Looking for help choosing underwater camera...

[katie08]

Hi everyone,

I am having a lot of trouble sorting through available options to find a camera to suit my wishes.

I am looking for an underwater camera with housing and strobe that has great picture quality, low shutter lag, preferably a viewfinder in addition to LCD screen, pretty easy to use with multiple settings, macro, etc. and I would like to have video as well, though that's not the main concern so it doesn't have to be super HD or whatever. Looking for something less than/up to $1000 in price.

Also, I live in Canada, so websites, etc. would need to be able to ship to me.

I would greatly appreciate any advice/recommendations!

 

[dpaustex]

You're pretty limited at $1000.00 for a camera, housing, and strobe.

I'd suggest a Sealife rig, or maybe even a GoPro "black" series, but you'll be stuck with wide-angle on that.

You could also get an older Canon G-series, put in a Canon housing, and add flash later. I think they're up to a G-15, or G-1X now. They shoot video, and you can put in a Canon brand housing fairly inexpensively. You can also add wet diopters to those housings.

 

[katie08]

Thank you for your reply. I have been looking at the sealife DC1400 with strobe package and it seems like a great bargain, the only issue seems to be shutter lag. My 'current' underwater camera is a fuji xp10. (which stopped working when I went too deep...). Do you think that the shutter lag on this camera is still worth buying it?

 

[Diver Dave1]

I would love to sell you my Nikon D90 and its housing but this would not fit your price limit.
You might consider the setup at the link below. I have no knowledge of this particular person, just read the ad and thought of your situation.

FS: Nikon Coolpix, Ikelite Housing, DS-51 Strobe, Inon UW Lenses - Classifieds - Wetpixel :: Underwater Photography Forums

 

[katie08]

I would love to sell you my Nikon D90 and its housing but this would not fit your price limit. You might consider the setup at the link below. I have no knowledge of this particular person, just read the ad and thought of your situation. FS: Nikon Coolpix, Ikelite Housing, DS-51 Strobe, Inon UW Lenses - Classifieds - Wetpixel :: Underwater Photography Forums

Thank you very much, I am looking into this and it looks great!

---------- Post added January 25th, 2013 at 09:18 AM ----------

Here are the pictures with that set up : Flickr: chinds_1133's Photostream

Is it just me, or do they look over-sharpened or something??

The ones from the dc1400 seem crisper, "cleaner" looking. Do you think so? Flickr: The SeaLife DC1400 Pool

 

[MrPfeffer]

Adorama has a deal on an E-PL1 with housing for $399 add strobe for $500 and some arms and your under $1000 for a pretty good camera setup. Then when money/skill/wants get more you can invest in more lenses for it and such. Just an idea.

 

[KeithG]

Thank you for your reply. I have been looking at the sealife DC1400 with strobe package and it seems like a great bargain, the only issue seems to be shutter lag. My 'current' underwater camera is a fuji xp10. (which stopped working when I went too deep...). Do you think that the shutter lag on this camera is still worth buying it?

Unlike some other things (amount of flash, size of lense) shutter lag is something that you can not fix by "adding attachments".

Only you can decide if you can live with it, on every picture you take. It will always be there. No way around it. It would drive me nuts.

I suggest you look at other alternatives.

Do you need to buy new?

Best way to reduce price is to pick up gently used bits from some one who is trading up. There are lots of 3 to 5 year old cameras that perform great. I wanted to add a "pocket" camera for taking happy snaps and was able to get a great bargain on Kijiji from a little old lady who only used it for snorkeling. 12MP canon powershot and housing was $200.

I have seen used P&S systems on eBay and scubaboard that would easily fit in your budget.

 

[James R]

Adorama has a deal on an E-PL1 with housing for $399 add strobe for $500 and some arms and your under $1000 for a pretty good camera setup. Then when money/skill/wants get more you can invest in more lenses for it and such. Just an idea.

This is what I would suggest as well. It's a really nice camera and a great price.

Olympus PEN E-PL1 Digital 14-42mm Camera Bundle w/PT-EP01 Underwater Housing 262856 S

 

[katie08]

Thank you everyone for all your suggestions. I have been looking into them, reviewing pictures on flickr/messaging users on flickr etc. Just wondering if anyone has dealt with or heard anything about underwatercamera.com. They have a good deal going on and I'm just wondering if it's legit. I don't see anything when I google search about the company either way, although there is a facebook page with 600 some likes. Apparently it is in minnesota. Thanks!