A Question As Old As The Sea Itself...

[Coll]

What camera to get?!

I have been using a Canon SD630 with the Canon housing for probably five years now. I'm finally able to afford a little upgrade. I love my old Canon, it has given me great shots, the only upgrades I'm looking for in the newer camera are better megapixels and HD 1080 video. I love the simplicity of my SD630, I can get at the functions easily and know it like the back of my hand. I do mostly macro shooting with occasional wider shots. I don't want to add strobes as I was happy with the internal flash with diffuser on my old camera. Price range would preferably be between $150 and topping off at $300. It would be nice to have a good above water use camera as well. Anyway, I've rambled enough! Any thoughts?

Thank you!

 

[Ardy]

Yes - if you get a solution there are 10,000 other young and poor divers who want the same for $300. I think you are dreaming................... I thought I was cheap!

 

[alcina]

How about just a newer version of the SD range? There are several models out there. Canon housings remain about the same price point as they've been for a while - $170ish it seems - which leaves $130ish for a camera. Don't think you can do it cheaper than that really and you are happy with what you are using now so this seems like a logical choice.

Or something like the Panasonic TS3? Personally, I wouldn't fork over for the newer TS4, but there is one.

 

[Interceptor121]

Is that the price of the camera only 150-300$?

 

[alcina]

Check out PriceGrabber.com - Smart Shopping Anytime, Anywhere - it's not 100% accurate but it will get you in the ballpark and will show you some options on who to purchase from. It is a US based site - I do not know if there a similar site where you are. You'll have to get online and look around for prices on various models. B&H Photo, Adorama and BuyDig.com - Online Shopping for HDTVs, Digital Cameras, Computers, GPS, and more! are also good places to start if you are going to buy in the US.

I know I paid less than $120 for my SD1200 IS and I love it - just bought a housing for it this year, in fact

 

[Coll]

Oh sorry for not clarifying! I meant $300 tops for the camera, I know the housing will run around another $200 or so. Thanks!

 

[flareside]

Consider a Powershot 300 HS and a WP-DC41 housing totalling around $375 (if you shop right).

 

[Coll]

Any thoughts on the Canon SD4500 Elph? Seems to have pretty good reviews online, plus it has 1080 HD video and 10 megapixels?

Hmmm... doesn't look like Canon makes a housing for it. Ikelites are a little pricey for my taste. My older Canon housing has worked great over the years.

 

[Interceptor121]

I had your same camera years ago and bought a Powershot A570IS which allowed me to reuse the Inon lenses I still have

If 1080p movie is a must and you don't want ever to put external lenses I would go for a Canon IXUS 220 HS with WP-DC41 case this is within your budget and has similar easy to use feature to yours.

I recommended this to someone else here and he is well happy

However I would also consider getting a second hand Canon powershot SD990 IS with housing on ebay as that will allow you to put wide angle lenses in the future

 

[Tigerman]

You should NOT blindly look at megapixels, especially on relatively low-end cameras in the $150 price range. They have small sensors and putting more pixels on them means you get cramped for space, which makes for potential problems with light sensitivity and noise.

Even if you move to a four thirds/micro four thirds setup the sensor size is only about 225 mm squared compared to the 864 mm squared size of the 35mm full-frame sensors used in canons top range DSLR cameras like the 7d, 5d and 1d and even those they dont bring over 22mpx