Newbie needs camera suggestions

kiddo · September 30th, 2007, 10:44 AM

Hey guys! First post! I have been a recreational diver for quite some time now but I've never tried UW photography aside from using those blue Kodak disposable cameras with no flash. I am thinking of buying a digital camera together with an UW housing. Can you guys recommend a good, reliable, relatively newbie-proof setup (cam + housing) that is available (including spare parts like o-rings, etc) here in the Philippines? Thanks in advance.

chip104 · September 30th, 2007, 04:37 PM

The canon A series is a good start. I'm not much of a camera guy compared to other PPDers, so maybe they can give you more feedback.

alcina · September 30th, 2007, 09:11 PM

I think this would be better in the UW Photography area as more people will see it and be able to point you in the right direction.

I, too, would recommend the A series by Canon. Great cameras.

You can have a look through the Sticky for the UW Photo area as there are quite a few models with discussions and sample photos listed and it should help you get started. You can also get there via the Pink Link in my signature.

If you would like this moved, please let me know and I'll do it for you.

shugar · October 1st, 2007, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiddo

Hey guys! First post! I have been a recreational diver for quite some time now but I've never tried UW photography aside from using those blue Kodak disposable cameras with no flash. I am thinking of buying a digital camera together with an UW housing. Can you guys recommend a good, reliable, relatively newbie-proof setup (cam + housing) that is available (including spare parts like o-rings, etc) here in the Philippines? Thanks in advance.

i started with a pixtreme... it's an Aussie-made u/w camera with housing that's relatively inexpensive yet is a good option if you plan to upgrade bigtime after you play around with it...

the pixtreme i used before is no more, instead they have a 4mp version now and a 6mp (intova i think) that seems much much much better than what i used when i started... and dirt cheap too relatively: about 13,000 pesoses

if you want a 1-time expense then get a canon A-series... i use an A620 and love it, and the A640 should be no different... there are also hacks you can download that will give it even better "pro" features like RAW format shooting and realtime histograms

nice thing about the canon is that ikelite makes housings for it... so you can upgrade the housing w/o needing to upgrade the camera...

hope this helps... i've seen housings sold in one of the electronics shops in megamall

Jag

jonix · October 2nd, 2007, 04:47 AM

canon a-series. can't go wrong with those.

i think alcina is right, this could benefit a lot of uw photography newbies. i second moving this to the underwater section.

alcina · October 2nd, 2007, 05:08 AM

So moved

jonix · October 2nd, 2007, 05:11 AM

albeit it seems very partial to canon hahaha

fisheyeview · October 2nd, 2007, 09:48 AM

Check our Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros

They ship anywhere in the world.

kiddo · October 3rd, 2007, 09:27 PM

[quote=shugar;3131089]i started with a pixtreme... it's an Aussie-made u/w camera with housing that's relatively inexpensive yet is a good option if you plan to upgrade bigtime after you play around with it...

the pixtreme i used before is no more, instead they have a 4mp version now and a 6mp (intova i think) that seems much much much better than what i used when i started... and dirt cheap too relatively: about 13,000 pesoses
/quote]

Hey shugar! Is there a place in the Philippines that sell pixtreme cameras? 13k sounds like a good price for a digital cam w/ housing already. My budget is around 20k max since I'm still a college student (ergo no moolah hehe).

kiddo · October 3rd, 2007, 10:24 PM

I just read some reviews about pixtreme most were horrible. It sounds like canon is one of the best ways to go. Can I get a canon camera + housing for around $400 or 20k pesos?