Camera & housing questions (NOT "what should I buy")

I have been reading and searching like crazy trying to narrow down what I want for underwater pictures. Above water I use a Nikon D50 and am really getting into the photography "thing". LOVE the D50!! However, $1k + for a housing is just not gonna happen. If I ever got really serious, maybe, but for now and the medium term future, uh, no.

So the questions I have are from the perspective of clearing things up for me rather than "what should I buy".


1) I'm leaning away from anything under 5mp - if I do take a decent picture I'd hate to be limited to 5x7 ish for prints. Thoughts?

2) I'd prefer to shoot RAW but from what I hear (specifically about the SP350) it's so darn slow writing to the card it's pointless. Photoshop allows for playing around enough w/ jpegs. Yes?!?

3) WB - I've got an expodisc (which I also love and would use underwater) so setting WB manually would be ideal, however I see many Canons have underwater mode would should be substantially similar, yes? So either HAS to have manual WB or a Canon - any thoughts?

4) Image Stabilization, Vibration Reduction, whatever - necessary for underwater shots or a "nice to have but not a deal breaker"?

5) Lastly, zoom range. For P&S camera I've long been in the camp that zoom is like money and memory, you can never have enough. Is 3x optical (digital zoom is worthless IMO) enough or should I get more reach?

I'd like the ability to down the line potentially add a strobe.

I'm trying to keep initial investment low in case I want to get crazier down the road. I also have to keep in mind that I've got a LOT of scuba gear to buy yet too and that money tree in the back yard is bare. I've got a couple leads on set ups from various places that end up in the $250 - 300 range which is perfect right now, just for reference. I'm probably NOT going to get everything I want at that level, but hey, one can hope right? That also is one of the reasons I'd like to know from folks who have been there which of the 5 above are the biggies. If I've forgotten anything please let me know.

There are certainly WAY better people on this board to answer this question, but here are my 0.02

1) Most any P&S are over 5mp, so that shouldn't be a problem
2) Not sure how fast RAW is on some of the better cameras. I have a crack for my A640 that allows me to shoot RAW, but the recycle is about 5 sec. Too long for me.
3) With a flash or strobe, no need for wb. For those shots at a distance, some say use custom wb, some say no. Canon can go either way.
4) I don't think my camera has this and I don't miss it. For speeds of 1/125 or faster, I'm thinking you'll be good. I could be completely wrong for this though.
5) I don't zoom too much uw (maybe that's a problem). For macro, I try to get real close.

The camera that I want and am tempted to buy is the Canon G9. Shoots RAW, 6x optically-stabilized zoom. Custom and manual WB. 12mp. Ed_Dman shoot a G7 I believe and his pictures are amazing. The G9 is a slight step up (G7 doesn't shoot RAW and is 10mp.) You can get the G9 on Ebay for around $450. I'd say seriously consider this camera.

The downside is that the canon housing has an oval port which doesn't accept add-on lenses, but there is a way around this if you want to go with wet lenses down the road.

Again, just my thoughts.

Walker

walker seems to have summed things up pretty well.

Without an external strobe manual white balance is a great way to get good results from your camera when you are too far for the internal flash on the camera itself to be much use. Don't get a camera without the ability to manually control white balance, aperture, shutter, ISO, imho.

IS underwater - never had it, never missed it. Could it be useful sometimes? I'm sure. Is it anywhere near a deal-breaker? Imho, not at all. Wouldn't even make the list of things to think about.

Zoom with your fins underwater. You may want a bigger zoom for use topside, so it could be something to consider when making a decision, but underwater big range zooms are not something that will matter.

Thanks for the replys - question on the A640 - what housing are people using with it? I've read the Canon housing has issue with shadows in the lower right of pictures because of the length of the barrel.

walkerl:

There are certainly WAY better people on this board to answer this question, but here are my 0.02

1) Most any P&S are over 5mp, so that shouldn't be a problem
2) Not sure how fast RAW is on some of the better cameras. I have a crack for my A640 that allows me to shoot RAW, but the recycle is about 5 sec. Too long for me.
3) With a flash or strobe, no need for wb. For those shots at a distance, some say use custom wb, some say no. Canon can go either way.
4) I don't think my camera has this and I don't miss it. For speeds of 1/125 or faster, I'm thinking you'll be good. I could be completely wrong for this though.
5) I don't zoom too much uw (maybe that's a problem). For macro, I try to get real close.

The camera that I want and am tempted to buy is the Canon G9. Shoots RAW, 6x optically-stabilized zoom. Custom and manual WB. 12mp. Ed_Dman shoot a G7 I believe and his pictures are amazing. The G9 is a slight step up (G7 doesn't shoot RAW and is 10mp.) You can get the G9 on Ebay for around $450. I'd say seriously consider this camera.

The downside is that the canon housing has an oval port which doesn't accept add-on lenses, but there is a way around this if you want to go with wet lenses down the road.

Again, just my thoughts.

Walker

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