After several years lay off I'm finally returning to SCUBA and unsurprisingly want to take my love of photography down below the deep blue with me.
I cannot take my RB67 down below even if I wanted to, nor do I want to risk my soon-to-be-purchased D70 either, so I'm looking for a system based around a decent digital compact. The budget is modest and so are my aims; no magazine spread-worthy shots needed, just good quality ones for friends and the wall.
Some expandiblity would be good... I am a reasonably accomplished photographer and get quickly frustrated when I can't translate the image in my mind into reality. Some kind of flash or strobe setup will be a likely upgrade, as will different lenses/adapters.
I'm willing to throw my affinity with Nikon away to get what I need at a reasonable price.
Based on my current research, the Olympus C5060 Wide is the only camera I've found that meets all this. The camera itself is highly rated and quite affordable, has several nice lens adapters and flash units, and has the obvious advantage of factory made underwater housings to suit them at reasonable prices. A lot of people seem to be using the 50x0 cameras for aquatic use, which is a good sign too.
What else is there on the market? Does anything compare well with (or better) the above? What other strobes can be successfully used with the C5060... I'm sure a single top mounted flash has it's limitations.
I've read a bit on the Aquapix systems which seem reasonably priced if not great specs... any thoughts?
Thanks muchly!
Cheers,
Ben.
I cannot take my RB67 down below even if I wanted to, nor do I want to risk my soon-to-be-purchased D70 either, so I'm looking for a system based around a decent digital compact. The budget is modest and so are my aims; no magazine spread-worthy shots needed, just good quality ones for friends and the wall.
Some expandiblity would be good... I am a reasonably accomplished photographer and get quickly frustrated when I can't translate the image in my mind into reality. Some kind of flash or strobe setup will be a likely upgrade, as will different lenses/adapters.
I'm willing to throw my affinity with Nikon away to get what I need at a reasonable price.
Based on my current research, the Olympus C5060 Wide is the only camera I've found that meets all this. The camera itself is highly rated and quite affordable, has several nice lens adapters and flash units, and has the obvious advantage of factory made underwater housings to suit them at reasonable prices. A lot of people seem to be using the 50x0 cameras for aquatic use, which is a good sign too.
What else is there on the market? Does anything compare well with (or better) the above? What other strobes can be successfully used with the C5060... I'm sure a single top mounted flash has it's limitations.
I've read a bit on the Aquapix systems which seem reasonably priced if not great specs... any thoughts?
Thanks muchly!
Cheers,
Ben.