Camera for under 600 bucks

[Peter Guy]

I think the Oly SP-350 for $199 at CostCo is the best bargain around in digital cameras -- throw in the housing for $195 and you have money left over for an addon Macro and Wide Angle lens.

But the real question is what do you want to do with your camera? The answer to that question will then tell you what type of camera (Point and Shoot basic, Point and Shoot complex, dSLR) to get.

I wouldn't set a price point -- especially if you're willing to spend more for the "other things" which are more expensive than the camera.

So, either an Oly SP-350 with housing OR the Evolt 350 (?) -- I'm very intrigued with the live LCD for UW imaging in a dSLR. Hmmm, TSandM -- there IS a birthday coming up and you DID Fl**d my backup camera.....

 

[Jamdiver]

Hmm, Jam, I will consider that. I paid 1200 for the body, duty free in the West Indies....Little Switzerland.

Lol, you should know that they're no deals to be had in this part of the world, especially with electronics

Check out this side by side comparison of the D50, D70 and D80........ (assuming that you'll stay with Nikon, since you already have Nikon lenses)

 

[alcina]

I'd have to second the Oly 350, Fuji 900 or Canon A or S series unless your budget is actually well over $600. If that is your budget just for the camera, you could look at a camera, housing and strobe (I paid just over $450US for my last strobe) for not much more. Add some wet mate lenses and you've got a fantastic, compact, functional system that will grow with you for ages.

The SLRs suggested are excellent, but they are only the bodies (maybe a kit lens). You would also then be looking at
- lenses
- ports for each lens; some ports multitask, others do not...always check to make sure the lens you want works with the port you want
- housing
- arms
- strobe which is pretty essential to a dslr set-up
- zoom/focus rings as may be necessary
- synch cord(s) for the strobe(s)

If your budget and dive time warrants it, dslrs are pretty neat. But they aren't the be all end all for a great many divers.

 

[ThatsSomeBadHatHarry]

How serious do you intend to be about photography?
How often do you dive, what sort of shots are you interested, Wide angle or macro?
Will the size of your setup matter at all??

probably a B to B+ on the serious range, A+ being diving only to take pictures and F being using a half-used disposable from the junk drawer.

i dive 2-3 times a week

macro seems to be my game, but that may be because of the vis in New England.

size? effective but not hulking

 

[ThatsSomeBadHatHarry]

I might be selling my D-100 with housing for about that pretty soon.

You should check Costco for the D-80. (Nikon) Look at B and H photo, Adorama too. Costco takes stuff back for any reason...gotta love that.

catherine, that is some offer. thanks! costco looks like a pretty good deal too.

 

[Cacia]

we love it in Hawaii for the return policy. No questions asked, ever. No receipt? They have the record on your account.

Also, I am using Am X to get extended warranties on electronics for the boat.

 

[dashmatrix]

Hi all, I'm in the market for a digital camera and i'm in the price range of 600 bucks (not including housing or any other accessories for that matter. just the camera.) wondering if anyone could make any suggestions on cameras to look into.
thanks

I have a couple suggestions for you TSBHH
1). Even if you go with a cheesy point and shoot you will spend nearly 1000$ for a housing and a decent strobe. I just learned this the hard way. Moral of this story is your housing is going to fit a SINGLE type of camera so PICK WELL. Limiting the buy to 600$ is ok but don't be affraid to plunk a few extra hundred on one that really tickles your fancy.
2). Don't bother asking the "do I need a strobe" question. You do. Even if you take the advice that says "you will be ok for a while without a strobe " you will need one after one dive. Trust me. The first time you dive without a strobe, you see something REALLY cool that you've never seen before and will never see again, like the Loch ness monster. You will take a shot of it and it will look like a snake in snowglobe.

So when you go to buy your strobe (expect to pay between 600-1000$ just for a flash! I know) you will see that everyone wants one that supports TTL. So if you didn't buy a housing that supports TTL, and a camera with a external flash and hotshoe and TTL you are out of luck. Moral of this story... Buy everything together or at least KNOW what you are going to buy all at once. Research the Strobe, the housing and the camera together.

3) Go to Ikelite's website. click their "Useful Links" or something like that. There are links to a ton of message boards JUST for underwater photography. Most of them are a great source for newbie information.

4) Finally don't stress over the decision. As long as you GET A STROBE, you'll be happy with the results... for a while. Then you are going to want to get a different lens, and a bigger camera which means a new housing and then a new port and a second strobe... and on and on.

 

[rjsimp]

I'm not sure if Dash is trying to imply that the olympus SP-350 is "Cheesy" or not, but it sournds like it. It also sounds like Dash is an Ikelite fan.

We are clearly talking point and shoot based on the price point here. $600 for any kind of DSLR camera is just not going to happen when you consider all the pieces you have to put together.

As point and shoots go, the SP-350 is one of the best deals going. It has 8MP, is relatively fast, shoots RAW, has a hot shoe for TTL (if wanted), and is very compact for only $200 you can have the camera. As already mentioned, you can get the housing for another $200. At this point, you will have a basic camera that you can shoot some macro shots with (using internal flash) and natural light shots. Since you have RAW mode, you can adjust white balance easily, or you can do a manual white balance with the camera also but that seems to be a waste of good bottom time (unless you want to shoot JPG for some reason).

From this point, you can add a strobe for $400-$700 (a $1000 is a bit much to spend). Adding the strobe will also require you get a tray and arms so you are looking at another $200 or so depending on what you want. Finally, if you want to add the TTL option and use a more generic TTL bulkhead instead of the olympus one, you are going to spend another $200. The short story here is if you are not SURE you want to shoot underwater, hold off on the strobe because that option is going to cost you at minimum another $600 and probably more like $1000 by the time you add everything. You can still take some nice shots and get used to the camera without a strobe.

 

[alcina]

For what it's worth I just bought an Inon 240 strobe (head only; synch cord another $90 or so I think but I already had one) for about $460 US from Yuzo so you might want to check that out - it's far less than the $700+ in the US.

Try not to be too put off by the costs of everything you can add-on as you develop - you'll find a way to justify them

 

[dashmatrix]

I'm not sure if Dash is trying to imply that the olympus SP-350 is "Cheesy" or not, but it sournds like it. It also sounds like Dash is an Ikelite fan.
...
From this point, you can add a strobe for $400-$700 (a $1000 is a bit much to spend). ..

Nope, sorry I didn't mean to imply that at all. In fact I shoot an even cheesier Nikon Coolpix p2. That's a point-n-shoot. I shoot it primarily because of it's Wi-fi capabilities. I can transfer the pictures (quickly) off the 2gb mem card to a laptop between dives without breaking the seal on the housing. (added safety feature I think).

1000 bucks really isn't a lot to spend on a strobe. I shoot the DS-51 which was a 600ish dollar strobe setup (with the ev-controller). I wish I had spent the extra 400 on the DS-125 or Inon equivalent because of their built-in Dive lights. (one less thing to carry on a night dive).

The problem I'm trying to highlight is the lack of hindsight. And anticipating your future needs NOW so you don't have to play the "throw it away and buy the bigger version" game. Which with U/W photography is expensive.

If you think you might want to shoot dSLR. Buy it NOW. Don't buy a P/s rig and expect to use it for a while and upgrade. Upgrading u/w photo equipment from p/s to dSRL can mean buying EVERYTHING over again unless you take things into consideration from the beginning. The most important being :
- Get a strobe that you can grow with. TTL features, manual control options, etc.

As for 600$ being out of the range of dSRLs... I don't know about that. I think you could get a Canon Digital Rebel for near that if you shop, or even the Nikon comparable D-whatever. You might have to shop but it can be done.
I like the Oly point and shoots because some of them have programs for UW WB. That's a nice to have.

What I meant by "cheesy point and shoot" is that many dSRL shooters seem to consider their dSRL camera's superior to p&s. And if you are leaning towards a SLR form factor it's usually because you have the flexibility of unlimited optics. Any p&s camera that locks you into their teleZoom propriatary lens is cheesy by comparison. (notice I said ANY). See what I mean ? I'm not taking a side I'm just pointing out my observations.