What digital cameras to get for uwp - Specific Models

[kthan]

Hi

We are still getting many queries on this board and much has been written on this subject matter. Which camera to get is really a personal choice and sometimes it can be down to non-photography reasons. I almost bought soemthing which i would never need from this cute salegirl the other day. ALMOST!

Ikelite has come out with some great housings for several models and the prices are not that far off from those offered by the camera manufacturers. If you have friends in th USA, this is a good place to shop : http://www.reefphoto.com/
In Singapore, there is also a good Ikelite distributor but enuff has been said about him in this forum already and if you dunno who i am talking about, you haven't been reading the wealth of info avail in this sub-thread. :nono:

I shall not go into the details of why I choose them, but if i were shopping for a setup now, it would likely be one of these:

Fujifilm - F810 Zoom
Nikon - Coolpix 5900, 7900
Sony - W5, w7

And the housing choice would be Ikelite, with Inon WA and macro lens. Strobe would be one of the Inons for power and size.....unless i get good bargains for the Ikelite DS-50, DS125 or S&S DX-90. I would very much prefer an optic fibre triggered strobe (bulkhead Syn cord would be best, but not avail for these cams)

Order of Purchase (if u are budget constrained) - Cam + housing, macro lens, tray + arm + strobe, then WA lens......

A rich bf or gf will come in handy before the cam+housing.

:lovegrin: :devil:
Eric

 

[kthan]

anyone who wants to challenge or add to the list are welcomed to do so, with justifications or not.

Just don't expect me to defend my choices. There are just too many factors taken into considerations (remember the cute salesgirl thingy?)

Personally, I am torn between the F810 (u all know i like this one, even better CCD than my S2) and Nikon 5900 (5mp becos likely to find a better bargain, both new or second hand).

Damned, now poeple know why I wanna sell my S2 Pro setup. Can't keep it and buy another since i lost the lawsuit against Michael.

Eric

 

[lovells19]

I choose the Cute Sales girl thats more important then the other specs. hahaha

 

[kthan]

I choose the Cute Sales girl thats more important then the other specs. hahaha

but unlike the camera, she doesn't follow u home. That's why I ALMOST bought.

 

[lovells19]

but unlike the camera, she doesn't follow u home. That's why I ALMOST bought.

If she's a Free Gift and if Your Immigration Officer Approves to it.. Im sure you would have already bought 'them' home hahaha

hmm haven check the specs for 5900.. seems the W series quite impressive also

 

[DTan]

i think the moderator should put up a sticky that reads, read this for recommendation for uw camera. so that we don't have to keep on reading the same questions and kthan would have to keep coming up with articles.

 

[seewhy]

I too have come to the similar deduction of Fujifilm F810 and Coolpix 5900/7900 when I was camera hunting. Personally not very into Sony product (very personal preference, maybe salegirl at Sony shop not cute enough? :dunno: ), so did not look into it.

As for housing, price is always a major concern for me because camera can be use on land too but housing serve singular purpose so paying more for housing than camera seem putting cart before horse, IMHO. Of course it can also save your camera when you take photo of the cute salegirl and she spit at you.

But when a good second hand set come along at reasonable price, I grab the Oly 5060/PT020 with Inon z220s. Now have to look for macro lens, cannot always use magnifying glasses only.

 

[beivied]

i think the moderator should put up a sticky that reads, read this for recommendation for uw camera. so that we don't have to keep on reading the same questions and kthan would have to keep coming up with articles.

hi don ... there already kthan's writeup about choice of cameras in the Interesting Articles, and it would be almost impracticable to have a sticky on it alone. The interesting articles should suffice

 

[beivied]

my experience over the weekend about f810 from talking to a diver who is using it:

short battery life, max one and a half dives (dunno how many shots she took)

no custom settings, like c5050, that you can set your own custom settings and go back to it. you have to adjust everytime in M mode.

 

[DTan]

hi don ... there already kthan's writeup about choice of cameras in the Interesting Articles, and it would be almost impracticable to have a sticky on it alone. The interesting articles should suffice

apparently it's not enough since almost EVERY newbie comes in and asks the same questions.

thus i'm suggesting having a more obvious heading to direct them to the correct articles.

2c worth. (obviously down the drain)

 

[kthan]

Nikon 5900 and 7900 are dropped out of the list as they do not afford full manual control over f-stop and shutter speed.

 

[yzr500abe]

How about the sony? W5 and W7 does offer impressive specs,perhaps sony realised that auto settings are not enough to satisfy consumers anymore?

I had a sony DSC P10, using lithium rechargeable pack, UW housing cost over $500...and it's almost impossible to get 1 now. (i bought the camera in dec 2003). Everything is expensive, memory sticks, UW housing, lithium batt...one of the most expensive comparing to other brands. The battery can only tahan 90 shots or so.

Back to W5/W7, they are using on 2 batteries instead of 4. I do worry about the camera endurance.

My 2 cents.

 

[WhyZzzzzz]

How about the sony? W5 and W7 does offer impressive specs,perhaps sony realised that auto settings are not enough to satisfy consumers anymore?

I had a sony DSC P10, using lithium rechargeable pack, UW housing cost over $500...and it's almost impossible to get 1 now. (i bought the camera in dec 2003). Everything is expensive, memory sticks, UW housing, lithium batt...one of the most expensive comparing to other brands. The battery can only tahan 90 shots or so.

Back to W5/W7, they are using on 2 batteries instead of 4. I do worry about the camera endurance.

My 2 cents.

btw .... heard that the battery life of the nikon D2X is more than a thousand shots..... .well ..just in case you guys wanna know lah..... hehehhe

:dunno:

 

[foxwagon]

my experience over the weekend about f810 from talking to a diver who is using it:

short battery life, max one and a half dives (dunno how many shots she took)

no custom settings, like c5050, that you can set your own custom settings and go back to it. you have to adjust everytime in M mode.

Short battery life means diver can 'suddenly' remember to look for buddy or return to dive group.

 

[kthan]

my experience over the weekend about f810 from talking to a diver who is using it:

short battery life, max one and a half dives (dunno how many shots she took)

no custom settings, like c5050, that you can set your own custom settings and go back to it. you have to adjust everytime in M mode.

yep F810 no good at all.....she wanna sell?

 

[miko]

using Sony W5. I used the first-time-charged battery for 4 dives, kept on snapping n snapping as it was my first trip using the camera.. n back on land I kept reviewing the pictures i took, till come back to Singapore, I was still reviewing the pictures!

but IMHO for serious u/w photography W5 is not good enough in terms of lack of fully manual controls... but for myself, good enough :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: A happy W5 user!

 

[kthan]

using Sony W5. I used the first-time-charged battery for 4 dives, kept on snapping n snapping as it was my first trip using the camera.. n back on land I kept reviewing the pictures i took, till come back to Singapore, I was still reviewing the pictures!

but IMHO for serious u/w photography W5 is not good enough in terms of lack of fully manual controls... but for myself, good enough :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: A happy W5 user!

hi Miko, can u elaborate on the "lack of fully manual controls"?

can u set aperture and shutter speed?

 

[miko]

You can manually set the shutter speed and the aperture. BUT there are only 2 steps for the aperture, EITHER biggest- f2.8 or smallest- f5.6. That's it. I guess anything in between f2.8 and 5.6 doesnt make much of a difference..Mayb tat's why Sony designers tot might as well set it to 2 extreme choices.

 

[yzr500abe]

You can manually set the shutter speed and the aperture. BUT there are only 2 steps for the aperture, EITHER biggest- f2.8 or smallest- f5.6. That's it. I guess anything in between f2.8 and 5.6 doesnt make much of a difference..Mayb tat's why Sony designers tot might as well set it to 2 extreme choices.

In fact this is 2 of the most popular f stop settings for aperture.

4 dives? How many shots per dive? if it's 60 shots per dive, multiply by 4 that's pretty good endurance IMHO.

 

[kthan]

In fact this is 2 of the most popular f stop settings for aperture.

4 dives? How many shots per dive? if it's 60 shots per dive, multiply by 4 that's pretty good endurance IMHO.

i never ever use 2.8 u/w. dunno about others