I Need Alot of Advice

willow12233 · Aug 28, 2005

I am looking to buy a digital camera that works just as great under the water as it does on dry land. My budget isn't very high, maybe only $800 for both the camera and the housing. I am currently in college and cannot spend too much on things other then books and classes

) I don't need the camera to take extremely professional pictures, but I do want better quality then what I get from the one-time use underwater cameras. If anyone knows of any good cameras or where I should start looking, it would be appreciated. Thanks alot.

-Katie

PhinDiver · Aug 28, 2005

Check out the new Sealife DC 500. http://www.sealife-cameras.com/cameras/digital.html.

gecko2gecko · Aug 28, 2005

Phin,

Any idea on the price of it or where I can find out? Thanks!

gregor1234 · Aug 28, 2005

Or, look at getting a nikon coolpix camera and a housign from www.fantasea.com Nikon digi cams are pretty darn good and fantasea housings are remarkably low-priced. I'm sure there are several combos well within your $800 range.

jakubson · Aug 28, 2005

willow12233:
I am looking to buy a digital camera that works just as great under the water as it does on dry land. My budget isn't very high, maybe only $800 for both the camera and the housing. I am currently in college and cannot spend too much on things other then books and classes ) I don't need the camera to take extremely professional pictures, but I do want better quality then what I get from the one-time use underwater cameras. If anyone knows of any good cameras or where I should start looking, it would be appreciated. Thanks alot.

-Katie

Look at the Canon A95 plus WP-DC50 housing. You can get both for $450 to $500, then add $80 or less for a high speed 1 Gb compact flash card. Save the balance of your $800 to eventually get an external strobe (such as Inon D2000 with fiber optic sync cord, tray and arm for $850 or so).

The Canon is 5MP, and gives you the manual controls so you will not outgrow the camera as you get better.

Of course, YMMV.

RonFrank · Aug 28, 2005

willow12233:
I am looking to buy a digital camera that works just as great under the water as it does on dry land. My budget isn't very high, maybe only $800 for both the camera and the housing. I am currently in college and cannot spend too much on things other then books and classes ) I don't need the camera to take extremely professional pictures, but I do want better quality then what I get from the one-time use underwater cameras. If anyone knows of any good cameras or where I should start looking, it would be appreciated. Thanks alot.

-Katie

In Canon, I'd suggest the S70.

In Oly, I'd suggest the C7070, and C8080 camera's.

Nikon makes some good choices, but I have not researched their PnS models much.

Sea&Sea just came out with the DX8000 but I believe it's about $1000. However the DX5000 is now discontinued, but still available. I think this camera boasts a very short shutter lag which is a big problem with most PnS type digital cameras.

IMO you get more camera for the $$$ purchasing a land based camera that has a housing available, but if you can pick up a DX5000 for under $600, that maybe a very good bet.

Jay_SMART_Diver · Aug 28, 2005

I use an Olympus C-5000 5.0 mexapixle ($200) and the Olympus PT-019 housing $150, been working great for me. Gonna add a digital strobe before a trip to Cozumel in Nov.

jlyle · Aug 28, 2005

Now's an excellent time to pick up a pre-owned camera/housing from someone who's moving up. There are a lot of great prosumer digital cameras out there. Check out the Oly c5050/PT-015 combo. No, I'm not selling mine!

scubanatic · Aug 28, 2005

I have been taking picture for 3 years now and started with the Sealife 35MM, moved up to digital 3.3 from Sealife with double strobes. I have now moved onto the sea&sea DX5000G. In my opinion this is an awesome camera and gives you all the features of a Nikonus. The only draw back is camera and housing is about 1K. Mine is a 5.1 megapixel. They just announced a 8 mega pixel in June. The price of the DX5000G will probably come done, so yuo make be able to pick one up at your 800.00 ceiling. Good Luck and happy picture taking...

Larry aka "scubanatic"

alcina · Aug 28, 2005

I'd have to go the Canon range. You can save a bundle by hitting the 3.2 or 4mp cameras as most of their ranges have moved to 5+ MP. And from the sounds of your needs a 4mp is going to be fine. I still use my A75 as a backup and it's only 3.2MP. Canon housings have been great for me - no trouble and lots of dives and snorkelling.

Olympus does some really nice small point and shoots, too.

My guess is that as a college student you aren't going to want to lug around something as large as an Olympus 5050, 7070 or 8080 etc and NOT the sea life for land. The Canon A & S & SD series are pretty compact (the SD or Ixus does not have manual control which you will want underwater) as are some of the Olys. Seems you'd get much more use out of a system you will carry with you more...YMMV

I Need Alot of Advice

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