Recommend compact camera to get for underwater

[WuffRuff]

I currently have a F31fd. Initially planned to use this with OEM housing.
Then I didn't have funds to go diving (personal recession), so have not gotten the housing.

Then now, there are newer models with faster focussing and wide angle (I realised my cam's widest is too narrow for my liking and the focussing is very slow). So I'm thinking I might as well get another camera and housing for that.

My shortlist is Canon G10 or Panasonic LX3 or Fuji F200EXR.
Hmmm.......

 

[diver-hloc]

My shortlist is Canon G10 or Panasonic LX3 or Fuji F200EXR.
Hmmm.......

Not said I'm a Canon fan or anything.....

G10 would be the easiest..... Casing is more easy to get and also have 3rd party option (but damn $$$$).

A recent discussion point out that the LX3 casing is hard to find.... maybe can get from overseas webstore or something.....

At the end of the day..... very much depends on your buget. :sweat:

 

[glzco]

Nobody starts with a Full Set of Gears..... :sweat:

My 1st set was a Canon Ixus 400 + OEM casing
My 2nd set was a Canon Powershot A610 + OEM casing (later add a Arm & Tray set with focus light.... with the Strobe coming much later.)
And my current set is just a chance of Camera (due to my friend drowning my A610).... with the Strobe remaining the same and a upgrade to a better Arm system. Only added a new more powerful dive light for nightdive recently.

Moral of the story.... all the above took some 5 years to happen... from late 2004 till today. We alway start 'small'... slowly working our gears up. Till today, even when I have 2 DSLR body... I'm still very much unwilling to go for a DSLR setup (just too damn $$$$$). You will always need to start somewhere.... and slowly reach a personal buget limit.

Or did you start with a FF camera with 10 L lens..... :bsmilie:

waaa... looks like u reali came a long long long way!! ha.. i was interested in the A610 tt time when it came out.. i heard it was comparable to the A95 which was the first camera i have.. but din get it due to finance constraint!! haha.. den ltr on as i dived more and more.. the need for more and more photo taking came along!! oh goodness.. hha.. i'm still considering the DX-2G.. not sure if this would reali b a good starter set.. hmmm.. :dunno: hmmm.. L lens!!!! i tink i could get a simple set of U/W camera wif one L lens price.. ha..

 

[glzco]

Not said I'm a Canon fan or anything.....

G10 would be the easiest..... Casing is more easy to get and also have 3rd party option (but damn $$$$).

A recent discussion point out that the LX3 casing is hard to find.... maybe can get from overseas webstore or something.....

At the end of the day..... very much depends on your buget. :sweat:

i wanted to get this G10.. but in the end.. the budget..

 

[diver-hloc]

i wanted to get this G10.. but in the end.. the budget..

Total price should be slightly below $1K.... in theory. :sweat:

But that is just Camera + OEM Casing.... No Strobe or anything else.....

 

[WuffRuff]

Not said I'm a Canon fan or anything.....

G10 would be the easiest..... Casing is more easy to get and also have 3rd party option (but damn $$$$).

A recent discussion point out that the LX3 casing is hard to find.... maybe can get from overseas webstore or something.....

At the end of the day..... very much depends on your buget. :sweat:

Budge wise, G10 and LX3 would cost around the same, no?
Casing should be ok to get from overseas... amazon or something.

 

[howeikwok]

Budge wise, G10 and LX3 would cost around the same, no?
Casing should be ok to get from overseas... amazon or something.

Budget wise is not the same. As discussed in other threads, the only housing option available at the moment for the LX3 are 2 3rd party manufacturers, UK-Germany and 10 Bar which are aluminium housings. I would guess the aluminium housing would cost close to SGD$1k at least if not more. Compare that with a G10 with canon housing at ~SGD$300, not even close. :sweat:

 

[glzco]

Total price should be slightly below $1K.... in theory. :sweat:

But that is just Camera + OEM Casing.... No Strobe or anything else.....

is it really that much cheaper? but i heard canon housings are quite flimsy due to the plastic materials used in the thing.. anyone would like to clarify?

Budget wise is not the same. As discussed in other threads, the only housing option available at the moment for the LX3 are 2 3rd party manufacturers, UK-Germany and 10 Bar which are aluminium housings. I would guess the aluminium housing would cost close to SGD$1k at least if not more. Compare that with a G10 with canon housing at ~SGD$300, not even close. :sweat:

i'm tinkin of the S&S DX-2G set, and alot of my other pals are tellin me G10 as well.. and i heard good reviews for both cameras.. but i'm tinkin i do have a ixus 85 at home which is my sis'.. mayb i could start wif tt.. hmmm.. budget budget budget!

 

[diver-hloc]

is it really that much cheaper? but i heard canon housings are quite flimsy due to the plastic materials used in the thing.. anyone would like to clarify?

Yup... it won't survive a 10 metre fall onto a hard floor or dive till 60 metre of depth.... and certainly NOT a Nuclear War.... :bsmilie:

But it DID survive a dive to 39 metre as I try to take a photo of a Mola Mola at Bali.... and THAT, is all you really need

i'm tinkin of the S&S DX-2G set, and alot of my other pals are tellin me G10 as well.. and i heard good reviews for both cameras.. but i'm tinkin i do have a ixus 85 at home which is my sis'.. mayb i could start wif tt.. hmmm.. budget budget budget!

Finding a U/W casing for the Ixus 85 would most likely be a problem in S'pore. :sweat:


But found this for you - http://www.adorama.com/searchsite/default.aspx?searchinfo=SD770%20IS

:bsmilie:

 

[howeikwok]

is it really that much cheaper? but i heard canon housings are quite flimsy due to the plastic materials used in the thing.. anyone would like to clarify?



i'm tinkin of the S&S DX-2G set, and alot of my other pals are tellin me G10 as well.. and i heard good reviews for both cameras.. but i'm tinkin i do have a ixus 85 at home which is my sis'.. mayb i could start wif tt.. hmmm.. budget budget budget!

It all depends on what kind of results you want out of your u/w pics and how far down the line you want to go. S&S package and the G10 are about the best point & shoot combinations out there as they have features that cater to beginners as well as full manual controls and the ability to take RAW photos.
Bearing in mind the ixus series doesn't have full manual controls and can't take RAW, it all depends on what you want out of the the camera.

 

[antacid]

fallacy: i will just buy a simple set to "start with"
truth: you will eventually end up with the more expensive option anyway

that's why i bought the A95 5 years ago, used it then sold it. went "naked" without a camera for a couple of years, then got the dslr to go diving.

i had 3 or 4 friends who started off with compacts, and are all using dslrs now. i will always remember one of their replies when i asked him when he was going to house his D70. he replied, "no lah, i will never use dslr underwater."

he bought a G9 with ikelite housing and all the bits and bobs, used it for a while, then sold it off at a loss.

now he's waiting for his D90 housing to arrive...

famous last words!
((=

now guess who?

 

[diver-hloc]

fallacy: i will just buy a simple set to "start with"
truth: you will eventually end up with the more expensive option anyway

that's why i bought the A95 5 years ago, used it then sold it. went "naked" without a camera for a couple of years, then got the dslr to go diving.

i had 3 or 4 friends who started off with compacts, and are all using dslrs now. i will always remember one of their replies when i asked him when he was going to house his D70. he replied, "no lah, i will never use dslr underwater."

he bought a G9 with ikelite housing and all the bits and bobs, used it for a while, then sold it off at a loss.

now he's waiting for his D90 housing to arrive...

famous last words!
((=

now guess who?

Hahaha..... Not everyone is as demanding of their Photo as you meh.... heehee :bsmilie:

 

[samtcy]

I just returned from Phuket trip a few weeks ago and I used my Fujifilm F31fd with a soft casing (DicaPac) underwater. Originally I intended to get the hard casing but somehow I can't manage to find it anywhere so I bought DicaPac instead.

 

[glzco]

Yup... it won't survive a 10 metre fall onto a hard floor or dive till 60 metre of depth.... and certainly NOT a Nuclear War.... :bsmilie:

But it DID survive a dive to 39 metre as I try to take a photo of a Mola Mola at Bali.... and THAT, is all you really need

Finding a U/W casing for the Ixus 85 would most likely be a problem in S'pore. :sweat:


But found this for you - http://www.adorama.com/searchsite/default.aspx?searchinfo=SD770%20IS

:bsmilie:

haha.. i see the stuff thr are quite useful and there is smtin for the ixus 85 too.. ha.. i'll consider it.. since the camera is thr already and i only nid to get the casing to try out wif.. heh.. i wan go see mola mola too!!

fallacy: i will just buy a simple set to "start with"
truth: you will eventually end up with the more expensive option anyway

that's why i bought the A95 5 years ago, used it then sold it. went "naked" without a camera for a couple of years, then got the dslr to go diving.

i had 3 or 4 friends who started off with compacts, and are all using dslrs now. i will always remember one of their replies when i asked him when he was going to house his D70. he replied, "no lah, i will never use dslr underwater."

he bought a G9 with ikelite housing and all the bits and bobs, used it for a while, then sold it off at a loss.

now he's waiting for his D90 housing to arrive...

famous last words!
((=

now guess who?

hahahahaha.. true enuff in the end u'll end up wif the more expensive set gradually.. but just like mentioned before.. we all start small den end up wif bigger better stuff according to our own requirements.. like for me i take more macro shots u/w rather den big W/A shots.. after tryin out a few camera borrowed from a few friends on a dive trip.. and i was lucky enuff they were more den willing to lend me, the inexperienced U/W shooter, their heavy expensive sets to try.. i used to own a A95 too!! wanted to buy a casing to go diving wif but it kicked the bucket juz when i was looking for a casing for it.. =( in any case.. i'm still tinking of the various possibilities mentioned here! very tempting tempting tempting!! but the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ :sweat:

 

[glzco]

I just returned from Phuket trip a few weeks ago and I used my Fujifilm F31fd with a soft casing (DicaPac) underwater. Originally I intended to get the hard casing but somehow I can't manage to find it anywhere so I bought DicaPac instead.

oh.. ha.. but i tot the DicaPac soft casing cant go deeper den 10m or smtin? and we usually will go beyond those depths every now and then doin multi level diving.. hmmm.. =|

 

[samtcy]

oh.. ha.. but i tot the DicaPac soft casing cant go deeper den 10m or smtin? and we usually will go beyond those depths every now and then doin multi level diving.. hmmm.. =|

I can't dive...so the depth limits is ok for me.
Just some swimming / snorkling and works fine for me.

 

[viix]

oh.. ha.. but i tot the DicaPac soft casing cant go deeper den 10m or smtin? and we usually will go beyond those depths every now and then doin multi level diving.. hmmm.. =|

Actually my last dive trip, because my fuji housing was cracked, my friend lent me his fx7 housed in a dicapac to take photo.. YES! in a dicapac down to 30m!

And I can tell you the fx7 didn't even binge! Now theoretically the pressure at 30m was high, but not enough to destroy the fx7. The camera buttons cannot function though because at that depth, they were jammed. at about 17m though, I could take photos and use the camera as per normal.. just like a cam housed in a tight condom..

NOW the only reason why he would go diving with it was because the camera was already spoilt (erratic sensor color/problematic loose mode wheel). The pressure and temperature though make the camera work flawlessly! Loose wheel was fixed at the correct mode due to the pressure :bsmilie: and the sensor didn't overheat to give funky colors :sweat:

Only thing I had to take note was to make sure I had the lens port positioned correctly and make sure the dicapac was ballooned sufficiently before I went down..

So I can say Dicapac's rating of 30m is good to go.. though don't expect the buttons to work if it's not at the stategic locations.. Now I wonder if a touch screen camera would function well anot :think:

 

[diver-hloc]

Actually my last dive trip, because my fuji housing was cracked, my friend lent me his fx7 housed in a dicapac to take photo.. YES! in a dicapac down to 30m!

And I can tell you the fx7 didn't even binge! Now theoretically the pressure at 30m was high, but not enough to destroy the fx7. The camera buttons cannot function though because at that depth, they were jammed. at about 17m though, I could take photos and use the camera as per normal.. just like a cam housed in a tight condom..

Hahaha.... and that is the problem isn't it.... can the Button still works under greater depth. :bsmilie:

 

[viix]

Hahaha.... and that is the problem isn't it.... can the Button still works under greater depth. :bsmilie:

:bsmilie: yeah proof of concept only.. but it's still ok for an interim solution for times like these :bsmilie:

 

[diver-hloc]

:bsmilie: yeah proof of concept only.. but it's still ok for an interim solution for times like these :bsmilie:

Already suggested to you to use 'Crack Casing' as an excuse to get a new U/W Camera setup.... heeheehee