4 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

Well I'm sitting in Paradise (Wakatobi) and the dream is starting to fade as the reality of the trip ending is looming closer and closer. I was extremely fortunate that I was able to use several cameras this week to try and take not only snapshots of the amazing diving and island we've been on this past week but hopefully capture a few shots that would also be 'memorable' in and of themselves.

In the course of the week I discovered that today's Point and Shoot technology has come a very long way and seems to be an EXCELLENT way to get started taking underwater pictures. Reasonable price, ease of use, powerfulness of features, small footprint and more make them a great choice for getting started.

My question to you all is as follows:

1. How do you choose the right one or does it really matter?
2. Do any of them allow an external light to be added at a later date if desired?
3. Do you find the underwater option does better than the autofocus option?
4. Has anyone else gotten started this way to learn the basics and then upgraded?


Please share your experiences including model suggestions and why.

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

Great questions! The one thing I highly recommend you check out when looking at point-and-shoot digital cameras is the shutter speed. Mine has a delay, and if I'm not perfectly still until it's done, the end photo really suffers!

Most housings have a built-in place for a tray to be screwed on, so lights can be added later - I can use mine with or without the lights & tray, and depending on my depth and/or cloud cover for the day, I don't take the lights & tray down unless they're really needed.

If you want to take photos in deeper water (other than very shallow, sunny reefs) then you will want to consider filters, which help put the actual colors back into the spectrum. Otherwise, photos tend to look very blue or very green.

Of course, I'm strictly a casual photographer, budget was an issue for me, photos are for my enjoyment and not for sale, so my needs are different than DiveGeek, or ScubaTooth....I bet they have more invested in their camera gear than I put into all my scuba gear combined!

[DiveGeek]

1. How do you choose the right one or does it really matter?

There are certain features that are desirable but it all comes down to how much you want to spend. Initially, I'd look at any one of the cameras that have housings designed specifically for them (Canon, Sea & Sea, Olympus, etc.). You can begin snapping underwater photos for a reasonable price with those cameras.

2. Do any of them allow an external light to be added at a later date if desired?

Sea & Sea makes a fiber-optic cable that can be mounted on the outside of any camera housing and mates up to their strobes. However, in order to use such a setup you need a camera with a manual or shutter-priority mode (although I don't know that much about the new YS-110a - anyone have any experience here?). Moving the strobe away from the lens is where you're going to get the most bang for the buck for improving your photos.

3. Do you find the underwater option does better than the autofocus option?

I'm not really sure what you mean here. Every U/W camera I've used has been autofocus.

4. Has anyone else gotten started this way to learn the basics and then upgraded?

My first camera was a Canon Powershot A40 with housing. I was able to take OK pictures - more of the snapshot variety than photos. I added an external strobe, and later graduated to a housed Nikon Coolpix 5400. I was extremely happy with the Coolpix + strobe and did get some good photos from that setup. However, that camera had significant shutter lag and I couldn't get to the power switch from outside the housing. PLUS, even though I was using a sync cable (not fiber-optic) I still couldn't get TTL flash metering. This year I took the plunge and bought a Nikon D300 SLR and housing and am thrilled with the results.


Something to keep in mind (and something that I didn't really think about until the D300) is that the more you shoot the better you get. That's not just U/W but on land as well. Get familiar with your camera, its limitations, and its strengths. Remember, it's digital, so when in doubt snap the shutter release.

Mark

Edited by DiveGeek, 16 October 2008 - 09:32 PM.

[fbp]

Yah, I'd stick with the bigger names, Oly, Cannon, Nikon, Sony and Fuji apparently makes a good one.
There a complete thread over at scuba board if that helps, but start out wtih the smaller, easier to handle one. If possible get one with an external strobe as the camera flash will just give you backscatter (those little underwater snow flakes).

Usually the paths go down to either video or photo... then splits to the one you prefer. start small in case you want to change, can take video on the PNS cameras to give them a try, but then you'll get a feel for what you want to look for in the next one or if you're just wanted to take snap shots then you'll stay at that level... They, PNS, are really taking excellant pic these days and belive most have eliminated the dreaded shutter lag.. if not, not that big of a deal, pressing button halfway down will shorted the lag a little and just shoot Slooooooow moving objects. The only time I'd get a fish face would be when the Cabazons or ling cods would charge you... I'd put the camera between us and click... same with octos but heheh, that's a hopeless cause...

Hope that helps...

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[Scubatooth]

Im currently at work till sunday afternoon (the price you pay to get time off), but kamala feel free to bend my ear in person on this at dema,(or till you leave texas ) but i will also make a post later to answer your questions. Since till this point i have been shooting with a PnS camera UW, and gotten very good results with the images straight out of the camera with little or no post production editting.

Quickly to answer the last one WW. Is that yes i started with PnS many years ago and now have advanced to the high end professional DSLR and medium format backs with digital backs (very big $$$$$$$). I started the same way i started UW photo with a PnS and now i have gotten to the point where I need to step up(because of some inherent limitations to PnS Cameras) to a housed DSLR to get my photos to the next level.

OH WW btw Im going to be putting 2 UW camera set ups fs sale here on SD right after dema, I just got them back from annual maintence and going to put them up FS, i will send you and one other sd member the list prior to putting them up.

Dan