Camera Recommendation Canon G16 or better?

[wayne007]

Will the internalflash work with the Fantasea housing? Seems like it obstructs the internal flash?

 

[DENLASCUBA]

If you can afford it go for the Nauticam housing for the G-16 it is nice and compact and you have access to all of the controls, where Canon limits that. The housing is made from very durable aluminum with a built in leak detector. Yes stay away from any off brand housings you will only run into problems, I used one in the past for a G-12 and ended up flooding it not due to any of my own faults but due to the housing construction. As for the G-16 it takes amazing macro shots and also some great wide angle, it is a great camera for both above and below the surface. Add strobes and if you can pick up the wide angle, and diopter lenses and you will have a great set up.

 

[jimw]

Will the internalflash work with the Fantasea housing? Seems like it obstructs the internal flash?

I asked the same question recently and the Fantasea website seems to have an answer. It's my understanding that the area we see in pics of the housing with 2 holes (ports for fiber optic lines) folds open for a larger opening so that yes the internal G16 strobe cay be used. I looked at the housing prior to asking about this at Divers Direct in Florida where the housing and cam are in stock.

Some of the reviews by owners of the Fantasea housing indicate some stuff not working--so I regard this housing as iffy right now.

I have and use a Canon S95 and Canon housing now for 4 years and have hundreds of dives with it. I had 1 problem which was fixed under warranty. So, I would tend to select a Canon housing over most other low priced alternatives unless there is something difficult to do with the housing that otherwise is easy with the camera out; and there are seem to always be things like this to contend with. You will just have to think about what will you want to change uw and is it easy or nearly impossible.

With the Fantasea, I like the double orings and the leak detector. I would question overall build quality though.

 

[Ran Mozaik]

Take a look at the new compact 20 megapixel Canon G7x. I am considering a replacement for my S95 and the G16 and the new one are on my list.............I currently shoot with the internal flash only and want to continue that, The G16 will do that in the Canon housing--not necessarily in some others!

Moziak, how is the Fantasea housed G16 using only the internal flash?? Does it work well?

The internal flash works perfectly with the Fantasea housing. The diffuser does a good job softening the light.
The front plate where the fiber optic connectors are can be removed to reveal the flash.
Generally, even though the internal flash works, as some have said - it will create backscatter. I would recommend it mainly for macro shots where you don't have a lot of water between you and the subject and the light will be strong enough. For anything further than 1 feet - you would want an external strobe.

The FG16 build is excellent. Much better than many housings I've seen. It has been undoubtedly one of the best sellers for underwater in 2014. I would recommend it over and over again.

 

[KeithG]

I recently bought a G16 (only after I bought an elcheapo Meikon housing direct from china). I have no in water experience to add (until after our next dive trip over xmas).

Some initial observations:
- the meikon housing does not provide access to the front or back "wheels" on the G16. sigh...
- the G16 WILL NOT use the onboard flash if a hotshoe connector is in place
- the G16 WILL NOT provide a hotshoe X signal if the camera is in "continuous" mode
- the G16 when fully zoomed has an extremely long focus distance (around 30 cm?)
- the G16 is huge compared to my older cameras

I purchased the G16 in the hope that I could get a better "super macro" P&S camera than my current Sea&Sea Dx1G (Ricoh GX100). I was unsure that this would happen, so I went elcheapo on the housing.

My Ricoh is awesome, but it's 70mm lens limits it's macro ability. At fully tele 70mm it still is able to focus on objects within 1 inch of the lens. Adding a wet lens dipoter (SubSea +10) actually accomplished nothing. I had to move back in order to focus, which reduced the size to what it was before. Net same size image, but added the ability to be a few inches further away for skittish perps.

My hope is that the G16 combined with the the Subsea +10 will give me larger images than my current DX1g. Jury is still out on this.

In the mean time I plan to McGyver the elcheapo Meikon housing to include a wired bulkhead connector for my strobes (which suck when optically triggered).

Cheers...

 

[Deep Water Dan]

I have a G16 with the Nauticam housing. Underwater video out of the G16 is fantastic. Make sure you manually set the white balance. The Nauticam housing is head and shoulders above just about everything else on the market. One thing you need to look at when selecting a housing is attachments such as wide-angle lenses, etc. Each brand of housing has its own set of limitations regarding attachments; either cost, ease of use, or quality when it comes to attaching external components.

 

[seaworm]

I have canon g16 Na/cam housing. I got the canon for its macro capabilities and ect. There will always be a better camera out there. I love my G16

 

[uspap]

The video on the G16 is excellent if subject is somewhat stationary and water is clear. Otherwise, when you pan it goes out of focus and you have a hard time getting it back. I might have my settings wrong. I love the camera but am disappointed with the video. If I can figure out the focus issue I'd be happy. Might have to spend a dive and work on it. I had the G10 until I flooded it. G16 is much better. Here is a link to the photos I've taken with it. https://www.flickr.com/photos/73739720@N00/

 

[Deep Water Dan]

The video on the G16 is excellent if subject is somewhat stationary and water is clear. Otherwise, when you pan it goes out of focus and you have a hard time getting it back. I might have my settings wrong. I love the camera but am disappointed with the video. If I can figure out the focus issue I'd be happy. Might have to spend a dive and work on it. I had the G10 until I flooded it. G16 is much better. Here is a link to the photos I've taken with it. https://www.flickr.com/photos/73739720@N00/

This is the only problem with the G16 - hunting for focus when there isn't a lot of contrast between the subject and background.

I solved it by going to manual focus. You can set it up to focus from about 18" to infinity and then store those settings in C1 and C2. I lost quite a bit of good footage in Palau using the autofocus when I first got my G16; by my next dive trip I had honed the manual focus and all my videos turned out fantastic, even in murky water.

Another advantage to manual focus, both for stills and video, is that you're always ready to shoot from the hip when something interesting decides to zip by at high speed. You can always switch to autofocus or other modes when you have time to set up your shots.

Dan

 

[KeithG]

I have a G16 with the Nauticam housing. Underwater video out of the G16 is fantastic.

Does this housing have a bulkhead option for wired sync cables?