Used equipment - good buy or lost money?

Hello!

I'm brand new to underwater photography - in fact I've never done it and really want to, but need a camera. I don;t really think I can justify the cost of a new, high tech option (like I use on land) but thought if I found something reasonable used, it might be worth the investment.

I found a SeaLife ReefMaster DC100 digital camera on Craigslist for sale. Does anyone know anything about this camera? It appears to be about 3 years old, and therefore only 1.3 Megapixels, but reasonable for recreational photography.

Appreciate your thoughts!

Maximillion

Well, if you have a good on-land camera, why not get a good under-water case for it? They're expensive, but hardly the same as buying all new kit.

As far as the SeaLife .. they're decent enough starter cameras, but I'd think you could do decidedly better if you shop around on ebay a bit. Don't overlook a used Nikkor film camera. Made by Nikon these guys used to be the bomb of underwater photography, and they can be had for next to nothing these days.

It depends on what you want. A 1.3 Mpixel camera is only suitable for web images. If you want to print any of your images, you will want a minumum of 3 Mpixel and more like 5Mpixel. I don't know what your Craigslist poster is asking for this camera, but I wouldn't pay more than $50 (at most). You can do a lot better by picking up a used Olypus C5050 on ebay. It was the most popular underwater P&S camera about 3-4 years ago. I started with it and I still use it as my backup.

Looks like two questions so I'll try my best to add four cents instead of my usual two

1 - Is it worth it to buy used gear?
I think yes. But you still need to choose the right gear for your needs. Buying something second hand is a great way to find a good deal, get a backup for something you already have or simply get into underwater photography with a tried and tested system.

You need to be careful about buying it just because it's cheap, but that pretty much goes for new gear, too!

Do a little homework and make sure what you are looking at has the options and room for growth that you need.

2 - Sealife DC100?
This wouldn't suit me or anyone I know at all. It's slow and the image quality is less than stellar. I think no matter how much you pay, and I wouldn't pay much at all, you're going to be disappointed and frustrated - thus ending up buying another system anyway!

You don't say what your budget is but for around $300 you can you get a very good compact camera and manufacturer's housing to start you on the path. Another benefit of this option is that you now have a handy compact for land stuff, too.

Great advice - thanks. I have a very nice (on land) Minolta Digital SLR. I wonder if the housing would be the best way to go? I imagine they are very expensive. I'll continue to look! ALso, I'd be more than a little scared using my $1000 minolta underwater for fear the housing might fail!

I'll keep reading.

MAX

Going dslr is not cheap. You'd be lucky to get out of a housing and port for $2000...and that's just the start and not everything you'd need

There are only a couple less than 5 megapixel cameras that would be recommended for U/W in this day and age, and none less than 4. From 5 megapixel up there are quite a few that are good for U/W and many are only available used as they have been out of production for years.

I did a couple weeks of web research before buying my first digital p&s for U/W, and 7 years later I still use that model.

Intova makes a P&S 6mp camera that comes with a housing rated to 130' it can be found for less than $200. I has manual whitebalance which makes it a great starter cam for UW photography.

RAWalker:

Intova makes a P&S 6mp camera that comes with a housing rated to 130' it can be found for less than $200. I has manual whitebalance which makes it a great starter cam for UW photography.

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Forrest Gump:

cheap is as cheap does

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Please see the current thread on Intova IC-600. Evidently nobody on SB has dove with that unknown cheapie, and possibly nobody on SB has even heard of anybody that has dove with it.

If you have any first (second, third) hand knowledge about that camera, why didn't you answer the other thread? As for manual white balance, I know many avid U/W photog's that wouldn't bother with or recommend it.

halemano:

Please see the current thread on Intova IC-600. Evidently nobody on SB has dove with that unknown cheapie, and possibly nobody on SB has even heard of anybody that has dove with it.

If you have any first (second, third) hand knowledge about that camera, why didn't you answer the other thread? As for manual white balance, I know many avid U/W photog's that wouldn't bother with or recommend it.

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There has been some discussion about it on divebuddy.com
It is said to be worth the price. A lower middle of the road compact point and shoot. Even better Intova has released some more advance higher resolution models that are still following the low cost high value pricing structure.