$2000 Camera Rig - help!
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jpomerantz
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tripntx
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Olympus E-PL1 with kit lens is $470 shipped from Dell Computer today (ends today), and Olympus PT-EP01 housing is $479 shipped from bhphotovideo. This camera would serve you for years. Don't forget to order the zoom gear when you order the housing.
FWIW Gilligan didn't say the G10 is better, he said that he thinks it is better. I agree with him, you may not. But one correction to what you say - sure, the G11/G12 will have better low light performance than the G10 (tho' not IMO sufficiently better to want to use in low light) but the image quality I have seen from the G10 properly used is considerably better than the best I've seen from a G11. Can't speak for the G12. The G10 can produce stunningly good pictures.
To my main point. For years I have run a resort dive centre here in Belize, and I have noticed in recent years that fewer and fewer people bring underwater SLR systems, even though many own them. These days they find them just too heavy and bulky to justify flying with them. Most have now switched to (good) compacts. Even a professional photographer who was here last week didn't bring an SLR, but took a compact down with a single strobe.
Someone mentioned he had "over $2000" invested in lenses from one manufacturer, so couldn't really contemplate switching camera manufacturer. I have single lenses costing more than that..... Expensive hobby, photography. Especially remembering that whatever camera you take underwater will almost certainly flood at some point.
I have a Canon 70-200 2.8 IS and 400 5.6 also, but those aren't really relevant to underwater photography.
Also the point of housings being flooded scares me. Are you stating that even if somebody adheres to correct procedures (checking o-rings, insuring integrity, etc.) they will still fail?
Currently, I am considering a smaller housing. G12 or s90 with Fix. Then work up to the wide Angle lens in a couple of years... When I get a pay-rise.
Housings do occasionally fail, however, it is usually an operator failure to clean, lube, check, double check. Housings do require maintenance and unfortunately with many of them (not including Ikelite) service can be a challenge. I do believe that Reef and Backscatter service what they sell in terms of O rings and pressure checks. Ikelite of course being in the USA, send it to them and they fix/overhaul/repair as required I imagine.
What goes up must come down (mostly), what goes down, will flood eventually (maybe). I would say if you cannot afford to have it get wet, don't take it under.
Years ago I flooded an SLR, a Nikon FM, in an Ikelite in Devils Hole, Florida. The Nikon being tough as nails and all manual and no batteries shrugged it off, that and the water being fresh. The flood was my fault, the O ring had a nick in it and I had been using it anyways.
N
What goes up must come down (mostly), what goes down, will flood eventually (maybe). I would say if you cannot afford to have it get wet, don't take it under.
Years ago I flooded an SLR, a Nikon FM, in an Ikelite in Devils Hole, Florida. The Nikon being tough as nails and all manual and no batteries shrugged it off, that and the water being fresh. The flood was my fault, the O ring had a nick in it and I had been using it anyways.
N
I have only ever seen one housing fail, and that was an early Ikelite. The plastic at one corner had perhaps not been correctly heat-treated, but in any case it appeared to crystallise - it was absolutely full of little cracks. It wasn't being used at the time though so no camera was lost, and (I believe) it was replaced by Ikelite.
I don't remember how many housings I have had flood over the years, each time with the loss of the camera inside, but it's probably around half a dozen (including rental housings that I wasn't using myself). In my years of running a dive centre I have seen countless housings belonging to others flood, both stills and video. In the sea that is always terminal for the camera. In every case that I know it was operator error, usually opening the housing on the boat when there's salt spray flying around. It's very difficult to re-seal a housing in those conditions, a key reason for me ensuring I only use cameras with batteries & memory cards that will last out the day so they won't have to be opened. Good battery consumption may be quite important for use of a camera on land - it's crucial for underwater use.
Never take underwater anything you are not prepared to lose. In fact, never take on a boat anything you aren't prepared to have soaked.
I don't remember how many housings I have had flood over the years, each time with the loss of the camera inside, but it's probably around half a dozen (including rental housings that I wasn't using myself). In my years of running a dive centre I have seen countless housings belonging to others flood, both stills and video. In the sea that is always terminal for the camera. In every case that I know it was operator error, usually opening the housing on the boat when there's salt spray flying around. It's very difficult to re-seal a housing in those conditions, a key reason for me ensuring I only use cameras with batteries & memory cards that will last out the day so they won't have to be opened. Good battery consumption may be quite important for use of a camera on land - it's crucial for underwater use.
Never take underwater anything you are not prepared to lose. In fact, never take on a boat anything you aren't prepared to have soaked.
S95 Pros:
Compact size
ability to change lenses underwater
SLR Pros:
Image Quality
Light Sensitivity
The S95 is much more practical - its tiny in comparison to a housed SLR, but its image quality will not be as good as the SLR, though many may find it hard to tell a difference. The S95 would also have the ability to go from macro to wide angle on the same dive, as the lenses are wet mount and changeable underwater. This is not possible with the SLR. The SLR will have a little better light sensitivity and slightly better high ISO performance, mainly due to the bigger sensor.
There may be more differences, but those are the ones that stand out to me...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but ISO isn't particularly important underwater as strobes provide you with sufficient shutter speeds to make high ISO unnecessary. The s90 and 40d are similar resolution, however the SLR has reduced pixel density. The AF capacities of the 40d would be much better though.
I think the main issue is wide angle potential. To achieve true wide angle with a s90 you'd need a UWL-100 + adapters, etc. If I was going Ikelite I assume the W-20 wouldn't be sufficient...? Alternatively, ports are all required to get a usable 16-35 on SLR.
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