What would you do? T4i or G16

[Tigerman]

Then you look at $6-800 (or more) for the lens, another couple of hundred dollars for the port (and that's the cheap less than pristine sharpness ones)...
Also, you'll likely sooner or later want a macro that's gonna run another few hundred.
You can of course use them topside as well, but its all adding up.
If you're prepared to spend the money, the results with the DSLR (provided you're good with it under water) will of course be better, but the price and hassle will be much worse. It all become much more about the photography and much less about the diving when you take that step


EDIT: In summary, what you're realistically looking at then is $800+ for one wide lens and port and $1500+ for the UW housing. This is if you go with the budget option known as Ikelite and its also plus strobe, which you'll come to want pretty quickly.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

I don't know how much I can contribute to this conversation other than the fact that I use a G16 along with a Fantasea FG16 housing.....and am pleased with it.

I'm no photo geek so just have been using the UW Scene mode underwater and the Auto setting for topside stuff. I've had the standard polycarb Canon housings on other Canons in the past and will say that this Fantasea housing is a big step up in quality and function.. It's 100% fully functional and most important to me is a double o-ring system.. (both would have to fail on the same dive). I also wanted to be able to shoot video and was really impressed with the 60 frames per second which is double from the previous generation G15.. I also use a Fantasea tray and twin 1600 lumen (each) Fantasea Blue Ray LED's with 110 degree beam angle.

One thing I really like is that the 60 fps shooting full 1080 HD allows me to "freeze" on any frame I want and helps to eliminate the frustration of shutter "delay"

All in all, this is a very adequate system that packs well for travel and gives me everything I need for video and stills above and below.

Been on Bonaire for the past two weeks and headed back to Seattle tomorrow......shot almost 100GB's of video while there...so have a lot of editing to do....but in the meanwhile, here's some sampling of what my G16 system was able to produce..

[video=youtube_share;ZdGphgnsUNw]http://youtu.be/ZdGphgnsUNw[/video]

 

[Deep Water Dan]

I'm assuming that you travel to do your diving, and as several others have pointed out hauling a DSLR with housing, port, etc. is quite a chore. You will probably need to dedicate a suitcase to your camera gear. Not to mention the fact that you'll probably need to check it as well. With a G16 all your gear can be stuffed into a carryon.

I went through this drill last year. I dive every weekend and take numerous dive trips. I already own a Canon 5D Mk II which I strongly considered making my underwater camera, but the shear bulk of all that stuff is primarily what drove me to a G16. Cost was not an issue. Unless you plan on becoming a pro and selling your underwater pictures, a G16 will do quite nicely. And it's much easier to manipulate the menus, set the white balance, etc with the G16. Not to mention the ease of shooting video on the fly.

I'd stay away from the Ikelite housings for the G16. Ikelite made a pretty drastic redesign for this camera and they don't have all the bugs worked out of it yet. I returned mine and bought a Nauticam. Pricey, but well worth the $$$. If you're on a budget a Fantasea housing should work great. I frequently go pretty deep so I wanted the depth rating of the Nauticam. And it is really a superbly crafted piece of equipment.

Dan

 

[MountainMare]

Thank you all so very much! I'm finishing up my research and you have definitely given me some food for thought. Unless my husband is itching for us to spend all the money required for me to use my T4i (which was a gift from him to begin with), I am 99% sure I'll go the route of the G16. I like the idea of traveling with less bulk, spending less money, and keeping my very nice dSLR safe and out of the water. You guys are the best!

 

[Tigerman]

Don't take the DSLRs well being into account - theres insurance for that