Come on. Make my mind up! Roll on Dec's Diver mag.

[Finless]

For anyone, like me, who is considering adding underwater photography to their diving CV but is undecided about which camera to start with then read on.

I have been uncertain about whether to get a digi camera or not. I already have an MX10 film camera and strobe but found it quite a costly exercise to try and learn underwater photography when the pictures were rubbish but may be rubbish due to the conditions ..............

Anyway, I sought some PM advice from BJ who was kind enough to reply with the answers to my questions. In addition, he advised that there is a big review of cameras usable for diving in the Dec issue of Diver - 20 different cameras are reviewed if I recollect correctly.

I assume these will be the entry level cameras and the FUJI F50 (or is it F51) which I am interested in is one of the cameras tested (I believe).

Anyway, I just thought you may like to know.

I'm waiting until after Xmas, maybe even until LIDS, before making a decision.

With the compactness of a digi camera and the lack of film developing expense I can see it won't be too long before nearly every diver has a camera for diving?

[MATTBIN]

I have a Nikonos for my underwater stuff.
I have a fuji (an SLR type).

One thing I have noticed about the slr fuji is it's slow 'shutter' i.e. the time taken between hitting the button and it capturing the image. I understand newer ones are a lot better. I have noticed with the Nikonos that parallax is a problem as it's more like a compact. So given these two limitations I would be carefull of whatever digi I bought next. I'd like a full blown slr (Canon would be nice as I have a wet film land camera) but the cost/bulk/complexity is too high.

Just my thoughts.

Matt

[e14724]

After reading a few bits and bobs I decided to go for the Canon Powershot S70 and ive had no regets. Dead easy to use and get good results, its got loads of settings but eqaully if you just want to point and shoot it does a great job. Ive not got a great deal of experience with other brands as I went for the Canon from the MX10.
The cases are about £90 (£75- http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-canon-wp-dc40.htm)new and there are always some s70's on fleabay for a decent price.

Nick

[Finless]

Originally Posted by MATTBIN

I have a Nikonos for my underwater stuff.
I have a fuji (an SLR type).

One thing I have noticed about the slr fuji is it's slow 'shutter' i.e. the time taken between hitting the button and it capturing the image. I understand newer ones are a lot better. I have noticed with the Nikonos that parallax is a problem as it's more like a compact. So given these two limitations I would be carefull of whatever digi I bought next. I'd like a full blown slr (Canon would be nice as I have a wet film land camera) but the cost/bulk/complexity is too high.

Just my thoughts.

Matt

Matt,

I'm a reasonabe out of water photographer and have a SLR style digi camera. I still have my old Canon EOS 650 film camera (it's not worth anything these days) and I never use it now but I have had some good piccies from that camera.

I want to be taking pictures on wrecks in the English Channel and I want the results to show me what my eyes see (particularly with regard to the panoramic big picture) which isn't going to happen so I'm starting looking from a negative POV.

Shutter lag or image compilation lag is a big issue esp if you photograph sea life. I assume taking pictures in RAW format does away with digi lag? Manual setting are essential, I assume, so you can preset shutter speeds and aperture?

When/if I ever get one I bet I leave it on AUTO all the time!

Bryan

[tom]

Originally Posted by Finless

I want to be taking pictures on wrecks in the English Channel and I want the results to show me what my eyes see (particularly with regard to the panoramic big picture)

maybe the first criterion should be a camera that will take a wide angle lens then? I don't have one, but I've seen the difference they make.

[turbanator]

Originally Posted by Finless

I assume taking pictures in RAW format does away with digi lag?

Focussing seems to cause the biggest lag, getting worse in dim light, unfortunately shooting RAW can not cure that.

The fully manual cams can be set to a pre focussed distance.

Things I looked for were, little lag, wide angle, fully manual, RAW and 'normal' batteries.
I went for the E900 and Ikelite housing but I'm not 100% happy with it.

r
P

[MATTBIN]

Originally Posted by turbanator

Focussing seems to cause the biggest lag, getting worse in dim light, unfortunately shooting RAW can not cure that.

The fully manual cams can be set to a pre focussed distance.

Things I looked for were, little lag, wide angle, fully manual, RAW and 'normal' batteries.
I went for the E900 and Ikelite housing but I'm not 100% happy with it.

r
P

All good points, especially batteries, I'm locked into a rechargeable 'funny' one on the Fuji, at the time there was little choice for the money, sadly no housing though.

Matt

[Finless]

Originally Posted by turbanator

Focussing seems to cause the biggest lag, getting worse in dim light, unfortunately shooting RAW can not cure that.

The fully manual cams can be set to a pre focussed distance.

Things I looked for were, little lag, wide angle, fully manual, RAW and 'normal' batteries.
I went for the E900 and Ikelite housing but I'm not 100% happy with it.

r
P

I assume you mean you're not too happy with the camera rather than the housing?

OK, I know I need:-

Full manual setting option.
Wide angle (what is wide angle under water/28 mm lens in the dry).
Ability to shoot in RAW format (according to article in Nov Diver).
Needs to be compact - I don't want some monolith to drag around on every dive.

Anything else?

[e14724]

Originally Posted by Finless

I assume you mean you're not too happy with the camera rather than the housing?

OK, I know I need:-

Full manual setting option.
Wide angle (what is wide angle under water/28 mm lens in the dry).
Ability to shoot in RAW format (according to article in Nov Diver).
Needs to be compact - I don't want some monolith to drag around on every dive.

Anything else?

Just a bit on the S70 FYI


Nick


Key Features
Image Sensor Type CCD
Resolution 7.4 Megapixel
Optical Zoom 3.6x
Camera Type Standard Point and Shoot


Lens
Interchangeable Lens Not Interchangeable Lenses
Optical Zoom 3.6x
35mm Zoom Lens 28 - 100 mm
Digital Zoom 4.1x
Focus Type Autofocus & Manual Focus
Focus Range 17.32 in. to Infinity (w) / 17.32 in. to Infinity (t)
Macro Focus Range 1.6 - 17.32 in. (w) / 11.81 - 17.32 in. (t)
Focal Length 5.8 - 20.7 mm


Image Quality
Camera Resolution 7.4 Megapixel
Image Resolutions 1600 x 1200, 2048 x 1536, 2592 x 1944, 640 x 480


Video
Video Resolutions 160 x 120, 320 x 240 (QVGA), 640 x 480 (VGA)
Video Speed 10 fps
Max Movie Length 30 Seconds
Video Format AVI


Exposure Control
Aperture Range f2.8/f5.3 (w/t)
Shutter Speed 15 - 1/2000 sec
White Balance Auto, Cloudy (Preset), Daylight / Sunny (Preset), Flash (Preset), Fluorescent (Preset), Manual, Tungsten (Preset)
Frames Per Second 2 Frames


Storage
Memory Type CompactFlash Card Type I, CompactFlash Card Type II
Compression Modes Fine, Normal, SuperFine, Uncompressed
Compression Type JPEG, Raw Image
File Size (High Res.) 10.67 MB (12 images on 128MB card)
File Size (Low Res.) 0.1 MB (about 1,280 images on 128MB card)


Flash
ISO Speeds 100, 200, 400, 50, Auto
Flash Type Built-In
Flash Functions Auto Flash, Fill-in Flash, Flash Off, Red-eye Reduction Flash


Viewfinder / Display
Viewfinder Optical
LCD Panel With LCD Panel
LCD Panel Size 1.8 in.
LCD Screen Resolution 118,000 pixels
LCD Protected Position Without LCD Protected Position


Interfaces
Interface Type USB
Video Interface Video Out


Power Supply
Battery Type Proprietary Lithium
Battery Life 240 Images


Included Features
Self Timer 10 Sec., 2 Sec.
Built-in Microphone With Built-in Microphone
Built-in Speaker With Built-in Speaker
Tripod Mount With Tripod Mount


System Requirements
Operating System Apple Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows ME, Microsoft Windows XP


Dimensions
Height 5.6 cm
Width 11.4 cm
Depth 3.9 cm
Weight 0.23 kg

[John Gulliver]

Wide angle under water means at least a 24mm lens, preferably 15-16mm, if you want to take wide-angle shots of large parts of wrecks etc. A prerequisite for that kind of photography is good vis, at least 10m, preferaly 20m. How often do you get that kind of vis in the Eastern part of the English Chanel? I've only done a few dives there (Dover) but the vis then was closer to one meter than ten. In our turbid northern waters, most of us get the best results with macro and close-up lenses as a rule. Sorry, but that's how it is, so don't expect to be abe to take decent wide-angle pictures very often, Bryan.