Canon A95 or Sony DSC-W7

[edwinh]

After years of seduction by my dive buddy into buying an uw camera, I've decided to take a lil plunge. My uw photography needs for now is rather basic, I'm not into full scale DSLR in SUBAL and strobes and all... rather, just something good enough.

I've got a G2, however, the ikelite housing costs more than the camera itself now. So if there is anyone who has a second hand good condition ikelite housing for G2 for sale, I'm very interested.

In my search for a suitable compact but not too "consumer P&S" uw cam, I'm torn between the Canon A95 and the Sony W7. I have tried both above water....

W7's focusing is very fast compared to A95.
W7's Shutter lag is noticeably shorter than the A95.
Movie mode, W7 is again way ahead of A95. 640X480X30fps unlimited.
Exposure accuracy for both cameras are comparable.
Low light focusing for both are comparable, with Sony having a slight advantage.
Battery is superb for both and both runs on AA.
A95's macro details are better than W7.
A95's sharpening algo is better than W7 as it doesn't degrade image details.
A95 gives more control to the user than the W7.

However, underwater, I have experience only with the A95. Does anyone have experience with the Sony W7 or similar series? How is the white balancing performance underwater? Does the photos turn out green? Bottom line, which will you recommend?

I know there's the Oly... I like Oly cameras but I don't like the bulk. I've dived with the Mju digital 300 before. Its decent... but its below my photography expectations.

 

[kthan]

be the first Sony user in this forum please.....we have way too many Canons and Olys and a good forum cannot survive on having such limited opinions.

For u/w, focusing speed, shutter lag and low light shooting is of paramount importance. For macro, u usually need an external macro lens to get optimal results and most post processing is done on the PC anyway.

but i would really like to know about the control aspect. If the W7 gives u full manual control , then i think it is fine. which is the range of it's f-stops? Using CF cards?

I'll go read dpreview when i have the time later. If sony has a marine case costing not more than S$350, then what's there not to like. but can third party macro lens and WA lens attach to the housing?

There are more than just pure camera comparisions when it comes to buying DC for u/w use. I think there is a good thread somewhere listing down some of these considerations.

Eric

 

[saggydog]

be the first Sony user in this forum please.....we have way too many Canons and Olys and a good forum cannot survive on having such limited opinions.

For u/w, focusing speed, shutter lag and low light shooting is of paramount importance. For macro, u usually need an external macro lens to get optimal results and most post processing is done on the PC anyway.

but i would really like to know about the control aspect. If the W7 gives u full manual control , then i think it is fine. which is the range of it's f-stops? Using CF cards?

I'll go read dpreview when i have the time later. If sony has a marine case costing not more than S$350, then what's there not to like. but can third party macro lens and WA lens attach to the housing?



Eric

I just got the Marine pack for Sony W5 from US for only $278 shipping cost is about $20
You might want to get it from US

 

[alv777]

The review @ http://www.steves-digicams.com/ indicates that this DC doesn't have manual white balance. for UW use, it's better to have that function. if not, most pics will turn out bluish.

just 2 bubbles...

 

[beivied]

i think a lot of us here dont use manual white balance (though i have tried before) but still get coloured pics

 

[edwinh]

After doing some research, I am led to believe that Sony tend to have problems with colour underwater. It seriously leans to the green side. I have seen many photos posted by Sony P series users, and they are indeed green.

Are there any Sony UW users in this forum? How are your shots?

 

[miko]

Hi ya all, I used my DSC-W5 (not W7.. but they are just different in megapixel) for the first time last weekend. I'm super satisfied with this camera (will be perfect if it's got fully manual setting), very fast focusing, very low shutter lag (which is why i chose this camera after reading Canon A95/A520 and W5's review + a forumer's opinion).

Here is a photo.

Another, with faster shutter speed, darker but this is closer to the actual colour of the anemone

In manual mode, you can set the desired speed and aperture, but the catch is there's only 2 steps in aperture, in W, it's either f2.8 or f5.2.

You can set WB with W5, but if you set WB other than auto, the flash is off. if the flash is on, you can't set WB...

I feel that my photos are not as sharp as i expected.. but hehe. bcos i only have one 256mb memory stick, and it's my first time taking photos underwater, i was a bit kiasu so i set to lower resolution n picture quality is only Standard, not Fine (so that i can take more photos..). or maybe just my skill is bad. haha.
anyway, overall, i love my W5. :thumbsup:

 

[miko]

other photos

these 2 photos are same coral

 

[miko]

eh.. sorry, i don't have the software to resize the photos here at work.... if the photos are too big for forumers to load, please tell me n i'll remove them...

btw, any comments abt the photos?

 

[edwinh]

Hi Miko

Thanks for the lovely photos! These are the very first underwater W-series photos I have seen. Do you mind posting more? It will be good reference to how the camera performs. =)

Do you have the depth and settings for the photos?

I noticed that the green tendency is still there. Whenever there is no flash fill, it's green. Takes a fair bit of effort in photoshop to remove the green but its do-able.

Cheers!

 

[miko]

the nudibranch with black background,the speed is 1/400.. it's during noon hour, depth is very shallow, less than 8meters. aperture f5.6 . ISO100.

1st photo (anemone n clownfish), speed 1/60, flash on, ISO100, exposure -0.3, f2.8

2nd photo (anemone n clownfish), same speed (oops, my previous post i said this is with faster speed, wrong! haha.. sorry.. ) , flash on, ISO100, exposure auto, f5.6. (it's only recently tat i stepped out of fully Auto mode in photography.. hahaha... so i tend to forget the settings since i kept on snapping to try out different setting...)

4th photo (coral), speed 1/400, flash off, ISO100, f2.8, WB is sunlight (sorry, i dunno if this is the correct name).

5th photo (coral), speed 1/400, flash on, ISO100, f5.6, WB auto (can't change when flash on)

i can't remember the depth...

it is a bit to the green side i think but i tot without a strobe, it's bound to turn out in this kind of colour?

in this pic, the lens block the flash... hence the shadow.(ehm, i think this photo i used Program mode, which is still Auto in W5, only difference is u can set WB)

ISO100, flash on, f5.6, speed 1/160

 

[miko]

Speed 1/250, ISO100, flash on, f2.8

Speed 1/320, ISO100, flash off, f2.8, WB sunlight

eh.. haha...Please take note, now only i realised, i forgot to play with ISO setting... so all my photos were in ISO100.... :sweatsm:

 

[waisj]

Hi Miko,

First Off,

A very big welcome to out lil sub-forum. As alot of you may know, i've been dormant for some time. However, I'm slowly coming out of my shell again.

Do read through the forum guidelines prior to future posting.

Now to the Queries.

First off, i noticed that you realised that you're photos are bigger than forum depicted standards. Please resize them to 600x400 pixels or no more than 700 pixels on the longest edge.

Photoshop should do the trick. Do procure photoshop if you haven't as it improves your photos by leaps and bounds. A little contrast/hue/saturation adjustments wouldn't hurt.

Secondly, fine photos for a first timer(?) with a new cam. The more you engross yourself into Underwater Photography, the better you'll be. It is also commendable that you didn't suffer for the "TOP DOWN" syndrome; which newbies normally undergo.

Now to the technical part. The specifications and performance of the camera. Though it may emerge delightful for you, there are some part(s) of the camera performance which will hinder alot of the more serious enthusiasts.

The first hitch would be that there are only 2 settings for the aperture in Manual mode. Normally for digicams and normal underwater photography, a aperture F5.6 would barely suffice. Having said that i did take some pretty gratifying macro photos with a setting of F4.0 and 1/100 with iso 100.
For more serious underwater photography aficionados, choosing a cam which could give you more steps in aperture settings would be more beneficial in the long run. Either that or a cam that could give you F8.0, or F6.3, F7.

The second holdup would be the unyielding effect of internal strobe blockage. With certain housing/camera combinations, there isn't any internal flash blockage for the whole range of the macro focal length. As everyone's expectation is different for photos, the more serious underwarter photography devotees might want to choose a camera/housing combination which induces the least amount of internal strobe blockage.

Having said that, I am pretty impressed with the details of the Chromodoris magnifica's gills.

Cheers
Moderator
Underwater Photography

 

[waisj]

I must also say that the second clown fish photos is commendable, the colour of the anemone and the pose of the fish gives the photo a very ethereal feel to it.

Keep Shooting

 

[miko]

i've tried using Olympus C750 n Canon A85 underwater, to me, Canon is easier and faster to use. After I used W5, i think W5 is the best, as it's very user friendly, you can change the setting very fast, unlike Olympus which has to go many steps into the menu to get your setting. Of course, i might be wrong, maybe i didn't fully get used to C750.
I think bcos W5 does not hv fully manual mode like C750 and A85, it bcomes very straight forward and thus the (limited)manual setting is easy to access.

some other pros of W5 is it's very fast when reviewing photos, i personally find it practically no delay. well, basically, everything is fast with W5, startup fast, shot to shot is also fast.

just some 2 cents from a newbie

 

[miko]

*photos resized.

thanks for the comment yes, i'm a first timer. er, what's top down syndrome???

n yes, W5's housing, the lens part is quite protruding, so the flash blockage is quite bad... Whereas Canon's housing don't have such problem, i believe? as the flash filter (called filter?) is extended to the same length as the lens.

however, as i'm not really into pro stuff even in long term, so this camera is sufficient for me. n i'd like to say one more thing abt W5 , bcos it's quite small (with housing), (nikon 4600 is even smaller!) i was able to operate the menu with one hand while shooting, which is something that i appreciate a lot considering that my hands are very small.

 

[miko]

ohhh... "top down" syndrome, shooting from top mostly, correct?

 

[pat8228]

I just got the Marine pack for Sony W5 from US for only $278 shipping cost is about $20
You might want to get it from US

Wow that's a good price you got there! I'm using a Sony W1 now and is looking for a U/W casing for this great camera. Can find out from you whether the marine pack that you bought (I believe your marine pack is MPK-WA right?) supports Sony W1? I can't seem to find much info on the accessories for W1 cos Sony has phased out this model already.

Can you also share the company (or website) you bought your marine pack from?

Thanks in advance!

 

[yzr500abe]

IMHO, no offence to sony user , sony's support sux big time....many months after launch of the camera only will you able to find the UW casing on the market.

THe UW casing is not cheap too...most expensive of all the prosumer digital cameras, Nikon UW housing is abt $280 or so, Canon's ard $370, olympus's almost $400...sony's over $500.

1yr 4 mths after i buy my P10 and i tried to source for a UW housing, they told me this camera is phased out and there isn't any more housing you can buy in the market...totally no luck...i've tried almost anywhere. The memory stick is most expensive when you compare with SD,XD, and the CF cards. I paid abt $200 for a 256Mb memory stick pro then.


Good luck in sourcing dude.

 

[kthan]

1yr 4 mths after i buy my P10 ...........

1 yr 4 mths is a long time in digital life. I bought my C-3040 for $1200 when it first came out :bheart: