Digital camera recommendations

[lisnalinchy]

Hi all,

I am looking around for a beginners solution for underwater photography down to 40m. I currently use a canon G3 (lovely camera) for land photos but when I looked at the prices for cases I nearly died - the cases are more than the camera! So I decided to purchase a second digital camera specifically for diving (Then if everything goes pear shaped I still have a good camera)

I am looking for a camera (dedicated underwater, or camera + case) that produces a good rich underwater picture, 3mp or above and can carry lenses (macro is my speciality).

I have about £400 to spend now. Any suggestions?

Cheers

Mike.

[Gavin Smith]

The olypmus MJU410 and PT-016 housing.

Divers product of the year 2004 (I think).

Total price £260.

Gavin

[Tim Ingmire]

Hmm, 2nd hand digicam.

Try the Olympus c5050. Click here for one on ebay - it's an Oly refurb with 3yr warranty - thats £279. You can find them cheaper 2ndhand but they don't come up often. For a virtually new camera with such a warranty, that's not a bad price.

This model had been discontinued. You could also look for a 5060 - which has also been discontinued but IMO, it doesn't make for such a good set-up UW as the 5050.

Now, for the housing.

for the c5050 you have 2 choices (in your price range): Ikelite or Oly.

Ikelite Housings are rated to 40m but tend to be more expensive. You can buy them for around £200-300 depending on where you shop - US or UK, new or 2nd hand.

You can buy the Oly PT-015 for £150ish new which would but you just over your budget but you could come under it if you shop around, bide your time and wait for a bargin to come up.

Keep an eye on www.digitaldiver.net and www.wetpixel.com as well as ebay for 2ndhand set-ups.

For more info on the 5050 take a look at www.uwpmag.com issue 14 which gives a good insight into the capabilities of the camera.

Now, for macro. The c5050 has excellent macro facilities - take a look at the above websites for some excellent examples. The camera also has a superb super-macro mode which will get you very very close. If you want to stay a little further away then you can also bolt on macro wetlenses as and when you require them. Again , refer to the above sites for more info.

Also, do a search on this section for 5050 and you'll see lots of info.

HTH

[kath2407]

Ive just bought a Nikon 4100 and case total cost £250 from London camera Exchange.

K

[resting rifleman]

Originally Posted by lisnalinchy

Hi all,

I am looking around for a beginners solution for underwater photography down to 40m. I currently use a canon G3 (lovely camera) for land photos but when I looked at the prices for cases I nearly died - the cases are more than the camera! So I decided to purchase a second digital camera specifically for diving (Then if everything goes pear shaped I still have a good camera)

I am looking for a camera (dedicated underwater, or camera + case) that produces a good rich underwater picture, 3mp or above and can carry lenses (macro is my speciality).

I have about £400 to spend now. Any suggestions?

Cheers

Mike.

a mate of mine found that his best price on a housing was to be found in the u.s. it worked out cheaper for him to fly to ny. stay the w/e, buy the kit, attach various stickers from dive site's around the world, and fly home again,

[MisterBlue]

Personally, I think there ain't much to choose between cameras, so I'd look at housings first. Down to 40m means the 'own brand' cases from Canon, Olumpus, Fuji etc will do fine, and they can be had for a lot less than Ikelite prices (Say £120 is vs £400 just for the housing). Ike have a tremendous after sales service rep tho, and are rated to 60m.

Olympus cases generally allow converter lenses to be added later (If you get into u/w photography you'll certainly want a macro, and probably a wide angle as well). Other brands need third party adapters, and adapters are only available for some housings in their ranges, so check before laying out the cash if you think you're going to get serious about it.

If I was buying for me and had £400 to spend I'd probably go for a Fuji F810 (£270 on the net) and their own case (£110ish on the net). It's a current camera with good image quality, a good reputation amongst the users on Digital Diver Network, small and user friendly enough for a total beginner, yet expandable if/when you want to do more than the basic camera can handle by adding wide-angle or macro lenses, and external flashguns.

[lisnalinchy]

Cheers for all the help. I have a few ideas now where to have a look and what can be expected for that sort of price (if only I have a couple of grand handy). I might hold off a while and let my cash build a bit higher first as that opens up a whole new field :-) - alternativly I could flex some plastic (grin). anyway - any more ideas are most welcome.

Cheers

Mike.

[lf.]

honestly, just get the ike housing for the G3, very hard to flood, you can email ike, he's sending me a new hotshoe connection f.o.c..

if it does flood, How much is a G3 on ebay? not much.

you have a good camera, you'll just end up wishing you had it with you when get a good shot on the cheap camera and it looks pants.

lf

have you checked B&H?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=266686&is=REG
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=224039&is=REG

[scubalil]

If you're not in a big hurry, I'd keep an eye online. My husband and a found a sweet deal on an Olympus 3040 with Ikelite housing, strobes, and dual handles for $750 (about 400£) about two years ago. Too bad it went missing less than a year later. We still cry for it.

[Tim Ingmire]

Ok how about this camera on digital diver for $300.

http://www.digitaldiver.net/wantads.php?adID=191

If you buy Fi's housing then you'll be doing ok.

Alternatively take a look at www.camerasunderwater.co.uk for some nice deals.