hmmm. S45 or S50 ?

[And]

<font color='#0000FF'>Hi

I'm going to the red sea 15th June (Places available MY Juliet oonasdivers!)

I thought it might be nice to take a digital camera. Have looked at Canon S45 and S50. I think there's a housing available but don't know how much. I'm not really into photography as such so its for use out of the water as much as in it.

I also don't want a strobe and stuff because I want to put it in my pocket and just use it when I see something special (naked italian beauty that kind of thing oops girlfriend!!)

Any advice would be gratefully received.

WL

[daz]

<font color='#000080'>Cheapest place I have found is.

http://www.warehouseexpress.co.uk/

go to Digital, cameras, canon, accessories.

Have a look at the underwater housings available and then start comparing the cameras.

The case for the S45/S50 is £149 and I know someone who is using a Canon S40 and housing and getting very nice results.

BTW : The S45 on the same site is about £390 and the S50 is about £450

HTH
Daz

[Wacker]

<font color='#8D38C9'>HI
Daz is about right i paid £139for the cannon housing
I have the S30 and it is spot on.
leave on automatic for most underwater and turn flash off to avoid back scatter.
it has loads of manual settings very simmilar to an SLR so you will not out grow it.
S50 is only worth considering if you want to enlarge your photos (prints) above A4 but up to this size you whould have a job to tell the difference from a print off a 35mm film .
all the camara functions are usable whilst in the housing.
But you cant fully turn it off in the housing  
only goes on stand by, so turn the screen off inbetween shots. also get a spare battery as you will only get one good dive from a fully charged battery.
hope this is of some help
wacker

[CotoChris]

<font color='#0000FF'>Have the S40 and really happy with it. One curious setting I tend to use regularly is the short video function. On the S40 the time limit is 30sec on the large video setting, apparently there is no limit on the S50. Otherwise the difference is in the pixels, 4MB is a lot, 5MB is a lot lot lot. In practice you may not want the extra difference.
I got the casing from Cameras Underwatwe. I don't know about in &nbsp;the UK but I tried to get the casing through a camera shop both in Spain and Portugal and eventually it came 4 months after ordering, in the meanwhile I got it from Cameras Underwater who had it in stock.

[ladybug]

Hi Guys,

I have S45 ,
TIP To turn off the camera: while it is ON press the WB Func button for approx. 5 secs.  It will turn itself OFF. place it in the case (remember to check the O-ring ofcourse   )  When you want to turn it on just flick the Record/Play switch on the case.  You can press the WB Func button while it is in the case to turn it off again.
this will work on the S30/S40/S45 and S50.

If you are not looking into spending too much money the IXUS range also make nice pictures underwater and all have underwater cases available. (some of the newer Canon Cameras have cases that can go to 40m)

Enjoy taking pictures. I have posted some of my Red Sea Pictures taken with an IXUS 300 on our web site :  

Divetastik

[Gunna Do]

I also Have an Ixus 300
which as soon as I get the chance, I will be using the new housing I have bought to try underwater photos
9 Which I received 6 weeks ago and still have not had a chance to hit the water.
But better luck this week

Hopefully i will have some pics to show then
Steve

[Wacker]

<font color='#8D38C9'>Hi All
ladybug's tip about the WB button dosent work on the S30 !
however this is cannons site for underwater photography it is quite intresting hope it helps
http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/uwphoto/page/03-e.html

wack

[Gunna Do]

cool site, Wacker..
Just what I needed, now to understand some of the terms
Oh well, better slow than never &nbsp; lol
Steve

[ladybug]

Hi Sorry guys Wacker is right i mis-read a post on an other site.(also it must be in Rec-mode) but it does work with the S50!

[Dundee]

I have the S40 too.

Its great with its auto settings in good vis without the flash.

For more adventurous stuff its worth looking at the Sea and Sea DX90 strobe with optical cable. I just got one and have found that to get the best results you have to be prepared to relearn a few of those principles of 35m photography.

ie. Use manual settings to avoid the preflash setting of the strobe too early.

You can also get an adaptor that allows use of the Sea and Sea wide angle lenses.

Cameras Underwater are very helpful (when they finally answer the phone).

I am pretty sure there was a recent post about all this that proved very helpful.