ghnouer
Contributor
Wich one for my first underwater camera? Please help me to decide...Thanks
Please help !!! Canon A640 vs. Fuji E900 vs G7????
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starlan
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I would skip the G7. Its way overpriced IMO and does not even offer RAW at that cost. Its basically no better than the A series by Canon, its more like a repackaged and repriced A series than anything else. The A series are good the A640, 620 and the 710IS should all be good. The Fuji F30 is also good, if you do a search here or look in the which camera stiky there will be a link to a discussion about it, the housing is made by Fuji - very high quality and not very expensive. The Fuji E900 is also another diver favorite and it offers RAW and all the manual controls, etc. etc. but the housing is made by ikelite so it comes out a little more expensive. Lastly, you might also want to consider the Oly SP-350, it also offers RAW and manual controls and should be pretty cheap now as its a somewhat older camera.
Regards,
Sinan
Regards,
Sinan
Gilligan
Contributor
In addition to starlan's post:
The Oly SP350 is a discontinued camera even though they are still available.
My choice would be the Canon A640 (10 megapixel) or Fuji E900 (9 megapixel).
Canon has dropped RAW from their point-and-shoot cameras if that matters to you.
I would go with the Ike housing with either choice as parts will always be available and an adapter is avaiable for 67mm wet mount wide angle and close-up lenses.
The Oly SP350 is a discontinued camera even though they are still available.
My choice would be the Canon A640 (10 megapixel) or Fuji E900 (9 megapixel).
Canon has dropped RAW from their point-and-shoot cameras if that matters to you.
I would go with the Ike housing with either choice as parts will always be available and an adapter is avaiable for 67mm wet mount wide angle and close-up lenses.
jeraldjcook
Contributor
Ditto what starlan said about your three choices. The G7 is overpriced, and the Ikelite housing is going to $700ish when it comes out, but it will have TTL. Both the A640 and F30 are good cameras, but I'm partial to Canons myself. The F30 uses it own rechargeable battery and the E900 only uses 2AA batteries, something to think about. The A640 uses 4AA, enough to shoot all day and not need to open the housing to change the batteries if your SD card is big enough. I'm not a big fan of expensive rechargeable batteries like in the F30. And the 2AA batteries in the E900 might not be enough juice too get you through a long day of shooting. There is piece of mind that comes from being able to get your camera ready to shoot and sealed up in the hotel with no need to open it on a boat where something could cause a leak.
starlan
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Yes you should also take into account what Gilligan and Jerald state. The Ikelite housing for the Fuji E900 may be a good choice if you plan to upgrade and use add on lenses, strobes, etc.. so if you buy another camera and but an Ikelite housing again, your lenses and strobes should work well as long as you keep using Ikelite housings.
The A640 is a great all-around cam that uses AA's and the battery lasts a decent amount as far as I can remember. The Fuji F30 battery though propreitary offers incredible battery life at about 600 shots per charge. It wont run out even if you do 3 dives a day! Also the F30 housing is made by Fuji but Inon offers many accesories such as lenses and strobes that can be mounted on the Fuji housing so there is also oppurtunity for expanding your setup (PS. I own the F30 and I love it). However, dont count the Sp350 out even though its discontinued, its a good camera for diving though a camera like the F30 may do better for all around use if you intend to use it on land as-well. A replacement for the Sp350 could also be in the works, but I dont know, this is just an assumption.
I think you cant go wrong with either the A640, E900 (probably the best as far as expandibility and shooting options go > RAW!), the F30 is a good cheap alternative with the Fuji housing and can be expanded using Inon products and lastly the SP350 is a great cam for underwater use and also cheap and I have seen many great pics by users of this cam in this forum (although most use strobes and add on lenses but thats the nice thing about having a camera that can be expanded as you grow with your photography). The nice thing is pretty much all these P&S cameras can be expanded to include a goot setup of accesories and considering the F30 has more underwater accesories (thank to Inon) than it does for accesories on land - you wont be dissapointed with any of them IMO. Good luck
The A640 is a great all-around cam that uses AA's and the battery lasts a decent amount as far as I can remember. The Fuji F30 battery though propreitary offers incredible battery life at about 600 shots per charge. It wont run out even if you do 3 dives a day! Also the F30 housing is made by Fuji but Inon offers many accesories such as lenses and strobes that can be mounted on the Fuji housing so there is also oppurtunity for expanding your setup (PS. I own the F30 and I love it). However, dont count the Sp350 out even though its discontinued, its a good camera for diving though a camera like the F30 may do better for all around use if you intend to use it on land as-well. A replacement for the Sp350 could also be in the works, but I dont know, this is just an assumption.
I think you cant go wrong with either the A640, E900 (probably the best as far as expandibility and shooting options go > RAW!), the F30 is a good cheap alternative with the Fuji housing and can be expanded using Inon products and lastly the SP350 is a great cam for underwater use and also cheap and I have seen many great pics by users of this cam in this forum (although most use strobes and add on lenses but thats the nice thing about having a camera that can be expanded as you grow with your photography). The nice thing is pretty much all these P&S cameras can be expanded to include a goot setup of accesories and considering the F30 has more underwater accesories (thank to Inon) than it does for accesories on land - you wont be dissapointed with any of them IMO. Good luck
DesertEagle
Contributor
The advantage of the G7 is that it has a hot shoe. In the Ike housing, you should get real TTL with a synch cord. Battery life should be awesome that way.
The SP-350 will let you work with a synch cord. Either in an Ikelite housing, or with the adapter that Reef Photo sells. Or you can use it to trigger a slave. In preflash mode you can lower the output power manually by up to 2 stops. It also has a slave mode (one flash) that you can adjust power from 1-10. You could shoot in aperture priority (up and down buttons for aperture number, left and right for exposure compensation) and still have exactly the same flash. Nice. I'm sure the G7 does all that too.
The F30 is probably my next camera for available light. I'll be using it for aperture priority with a Magic Filter. But if you plan to shoot flash, look at another camera. You would really want a camera that can allow you to lower the flash output from the camera. The F30 doesn't do that.
The SP-350 will let you work with a synch cord. Either in an Ikelite housing, or with the adapter that Reef Photo sells. Or you can use it to trigger a slave. In preflash mode you can lower the output power manually by up to 2 stops. It also has a slave mode (one flash) that you can adjust power from 1-10. You could shoot in aperture priority (up and down buttons for aperture number, left and right for exposure compensation) and still have exactly the same flash. Nice. I'm sure the G7 does all that too.
The F30 is probably my next camera for available light. I'll be using it for aperture priority with a Magic Filter. But if you plan to shoot flash, look at another camera. You would really want a camera that can allow you to lower the flash output from the camera. The F30 doesn't do that.
OP
ghnouer
Contributor
Thank you for all answers....Probably I will buy a F30 (with Fuji Housing) and in a near future Some Inon parts. Any suggestions for Inon acessories??
DesertEagle
Contributor
Buy the wide angle lens first. It's the 105AD. You will need an AD-mount adapter, which they have. Then get a Magic Filter.
pakman
Contributor
ghnouer:
Just about to take my F30 and housing for its first dive this weekend... the F30 in the housing is tiny!!! just crossing my fingers we have so so viz this weekend.
OP
ghnouer
Contributor
Good look with your new toy Pakman!!.....Please post your opinion about the camera and if it's possible some photos....Wich Inon Strobe should be better for F30 ( with future plans to upgrade) : D 2000 or Z 240 ???pakman:
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