Been done to death but.... latest is?!

[ickledevil]

Hi all i know this must get asked every month but i want a digi cam for underwater use and on land too. Must be cheapish.. and i'd like the option of getting my prints enlarged to as big as possible without loosing their clarity should i take a picture worthy of being a poster! I know the old god of digi's was the olympus C5050 which i can pick up for about £160 this is 5mp (i think) is there anything better?! especially for the same money or a sprinkling more? Thanks Joe

[ickledevil]

Ok after little research of my own i see the PT015 housing for the oly 5050 has been discontinued. Guess that kinda takes that out the running as i cant strech to an ikelite one without giving the bank manager a heart attack and inducing a divorce. So advice on other cameras to consider would be greatly appreciated. Joe

[superhornet59]

i would suggest using an EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT) by canon. it has amazing high quality, for an amazing low price (near the thousand dollar range by itself, but most are north of 3000) underwater cases are rather common for it.

and if you want to enlarge prints, this will let you make a decent poster, but if its not enough just inerpolate it (the new photozoom pro is the best, but photoshops bicubic is good enough to maintain quality (not exactly detail though)) but the rebels print size should be enough for a poster.

[fuzz]

Originally Posted by superhornet59

i would suggest using an EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT) by canon. it has amazing high quality, for an amazing low price (near the thousand dollar range by itself, but most are north of 3000) underwater cases are rather common for it.

and if you want to enlarge prints, this will let you make a decent poster, but if its not enough just inerpolate it (the new photozoom pro is the best, but photoshops bicubic is good enough to maintain quality (not exactly detail though)) but the rebels print size should be enough for a poster.

He said must be cheapish... did you even read his post?


See if you can pick up a PT-015 on ebay, it's a good setup. The shutterlag is a pain in the butt though

[ickledevil]

hehehe!
Now looking at oly sp350 and housing any thoughts on that setup appreciated. Also still considering C5050 and housing off ebay....

[tbgsub]

hmmm digital cam on the cheap, but needing at least 5MP,
and you are expecting to be able to blow something up to a poster size incase you get something special. (it all depends on what something special is going to entail) -> MACRO?? or wide angle?? certainly not both in the cheap digi world, [basically you are going to get what you are willing to pay for) so you can get a relatively cheapish macro capable/moderate range (decent) camera, like the one I use-> NOKON COOLPIX 5600 with the WP-CP3 underwater housing (good to 40M depth-130Ft) camera cost 250-380 and housing cost 199-400. this might seem like a large disparity in prices, but this is a currently realistic total potential cost, depending on your effort at hunting for a good deal = (450-780) this camera is quite respectable for MACRO (close ups) as in see the hair and speckles on the tick that is on your friends face from 16" away. also it is fairly decent at shots ranging from 6'-80', and further on land using the panoramic feature. you can print fairly large before getting grainy, and the camera is quite small, even in the housing. I got the camera at Circuit city, and the housing on EBay for the lower cost. I also saved up for a 1GB SD card (85.00 - hard to initially justify but wouldn't have anything else for memory = one card to rule them all!!) for tons of storage capacity with full sized 5MP images. dont waste money on disposeable batteries either, not enough time to shoot underwater 2-3 hrs. go recycleable and get close to 6hrs shooting time! this really helps!

drawbacks are some, but not many, you have to understand that this is a pioint and shoot camera, it is not capable of shooting rapidly with flash, cycle times around 1shot every/17seconds with flash, which is pretty crutial underwater. anything faster will begin to cost (larger batteries/faster processor chip/larger CCD sensor Ect.)

for entry level, and cheapo factor you may be willing to trade off some things for others.

check out the availability of inexpensive housings and then look for the camera that goes in them.

also if you want cheap it doesn't necessarily mean deep. at 40 meters you are slightly limited, but it is a perfect range for tropical diving and snorkeling, and sizewise it is still smaller than a Nikonos V that burns film.
price of a nikonos V on e-bay range from 190-280 and it is underwater capable without a housing, it burns 35mm film, but the images are better, with additional lenses, it is more capable than any digital 5MP camera for the price, but it will need an external strobe that puts the cost near 400-those sub-strobes arent cheap so get a good one with lots of settings.

I plan on using the 5600 to learn basic underwater skills and then upgrade to a Nokonos V when I have sorted out the basics and want more quality.

I have had the 5600 for 1/2 a year now and honestly it does alot for its size and cost! images can be made clear with some attention, and the auto white balance seems to function great in most settings! over all the Nikon Coolpix 5600 is a kick ass little point and shoot cam.

you might be shopping and think you can save money by getting the 4600, but some things it cannot do. for example only 4.1MP, and No sound recorded with video, and no zoom feature with video, while the 5600 is capable in those aspects. It is worth it just for the higher resolution of 5.1MP in the 5600 alone!!!!

most importantly look at the customer feedback on each camera at varioius sites. some underwater housings cost slightly less than the cameras, most cost the same or more.

good luck at getting digital underwater on a budget.

sincerely,

TBGSUB

[Jon]

I bought a C5050 when they first came out and I still use it. I've looked into getting a DSLR, but the cost is just too high right now and selling off my camera would only gain me a fraction of what I paid for it.

Still, it is a great little camera that can do a lot- but there is that shutter lag to deal with. I usually set mine to HQ, not RAW, and set it to rapid fire mode- so that something turn out in the middle. If I am shooting above water I reset the thing and go shot by shot. Shooting in RAW mode takes a LONG time and is best for still subjects if using the 5050- one reason why I'd like to move up to a DSLR is to illiminate this issue.

I also have the INON wide angle lens, and Dome port, which make a HUGE difference in what I am able to do. An add-on lens will get you closer and that's what will make your shots better- reducing the amount of water between your subject and the lens.

Seeing as how the 5050 was considered the standard for P/S digicams a couple of years ago I would say it's still a safe bet to start out with now. The PT015 housing is fine for most freediving, and scuba, but Ikelite makes a beter housing if you want to go deeper with it. The PT015 is only rated to 40 meters, but I've bumped into people who've taken them to 70 meters- not reccomended but possible. I used to do the same thing with my Motormarine II's- they were rated to 50 meteres and I took them to 70 meters without too much of a problem, although the auto advance is a bit slower at depth.

I don't know too much about the Sp350, but I would suggest looking over at Wetpixel, Digideep, and Steve's Digicam.

As far as upgrading to a Nikonos V, they haven't been made in a couple of years and Nikon is getting out of the film camera buisness altogether- everything is going digital. If you really want a film camera I would check out Ebay and pick up a used Nikon RS system for a tiny fraction of what they cost new- somebody's crying over that one.

Right now I just need for someone to upgrade to the new Nikon D200 so I can buy one of their old D70's.

Jon

[Shudderbug]

I will be heading stateside in the next few weeks. Any decent camera shops in the Florida area? I'll be visiting friends, but will have a car.

[Longfins]

Originally Posted by Jon

I bought a C5050 when they first came out and I still use it. I've looked into getting a DSLR, but the cost is just too high right now and selling off my camera would only gain me a fraction of what I paid for it.

Still, it is a great little camera that can do a lot- but there is that shutter lag to deal with. I usually set mine to HQ, not RAW, and set it to rapid fire mode- so that something turn out in the middle. If I am shooting above water I reset the thing and go shot by shot. Shooting in RAW mode takes a LONG time and is best for still subjects if using the 5050- one reason why I'd like to move up to a DSLR is to illiminate this issue.

I also have the INON wide angle lens, and Dome port, which make a HUGE difference in what I am able to do. An add-on lens will get you closer and that's what will make your shots better- reducing the amount of water between your subject and the lens.

Seeing as how the 5050 was considered the standard for P/S digicams a couple of years ago I would say it's still a safe bet to start out with now. The PT015 housing is fine for most freediving, and scuba, but Ikelite makes a beter housing if you want to go deeper with it. The PT015 is only rated to 40 meters, but I've bumped into people who've taken them to 70 meters- not reccomended but possible. I used to do the same thing with my Motormarine II's- they were rated to 50 meteres and I took them to 70 meters without too much of a problem, although the auto advance is a bit slower at depth.

I don't know too much about the Sp350, but I would suggest looking over at Wetpixel, Digideep, and Steve's Digicam.

As far as upgrading to a Nikonos V, they haven't been made in a couple of years and Nikon is getting out of the film camera buisness altogether- everything is going digital. If you really want a film camera I would check out Ebay and pick up a used Nikon RS system for a tiny fraction of what they cost new- somebody's crying over that one.

Right now I just need for someone to upgrade to the new Nikon D200 so I can buy one of their old D70's.

Jon

In November I upgraded my Olympus 5050z to Fuji Finepix E900 and Ikelite housing. I can still use INON Z220 strobe and the .6X 67mm wide agle lens Olympus PWC-01 from my old system.
- Upside: E900 has a 9 MP sensor, good movie mode, with ISO1600 and much better shutter response.
- Downside: no RAW format, chromatic aberration, preflash exists so full power slave flash is useless and I have to use -1 to -5 settings, the screw-on lens creates some internal reflection if I'm not careful in avoiding high contrast situations.

The main reason I stuck with point-and-shoot is because I didn't feel like risking my SLR system with a housing that is twice the price of my upgrade. Even with a good SLR housing, the odds are still around 1 in 250 dives that you will flood it (from friends with SLRs).

In good lighting (for autofocusing), the E900 allows me to make fairly decent 'grab shots'. For freediving, it's a good compromise decision.

Samples are here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/54072467@N00/sets/1819341/

The underwater pix in Dahab were taken with the E900.

Peter S.

[Jon]

Peter,

How well does it work without the strobes? strobes are fine for scuba, but I HATE carrying them for freediving.

Can you do a manual white balance with it? How much bigger is it in the Ikeltie housing compared to the 5050 in the PT015? I know that my Inon wll transfer over to just about any Ikeltie housing since they have a 67mm thread on the end of the lens port.

Jon

[Longfins]

Hi Jon,

The E900 works quite fine without strobes (all the reef pix are with strobe, the rest are without). In fact, Fuji has a 'natural light' mode to showcase its more sensitive CCD. Manual white balance (set values and custom values) are available for P,S,A,M modes (program, shutter/aperture priority, manual). The housing size for Ikelite is roughly the same as the PT015 because the E900 is so much smaller than the 5050, it looks much smaller sitting inside the housing.

http://ikelite.com/web_two/fuji_e900.html

Forgot to mention: I had to paint the front barrel of the E900 black because it's metallic and created quite a bit of internal reflection with the port / screw-on lens.

Peter