I have spent hours searching the various forums. My eyeballs are about to pop. The level of knowledge here is incredible.
I am a new diver living in Southern California. My wife and I were certified PADI OW and AOW this past August and September. I went on to PADI Rescue Diver. We have 30 dives logged outside our class dives. Weve shore dived at La Jolla and at the Avalon Dive Park on Catalina. Weve boat dived from the Bottom Scratcher at Catalina. Weve just come back from a weeks worth of diving with Raphael from Dolphin Dive Center in Loreto, BCS, Mexico. In short, were both absolutely hooked and having a blast diving our brains out! We bought our own equipment with the sole exception of tanks, which we currently find more convenient to rent.
After reading everthing I can find, I feel a bit like the emoticon attached to this post!
I need advice. I want to buy a camera to take with us diving. Id like something in a point and shoot digital camera and housing that wont crush me with too many new things to learn up front (i.e.- a nice "auto" mode for newbies) but has enough manual control to make me learn and get decent results. Id like to find a simple set up that I can expand with a strobe, wide angle lens and other accessories to increase the capabilities of the camera and me as I learn. Id like to spend about $800 or less.
I have been interested in the Sealife DC500 Elite set-up, but am concerned with the negative reviews. A number of the lower end Olympus and Cannon models seem very interesting, but the housings dont seem to be "upgradable" with decent external strobes.
Obviously, I expect to do mostly "snapshot" type photos at first. Id like to be able to expand into macro shots (I am absolutely fascinated by nudibranchs and similar creatures!) It would be great to add a UW swappable wide angle lens later on, too.
I realize Im asking for a heck of a lot. So
Questions:
Is there such an item?
What would you recommend and why?
Thanks for reading. I really appreciate your time and your suggestions. Thanks!
I am a new diver living in Southern California. My wife and I were certified PADI OW and AOW this past August and September. I went on to PADI Rescue Diver. We have 30 dives logged outside our class dives. Weve shore dived at La Jolla and at the Avalon Dive Park on Catalina. Weve boat dived from the Bottom Scratcher at Catalina. Weve just come back from a weeks worth of diving with Raphael from Dolphin Dive Center in Loreto, BCS, Mexico. In short, were both absolutely hooked and having a blast diving our brains out! We bought our own equipment with the sole exception of tanks, which we currently find more convenient to rent.
After reading everthing I can find, I feel a bit like the emoticon attached to this post!
I need advice. I want to buy a camera to take with us diving. Id like something in a point and shoot digital camera and housing that wont crush me with too many new things to learn up front (i.e.- a nice "auto" mode for newbies) but has enough manual control to make me learn and get decent results. Id like to find a simple set up that I can expand with a strobe, wide angle lens and other accessories to increase the capabilities of the camera and me as I learn. Id like to spend about $800 or less.
I have been interested in the Sealife DC500 Elite set-up, but am concerned with the negative reviews. A number of the lower end Olympus and Cannon models seem very interesting, but the housings dont seem to be "upgradable" with decent external strobes.
Obviously, I expect to do mostly "snapshot" type photos at first. Id like to be able to expand into macro shots (I am absolutely fascinated by nudibranchs and similar creatures!) It would be great to add a UW swappable wide angle lens later on, too.
I realize Im asking for a heck of a lot. So
Questions:
Is there such an item?
What would you recommend and why?
Thanks for reading. I really appreciate your time and your suggestions. Thanks!
