Nikon Coolpix 5700 as an underwater camera?

I thought I had decided on the 5700 as my first digital camera mainly for the zoom and 5 megapix. I wish I could justify a SLR but it's not in the cards. Browsing the posts shows it's not considered a top choice for underwater. I know the housing will cost around $900 plus strobe but how are the shots or what makes it not so good a choice. Thanks!

Curtis

I was considering the Nikon as well but decided not to go for it.
My biggest complain is the smallish LCD monitor. On paper it does not seem that much smaller than the Olympus but when I played with one for a bit I find it too be too small to be really useful.
For example, taking a macro shot, it is really difficult to see the fine detail to see if the subject is completely in focus or not unless you spend a lot of time zooming into the picture and scroll all over. Not something I want to do underwater. The Olympus LCD is a bit bigger, a bit easier to make a quick check, although some pictures that looks ok on the LCD still come out blurred on the computer.
The zoom while it is nice for land shot is not as helpful for underwater because you will need to be close to a subject for your strobe to work. If you are more than 5-7feet away, the strobe is not going to be very helpful. When taking macro shot, the more zoom you use, the smaller the depth of field and often you will end up with only a part of the small critter in focus so it is better to get as close as possible and use a little zoom as possible rather than stay a 5-6 feet away and use more zoom.
I ended up with Oly 5050 instead. For less than $900 for the housing alone for the Nikon, you can get the Oly with Oly housing or for a bit more, an Oly with the Ikelite housing.
For me, I don't think the Nikon is significantly better than the Olympus to justify spending the extra money, I think.

I'm not completely familiar with the 5700, but I think it's biggest negative for underwater use is the lack of WA zoom.

IMHO, underwater, a wide lens is preferable to a long zoom. The number one rule of underwater photography is to get close. A long zoom will fool you into thinking you are close to a subject. You can actually out zoom your strobe!

The cp5000's native lens is wider than the 5700 and the 5000's add-on WA lens is wider than the WA lens for the 5700.



Karl

Shooting the cp5000 with above water 19mm lenses behind a dome port allows for wide angle, wide angle close focus and very good macro. The cp 5000 has about 10 housings built for it. This camera though not as useful above water as the 5700 may be a better choice underwater.

Okay, I hadn't thought in those terms but the pros outweigh the cons in my situation. I travel a lot and I'm trying to keep the electronics to a min otherwise I would by two digitals. Heck if life was really just I'd buy the SLR but if wishes were fishes. . . The zoom for above water is a must have. I shoot a 300mm now and it's barely adequate for most of my wildlife shots. Underwater I've been using a Sealife Reefmaster with the macro lenses so I can't go anywhere but up. Thanks for the help!

Curtis

Great Topic

I am also considering the 5700 - for the same reasons- something with a good zoom for land-use as well... but I hadn't thought about the wide-angle side of things....

Another reason I am considering this is that I already have a Nikonos V, and the DS-50 strobe (with an MV as a backup). I only have the 35mm lens for the Nikonos, so I wasn't really thinking in terms of wide angle... but that's a good point.

Anyone else have any comments about the 5700?

g8trdiver once bubbled...
Anyone else have any comments about the 5700?

Click to expand...

My gf and I have both cameras with Ikelite housings.

She has Nikon CP 5700 with Ikelite housing and DS125 strobe,

I have Olympus 5050 with Ikelite housing and DS125 strobe.

They are both nice setups and understanding the differences listed in the previous posts should be helpful. You can ask either one of us and of course we will stand behind our own setup as being better.


The Nikon 5700 takes some fantastic pictures above the water using the zoom that the Olympus cannot match. Without the zoom, there isn't much difference in quality. They both are about equal in ease of use. Underwater we prefer the Olympus pictures a bit more than the Nikon.

The 5700 uses a proprietary battery and you will want to get at least one extra for each dive you do on a daily basis. The battery does not last long at all. It frequently needs to be changed between dives. The Olympus uses rechargeable AA BAtteries which are less expensive and last longer. I have 2 extra sets of Rechargeables for the Olympus and I change them after every other dive even though they usually don't show low yet. IF I take a LOT of pictures, I will change between dives but that is rarely necessary.

Here are a couple of observations on our housings for these cameras.

Ikelite seems to have done a better job with the engineering of the Olympus housing than with the Nikon housing. On the Olympus Ikelite housing, The camera is mounted to a tray that is connected to the back cover and then slid into the front portion of the housing. On the housing for the 5700, the camera is installed in the front portion by securing it with a mounting screw which passes through the outside of the housing and then the rear is installed to close the housing. So instead of having to be careful with closing the rear you must also be careful to make sure that the mounting screw 0-ring seals out water also.

The Ikelite Housing for the Nikon does come standard with the double handles while the Olympus Ikelite housing comes with a single handle. The Ikelite housing for the Olympus allows for the a couple of third party lens adapters (wide and macro) while the Nikon does not. The Nikon housing takes up more space due to the double handles and the Lens sticks out much further than the Olympus.

When we were shopping for housings, there were several manufacturers offering housings for the 5050 while Ikelite seemed to be the only one offering a housing for the 5700 at the time. I don't know if that has changed.

Ikelite has a link on its site to a review of the 5700. It is very thorough, and get's a "highly recommended" rating. So, I was on my way out to buy it, and read your post, Saltywater..... Oh, what to do!!!

If you go to Ikelite's website, they have a link on their Underwater Systems page "Photo Tips & Help". On this page there are several links, including links to outside reviews. I found this site very helpful: http://www.dpreview.com/

It doesn't review necessarily for underwater use, but it's got some extremely thorough reviews. Another site listed, wetpixel.com, is geared toward UW use - if you search on it for Ikelite, you'll see a review for the 5000 - but if you click the link - it takes you to the review on the dpreview.com site.... doesn't go into the combination of the housing with the camera.... I didn't spend a lot of time looking around (I was on my way out the door to get my 5700... ), but this page on Ikelite's website has some useful links.

You make some good points about the housing....

HOWEVER, my decision is still swayed by the fact that I already have the DS-50 strobe - I just need to get the arm attachment for the housing, and sync cord for the 5700. In fact, I wonder if I could also use the MV also (2 strobes!!!), and slave the MV off the DS-50..... Hmmmmm.....

As noted, the built-in flash on the 5700 is blocked by the housing, and can't be used with a wireless slave.... So, a sync cord is necessary.

By the way - the 5700 does have an optional accessory battery pack that fits on the bottom of the camera kind of like a motor drive fits on an SLR. (back when they didn't have built-in motor drives....)

The battery pack takes regular AA batteries. Of course, I assume it doesn't fit into the housing with this attached... but this would be good for land excursions....

Well, I think I've done my due dilligence, and know what I'm getting into.... so.... here I go.....

Thanks, elshiznit, for starting the thread. It'll probably be next spring before I'll have the housing - we're doing a liveaboard in May - so I'll get the camera, learn to use it, get the housing in the spring, and do a couple of day dives with it before May. I'll let you know what I learn.

Well - I realized after I wrote that the strobe I have would still work with the Olympus... right? I would just need a different sync cord... BUT, I still want my 8x optical zoom!