camera decisions!

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Lynsey - 11 May 2004 01:55 GMT

Hi everybody,

Im looking to buy a digital camera for both underwater and on land use, and
have got my decision down to three cameras that match my needs but now i
cant pick between them!!!
So i was wondering if anybody could help me along the way if you maybe own
one of the cameras yourself and think theres anything fantastic/rubbish
about it, or maybe can just see something that seems a particular advantage
that one of the cameras have and the others dont etc! And if you can think
of another camera in the price range that would suit me then suggest away!

The criteria....
?200-300 for camera(thats finding it on pricerunner/kelkoo etc not the
RRP!),
~?150 for housing thats rated to 40m,
4mega pixels +,
must have good macro capabilities without the addition of a lense for on
land use especially,
good battery life,
strong flash (both for diving and indoor use),
would be nice to have a range of preset 'modes' to use,
good if it had the option to add on lenses, or external flash/strobe to both
camera and housing at some point in the future.

The cameras....
Canon powershot A80 with WP-DC900 housing,
Olympus C-750 ultra zoom with PT-018 housing,
Olympus C-5000 with PT-019 housing.

Cheers,
Lynsey.

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Dillon Pyron - 11 May 2004 20:51 GMT

>Hi everybody,
>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>Olympus C-750 ultra zoom with PT-018 housing,
>Olympus C-5000 with PT-019 housing.

Just make sure you buy the housing when you buy the camera. Housings
for my wife's two year old Sony are NLA, although I've found them on
e-bay.

>Cheers,
>Lynsey.

Signature

dillon

When I was a kid, I thought the angel's name was Hark
and the horse's name was Bob.

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scubaran - 12 May 2004 18:37 GMT

> Hi everybody,
>
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
> Cheers,
> Lynsey.

Hi,

I have the Canon Powershot A80 along with the underwater enclosure. I like
it a lot. I mainly use the camera
for above water but it does a great job under the water too. The swiveling
view screen not only protects the
screen when not in use (I've had other ones scratch due to the rough areas I
get into, not to mention in the luggage)
but helps in viewing those weird angles (like shooting low to the ground for
a different prospect). I've had the
underwater case down to 90 ft. approximately 30m with no leaks. One problem
I found was ordering additional
"O" rings for the case (don't want to loose a good dive because the "O" ring
breaks). I haven't found any camera
stores that carry them and it took me several calls to Canon support before
I found out how to order them
directly from Canon (New Jersey, USA). The camera also does 'fair' video
underwater, jerky but clear, so that
was an added value I didn't count on. In addition, Canon publishes an
underwater guide ( http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/uwphoto/index-e.html ) to
help in configuring your camera for the best shots. It's pretty brief but
has a lot of good ideals. Anyway, I use my A80 and I'm very happy with it.
I've just received a
third party underwater strobe for the camera, Sunpak G-Flash, but I'm still
experimenting with it to determine how
well it will do. BTW, I don't work for anyone related to cameras, just like
to dive and shoot pictures to give me
an excuse to get under the water.

Randall

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Lynsey - 12 May 2004 22:23 GMT

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> Randall

Hey,
Thanks for the ton of helpful info!
Ive got a few quesions though if youve got any time!
I wasnt planning on getting a strobe (just now anyway, i would consider
getting one in the future), so how does the camera and its flash perform
underwater at deeper depths when the light is decreasing a fair bit? Or when
the waters a bit murky? - i live in scotland you see so its going to be a
bit murky sometimes!
Also, how good is the macro do on land - how close can you get?

Thanks very much,
Lynsey.

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H. Huntzinger - 13 May 2004 11:14 GMT

> I wasnt planning on getting a strobe (just now anyway, i would consider
> getting one in the future), so how does the camera and its flash perform
> underwater at deeper depths when the light is decreasing a fair bit? Or when
> the waters a bit murky? - i live in scotland you see so its going to be a
> bit murky sometimes!

For any of these camera's, the location of the strobe is in close
proximity to the lens, so not using an external strobe in "murky waters"
is going to run a pretty high risk of getting a lot of distracting
backscatter on your images. The good news is that you can try it and
see the results and if they're not good enough for you, buy the external
strobe later ... just make sure that one is availble for your
camera/housing combination before making your final selection.

> Also, how good is the macro do on land - how close can you get?

Just did a quick test with the A80. I'd say that it looks like its
minimum focus is a bit more than a foot ... call it 15 inches or so.

-hh

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Lynsey - 13 May 2004 14:35 GMT

ok, thanks for your help!
lynsey.

> > I wasnt planning on getting a strobe (just now anyway, i would consider
> > getting one in the future), so how does the camera and its flash perform
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> -hh

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scubaran - 13 May 2004 16:46 GMT

> ok, thanks for your help!
> lynsey.
>
> " H. Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba@huntzinger.com> wrote in
> message

news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba-B99C83.06144513052004@news-east.dca.giganews.com...

> > > I wasnt planning on getting a strobe (just now anyway, i would consider
> > > getting one in the future), so how does the camera and its flash perform
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> >
> > -hh

Hi,

He must not have set the Macro mode on, I can get within about an inch of
the subject
and still be in focus (though this is without the flash). At depth, I would
agree that you can't
get too close underwater, though the UW enclosure does have a piece of
frosted Plexiglas that
you can insert in front of the flash to defuse the light. I've been
shooting underwater without
a strobe for quite a long time, murky and otherwise. The main advantage is
not having to go
into your photo software taking the 'blues' out of the pictures. The main
disadvange, as
mentioned above, is to watch the direction and distance from your camera so
the backscatter
doesn't make it look like it's snowing underwater. BTW, I live in the
Northeast U.S. and
diving the lakes up here isn't that different than Scotland (probably colder
and murkier :O) )
and my camera seems to do well. As far as point and shoots go, IMHO the A80
does as
good, or better, than anything else in it's price range.

Randall

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