My friend 'Drown' my A610 in Similan.....

[diver-hloc]

Just got a SMS from a friend who borrow my Canon A610 + Strobe set to Similan..... Said my casing flooded during the 1st dive...... And now I need to replace my camera :sweat:

Since I've been using Canon Camera for a good numbers of years without problem..... most likely will contiue to do so. I like their AVI movies anyway.....

Narrow my choice down to PowerShot A650 IS or G9..... Both have IS, both can take AVI movies in at least 640x480, both use SDHC. But only the G9 have RAW format....... but cost at least $250 more.

I need some option here, which model would YOU get..... Thxs.

 

[antacid]

if you decide to get the G9 in the canon housing, do note that you will get vignetting problems at the wide end. this is due to the long lens port to accomodate the 6x zoom. more is less in this case..haha.

the way around it is to get the ikelite housing, with a short port option. you can't zoom much in this config, but who zooms underwater anyway?

why not consider the ricoh gx100 aka Sea&Sea DX-1G? it's the dream u/w compact to me...24mm WA, RAW, small and compact, and you get macro focus at 2inches at 72mm equivalent! that's like more than 1:1 macro.

 

[diver-hloc]

if you decide to get the G9 in the canon housing, do note that you will get vignetting problems at the wide end. this is due to the long lens port to accomodate the 6x zoom. more is less in this case..haha.

the way around it is to get the ikelite housing, with a short port option. you can't zoom much in this config, but who zooms underwater anyway?

why not consider the ricoh gx100 aka Sea&Sea DX-1G? it's the dream u/w compact to me...24mm WA, RAW, small and compact, and you get macro focus at 2inches at 72mm equivalent! that's like more than 1:1 macro.

Great info Bro..... U know whats the retail price ??

 

[crusher]

If there is nothing wrong with the housing, you may want to get the A610 or A620 from the BnS forum.

 

[lovells19]

i will go for the G9 with Ikelite housing hehehehehehe

 

[Zippsy]

I'm not sure which camera to get but I would definitely get a new friend. :bsmilie:

 

[howeikwok]

G9 seems like a great option. The only drawback i forsee is the battery life. Don't think it'll last a full day of diving.

 

[diver-hloc]

If there is nothing wrong with the housing, you may want to get the A610 or A620 from the BnS forum.

Hahaha.... using this as an 'excuse' to get myself a new camera with better spec.

Not everyday you could 'tell' your love ones that U really really had a good reason to get a new camera.... without the usual ''Why waste money again'' speech...... hehehehe

 

[diver-hloc]

i will go for the G9 with Ikelite housing hehehehehehe

Ikelite casing too $$$$ lah.

Not forgeting that nowadays digi camera keep updating themselve every 6mths...... the expensive casing I buy won't last for 2 or more years. Might as well spent the extra cash on my planned Arm & Tray set.......

 

[diver-hloc]

I'm not sure which camera to get but I would definitely get a new friend. :bsmilie:

Hahahaha...... don't like dat lah.

Another friend that when with him saw Manta..... this friend of mine didn't, the Big Man on top already hinting him already......

And I still need him to join me on my Sipidan Trip, middle of 2008.

 

[diver-hloc]

G9 seems like a great option. The only drawback i forsee is the battery life. Don't think it'll last a full day of diving.

I change the Battries of my A610 after every 2 dive anyway...... could get myself a 3rd party battery and keep it with me inside my dry bag. Change onboard the boat lor..... like I used to do with my Canon Ixus 400.... in days long past.... hahahaha.

 

[CanonEOS]

Hmmm I asked ystd. Wanted a G9 to supplement my 40D once in awhile. Saw it at MS color. Was quote $799 cash with gst. O ya for the threadstarter info, I saw a delivery man delivering 2 underwater housing. Read from other threads that alot of people are looking for them. ;p Hot item

 

[diver-hloc]

Hmmm I asked ystd. Wanted a G9 to supplement my 40D once in awhile. Saw it at MS color. Was quote $799 cash with gst. O ya for the threadstarter info, I saw a delivery man delivering 2 underwater housing. Read from other threads that alot of people are looking for them. ;p Hot item

Thxs

This "camera killer" friend of mine claim he have lobang at Sim Lim that could get me a G9 for $750. Its the plus, casing and SDHC card that would kill my buget. I'm still planning to get a new strobe and arm+tray at Adex next year..... that would be another $1000 plus....

Hahaha..... was planning to get canon EF-S 55-250mm IS next month..... now change to G9 or some other camera.....

 

[lovells19]

yeah lah true.. but then with a G9 it'll probably last u 2 yrs,, then u still can sell it off at a fair price cos the housing price don't drop alot and ur camera is so WELL protected u can pass it off as new haahahah

 

[howeikwok]

Hahahaha...... don't like dat lah.

Another friend that when with him saw Manta..... this friend of mine didn't, the Big Man on top already hinting him already......

And I still need him to join me on my Sipidan Trip, middle of 2008.

Just in case brothers out there might not know. It seems air asia ain't gonna fly to tawau direct from senai anymore. More ex to go sipadan liao.

 

[diver-hloc]

Just in case brothers out there might not know. It seems air asia ain't gonna fly to tawau direct from senai anymore. More ex to go sipadan liao.

Yup.... read about it on SG Scuba Forums.....

What to do.... just do it the old fashion way lor.... Night Bus to KL and taxi to airport. But of course I hope AirAsia changes its mind before my trip..... hehehe

 

[foxwagon]

Looking at these two models with IS at the moment as well.
Inclined to get the A650 since I wish to standardize all my batteries to AA same as the strobe (currently using S80 which batteries would run flat near the end of 2nd dive).
However, not too sure if the G9 & A650 housing would be able to support the same Inon 28AD lens which I now use on the S80.

 

[foxwagon]

Just got a SMS from a friend who borrow my Canon A610 + Strobe set to Similan..... Said my casing flooded during the 1st dive...... And now I need to replace my camera :sweat:...

Some divers I've seen, do the 1st dive on an empty casing as a test before diving with camera inside on 2nd dives onwards.

 

[antacid]

Great info Bro..... U know whats the retail price ??

here's the silly thing: S&S at Adelphi only sells the housing with the camera, and it was about 1.4 or 1.5k when it first came out. they have a bundle deal where you get the camera + housing, a WA wet lens, YS90 strobe, tray and arms for about 2.6k

it only makes sense when you get the bundle i think.

for me, i went and bought the ricoh first before the S&S one was released..so now got camera, no housing. pffffft.

oh, did i mention that it has IS as well? hehe.

personally, i won't get the G9, cos i won't pay $300 more just to have the RAW option since it almost the same as the A650 in every other way. it's just RAW in a better build. still the same 35 or 37mm equivalent, digic 3 processor blahblahblah. 35mm not very useful underwater for me ever since i got my hands on a DSLR...hehe

also, the G9 has a circular control that is not usable underwater (in the canon oem housing. not sure about ike one though), which controls the shutter speed or aperture in manual mode.

like i said, if you want G9, be prepared to pay for the ikelite...otherwise you might be better off with the A650. or even the A640 with the raw hack!

 

[gooseberry]

Sorry to hear about your cam - but good news is you have a good reason to shop for a new cam !

Tough choice re: which cam. The G9 is nice, but apart from the disadvantages antacid already mentioned, the other thing I don't like about the Canon stock housings are that they use one single o-ring (single point of failure) (fuji's for example use two o-rings) - one of the guys on our similans dive trip flooded and subsequently drowned his new Canon G9 that he bought just before the trip.

I like the Sea&Sea DX-1G (ricoh gx-100) because of the wide angle, RAW and great macro ability (1cm macro at 24mm and 4cm macro at full 72mm tele - nice)