What would you buy with $3K?

My wife wants to get me a new outfit to replace the Oly C-5000Z/Sealife strobe I currently have. She is looking at this as a Xmas present for me, and she gave me a budget of $3K US.

What would you tell your spouse you wanted? Keep in mind I am not opposed to buying slightly used equipment.

My current challange is my C-5000Z does not focus so well in macro mode, and the Sealife strobe is a pain to keep adjusted properly because it is FO and not TTL. Also, because I have to use the internal flash to trigger the Sealife strobe, my camera battery lasts about 1.5 dives.

I am most certainly an advanced amateur, but want better quality out of my pictures. I did win an FSDA Film Festival 1st place award when I was 14! :14:But that was with a Nikonis II/28mm and a Giddings Flash, all manual.

We love to spend money here!!

Do you have a dslr yet? $3000 will almost get you set up if you already have the camera and lenses.

Otherwise, how often do you dive? Where do you dive? What do you like to take photos of?

Personally, I like the Canon range...the A series is a great place to start and the new G9 is performing very well and may be more to your liking.

I don't use ttl on my strobes so this isn't even in my top ten list of things to consider when buying new gear. It's a nice tool, but not a deal breaker imho.

alcina:

We love to spend money here!!

Do you have a dslr yet? $3000 will almost get you set up if you already have the camera and lenses.

Otherwise, how often do you dive? Where do you dive? What do you like to take photos of?

Personally, I like the Canon range...the A series is a great place to start and the new G9 is performing very well and may be more to your liking.

I don't use ttl on my strobes so this isn't even in my top ten list of things to consider when buying new gear. It's a nice tool, but not a deal breaker imho.

Click to expand...

Alcina,

Thanks for the response. I do not have a DSLR yet. I am leaning towards the Oly E-410. I have had Canon as well as Nikon/Nikonis in the past, but seem to enjoy my Oly. We dive at least twice a year from a dive vacation, and then dive West Palm and down to the Keys 2-3 times a year.

I will certainly look at the Canon G9, thanks for that tip. So far the only thing I have look at is the E-410 and Nikon D40and D40X. I acan actually get one with Marriot Rewards points....

This is the Reef quote I got for the E-410:

Olympus PT-E03 housing for Olympus E410 oly.pte03749.99
Olympus PPO-E05 Lens Port (14-42mm) oly.260525339.00
Olympus Zuiko E 50mm f/2.0 1:2 Macro Lens oly.261003.50449.00
Olympus EVOLT E-410 + 14-42mm Lens Kit oly.262041.e410+1442 639.95
Athena OPF TMP-50 Flat Port for Olympus E 50mm w/ 67mm Thread ath.opf.tmp50 499.00
Heinrichs-Weikamp Replacement Bulkhead N2 for Olympus PT-E03 hw.oly.ttl.pt.n2 249.00
Sea & Sea YS-110 DS-TTL Strobe ss.03106 550.00
Sea & Sea Nikonos Style Sync Cord ss.17100 93.50
ULCS AC-CSF Clamp, New Syle w/ 15° Lateral Movement ulc.ac.csf 59.90
ULCS DB-05 5" Double Ball Arm ulc.db.05 47.95
ULCS Single Ball Arm, 8", Sea & Sea YS Fitting ulc.sbss.8 52.95
ULCS TR-D Digital Tray ulc.tr.d 39.95
ULCS TR-DHB Padded Handle w/ Ball for Digital Tray ulc.tr.dhb 49.95
Total $3820.14

Just now upgraded (after much research) from C5000 and Oly housing, for much the same reasons as yours - dreadful macro focus and compatibilty issues with my strobe (Sea & Sea YS110). Eventually went with Nikon P5100 and Fantasea housing. Have not yet gotten it wet, but been xperimenting shooting bugs, lizards, low light, and night. No reservation so far in saying, a very, very definite upgrade - sharper optics, much superior macro and low light focus (and also night (near darkness), which the C5000 couldn't do). In the future is WA and Macro screw on 46mm wet lens.

My estimate is the above setup (including wet lens) could be done for about $2000.

If TTL is a must, you could then go with Ikelite housing and Ikelite DS125 strobe. The system would then be in the $2500 area.

This last setup but with Canon G9 would still be under $3000.

Will do another post as SB is about to time out (tired of it).

I chose the P5100 over the G9 for a couple reasons.
1. Got it for about $150 less (didn't have your budget).
2. The Canon housing for the G9 cannot take wet lens.
3. Wasn't going Ikelite as I shoot manual & not TTL.
4. PS's Camera Raw does amazing things even with JPEGs. G9 has RAW, P5100 - no.

Don't know if any of the above makes sense to you.

The Oly DSLR of choice seems to be the E330, now discontinued but still available (ebay) at discounted/refurbished (by Oly themselves) prices. From what I've read, it has 2 liveview modes, A & B. Apparently, the A mode is the one of choice. The E410 has only the B mode. Would recommend some research in this area.

Also, the P5100 is compatible with my YS 110 in manual.

Finally, I am dead set against the bulk of DSLRs.

Good Luck!

Reefhugger,

Thanks for the excellent feedback. I have looked at the E330 as well, but I want to get something that is current instead of older, and hang on to it for 5 years or so, so I am looking at current/latest technology.

I am not sure about the budget myself, as I presented the Reef quote to my wife and she kinda pushed back......

I can most likely get $400-$500 for my current rig, so that will help, and I will research the camera price, but so far Reef has the best price.

I believe I speced out a Canon 30D, dual DS51 strobes with deluxe arms and dual sync cable with the Ikelite housing for around 3100.00 with the 17X55 lens and port. Of course then I found my rig and didn't need to rebuy...

I am in the same predicament. I have a Sea & Sea DX-750 and am looking at replacing it with a point and shoot camera that allows manual aperture, shutter speed and focusing. I also want to be able to add a TTL flash and a wet wide angle lens.

I checked out the Canon G9 but there are only two underwater housings available and neither allow a TTL flash or a wet wide angle lens. This is very disapointing because the camera is very nice and has all the features I was looking for.

I also checked out the new Nikon SP5100 but it did not have manual focus.

So far the only Point and Shoot that meets all this is the Oly SP-350.

Stephen

Keep the old camera and go on a liveaboard for a week.