stick with digital or go to film????

[rich.williams]

i have got an oly C8080 camera and housing and strobe, it worked pretty well and i do like the camera but the main reason i brought digital was because the comporsition of my pictures was not always that good, but over the years i have got much better at that, now would the quality of the pictures improve with a film camera? can i get alot more bang for my buck as it were if i get a second hand film camera? also how easy is it to get film pics on to the pc is it even possible? sorry lots of questions

[Tim Ingmire]

OK this is easy. Stick with Digital. Film is just too much bother in just about every aspect. The pictures themselves won't necessarily be better because you've captured the image on film instead of a bit of electronic wizardry - that's down to your own ability. Improvements in ability happen a lot quicker with digital than film because you see the results straightaway.

Now for the price of a D200 you can buy a very nice medium format camera which will give top quality pictures or maybe even an F5. For most uses the output of the D200 will be more than good enough - it'll be a while before most users would meet, let alone exhaust or be limited by, the capabilities of such a camera - in fact most users never would be limited by it.

I think even Mr Bantin shoots predominantly digital these days.

[Bardo]

Originally Posted by Tim Ingmire

OK this is easy. Stick with Digital. Film is just too much bother in just about every aspect. The pictures themselves won't necessarily be better because you've captured the image on film instead of a bit of electronic wizardry - that's down to your own ability. Improvements in ability happen a lot quicker with digital than film because you see the results straightaway.

Now for the price of a D200 you can buy a very nice medium format camera which will give top quality pictures or maybe even an F5. For most uses the output of the D200 will be more than good enough - it'll be a while before most users would meet, let alone exhaust or be limited by, the capabilities of such a camera - in fact most users never would be limited by it.

I think even Mr Bantin shoots predominantly digital these days.

...or if you can't afford £1100 for a D200, go for the new D80 - it's pretty much the same camera (with a few minor differences, naturally) but is about £400 cheaper!!!!!

Nikon D80 Review

[GLOC]

As has been pointed out on another thread, the SLR body is the cheap part! Look at cameras and see which you like, and then see if you can afford the housing and all the other ancillaries that go with it!

If you want to sell your 8080, I think Clare Gledhill might be interested...

[John Gulliver]

Originally Posted by rich.williams

Also, how easy is it to get film pics on to the pc?

Dead easy! I use a Nikonos V (actually, I have three - you can pick them up on e-Bay for a song these days) and Fuji Superia 100 ASA negative film and have the lab put the images on a CD - I don't bother about prints. I then copy the best images to my PC and use Photoshop to crop them, remove excessive backscatter and, very occasionally, increase colour saturation. This procedure saves me the bother of scanning my images. Besides, the lab has a lot better scanner than I could afford.

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by rich.williams

i have got an oly C8080 camera and housing and strobe, it worked pretty well and i do like the camera but the main reason i brought digital was because the comporsition of my pictures was not always that good, but over the years i have got much better at that, now would the quality of the pictures improve with a film camera? can i get alot more bang for my buck as it were if i get a second hand film camera? also how easy is it to get film pics on to the pc is it even possible? sorry lots of questions

I think you'll find (from bitter experience) you'll have to go a heck of a long way to better the 8080 for size, quality and so-on. You may be better off tweaking it's settings a little before ditching it.

Don't forget, when you get into DSLR, the housings are so much bigger, quite cumbersome, and take alot of getting used to.

Also, you have to use the viewfinder (or a viewfinder screen) as DSLR's don't generally show the image on the screen for composition - only post photograph.

I use a Canon S70 (small and compact, but the software and CCD of the 350D) with an underwater housing, and an Olympus E-300 DSLR with underwater housing. Also compare the cost - my S70 in all was about £500 including housing for a 7.1mp. The E-300 was £600 for the camera and 1 lens, £1000 for the housing and that's just for starters. Then you have strobes, sync modules etc.. etc.. etc..

Of course, the E-300 is more flexible, being DSLR, but it takes much longer to set up and usually you 'lose the moment'. It's also very cumbersome and generally you are better off solo diving with the DSLR because you faff for so much longer when setting up a shot. Compare that to the S-70 that I can just have on a d-ring and grab it when I see something I really like or a composition hits me.

90% of my underwater photos are taken in RAW on the S70 and post-processed in 'Aperture' on the Mac, which allows me to set the white balance and so-on.

Just my 2p worth. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Oh - I just realised I've not answered the question directly.

Why not get hold of a second hand NikV or Motormarine II like suggested above - but keep your Olympus too. That way you can learn the NikV and get some cheap film for the learning process, and as you get better move onto Velvia or the such-like.

[Luddite]

Originally Posted by Bantam

Also, you have to use the viewfinder (or a viewfinder screen) as DSLR's don't generally show the image on the screen for composition - only post photograph.

The olympus E330 does show a live feed on the screen. You can also get a housing for it too. I don't have one to let you know how good it is still saving the pennies to get the setup.

[Tim Ingmire]

Originally Posted by Luddite

The olympus E330 does show a live feed on the screen. You can also get a housing for it too. I don't have one to let you know how good it is still saving the pennies to get the setup.

See the latest UWP mag for a review on this.

As for the viewfinder thing, the quality of my photos dramatically improved when upgrading to the D70 from a c5050. I put a lot of that down the fact that I was now using a viewfinder.

I haven't used the 8080 but, judging from the size of the housing for it, a DSLR housing wouldn't be that much bigger - especially once you added strobes.

TBH if you have a decent digital camera I can't see why anybody would want to start again with film.

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by Luddite

The olympus E330 does show a live feed on the screen. You can also get a housing for it too. I don't have one to let you know how good it is still saving the pennies to get the setup.

The E330 is the E300 with a higher megapixel CCD and the live view facility.

Apart from that they're pretty much the same. (I use an E300).

[Smudge]

why change?

I use an older olyp.5050 to get reasonable results. This has done me proud and gained me awards in over 18 competitions and have plenty published in magizines.

Take a look at my gallery pages on my web site, theres over 3000 images form the uk and med.


smudge
www.proscuba.co.uk