Newbie Questions

I am brand new to diving and would love to get into under water photography.

I am a relatively experienced photographer but have never snapped a picture underwater.


Currently I own a fairly old Minolta SLR (Well roughly 10 years old) and a Sony DSC-T1 digital camera; which is just a point and shoot digital I take around when lugging the minolta is to much of a pain.

I have not searched for the Minolta but I know I can get a body for the Sony for around $100 but I would assume a body for the minolta would be much more pricey (that is if I could find one).

Down the road I will be getting a Nikon d100 but thats so far away I don't want to wait to be taking pictures .

Now my question is this: would purchasing a body for my Sony result in decent pictures? Since it has no outside flash would it be worth the cost of a body to take pictures with? I know they also make a underwater color filter for it.

Thanks!

Welcome to the boards.

Not familiar with the housing for the Sony but if it allows you to use the internal flash I would think $100 is a low entry fee to start getting some UW experience.

Welcome to the board.
You can take some fairly good pictures with the internal strobes of most cameras as long as you understand their limits. Basically only closeup (less than say 2 ft) and macro shots are the only ones really worth doing unless you are in very shallow (<10ft) and very clear water. More distant shots and wide angle require a good external strobe.
I would like to make a different suggestion if I may. As a photographer I know how you feel about wanting to get under and take pictures but amount of skill and task loading required to handle a camera underwater is a lot more than you imagine . UW photography takes a lot of diving skill and practice. As a new diver and a new dive buddy your attention really needs to be on diving. Do yourself, your buddy and the reef a favor and dive for a year or so until you have your buoyancy, buddy skills and trim are dead on. Find a good place locally and practice your skills until buoyancy is second nature, then grab the camera. Your shots will be a lot better and you will be a much safer diver if you do. We have some really great photographers here on this board and all are more than willing to help.
Again, welcome to the board.

Agree with all said, especially about being a better diver before photographer. The P1 will take good pictures and it's worth getting the case. It's small enough that when you do take it underwater tuck it under a BCD strap and only pull it out when you see something worth a picture. That way you can still be mostly a diver that take pictures vs. a photographer that dives.

Getting the cheap case will let you try out UW photography and see if it's for you. If it's not, then you haven't laid out much money. If you want to continue, I would guess that you will eventually want to get a housing that can take a strobe but you can still get some decent shots with internal flash and point and shoots. Good luck.