I'm not sure the quality is comparable if you know what you're doing (which I didn't at the time).