Canon G10, G11 or S90?

[spoobs]

I am trying to decide how to upgrade my underwater equipment for snorkeling. Above water I use the Nikon D300, but do not want to invest many thousands of dollars, nor do I want to be transporting very bulky or heavy equipment. Underwater, for snorkeling I have been using the Olympus SP350 with Olympus housing but am frequently troubled by how slow the camera is. I have considered an underwater bag such as the Ewa-Marine for the DSLR (I had success many years ago with a film SLR in a Ewa-Marine bag, but am concerned about the digital SLR in the bag). Now, I am leaning toward the Canon G10, G11 or S90 with Canon housing. I would use the Canon primarily as an underwater camera and back up to the D300. Which of the Canon cameras would be best primarily as an underwater camera? Also, for underwater use, would the picture quality and ease of use be better with one of the Canon cameras in Canon housing or with the DSLR in Ewa-Marine bag? Thank you very much.

 

[fredaroony]

I went for the G11 just because I thought it would be easier to adjust the setting underwater i.e. knobs vs menus.

Underwater case came in today so doing first dive with it in about 1.5 hrs

 

[Rustynails]

Hey Spoobs; If your still talking about shallow dives or reef dives check out the Olympus Stylus SW 1030. I've used mine down to 40-45 feet(its promoted as a 10 meter camera, about 35ft) and the operation and picture quality is better then some of the more expensive U/W cameras I've used. Its compact and extremely durable, I've coral climbed and slid down a volcano with it in my hand. The only down side is the lens is in the top right corner and I have big fingers that kept getting in the way. I solved this by purchasing a cheap unwired flash bracket/handle and it works like a dream. Some folks who have bought the newer Tough-8000(yes thats what its called) have not been happy and the local "shutter-shop" says that exchanges have been made going into the SW1030. Its ideal for kids and pool parties, good luck

Rustynails

And another selling point is "no case" to worry about, give it a look, bye

 

[Nemrod]

I went for the G11 just because I thought it would be easier to adjust the setting underwater i.e. knobs vs menus.

Underwater case came in today so doing first dive with it in about 1.5 hrs

The S90 has knobs and it also has the amazing control ring. Just noticed, for better or for worse, better hopefully, Ikelite has said housings for both the G11 and S90 will be out in November.

N

 

[spoobs]

Thanks for the advice. Would like to see them all in their cases. Rustynails, my son had the Olympus 770, but it died twice underwater...I'm reluctant to try again. Fredaroony, I am interested in reading about your impression of the camera in case underwater.

 

[ImParticipating]

I can't wait for more G11 and S90 underwater reviews. S90 housings? Will the S90 have better lens options? Hurryup hurryup hurryup!

Also, for underwater use, would the picture quality and ease of use be better with one of the Canon cameras in Canon housing or with the DSLR in Ewa-Marine bag? Thank you very much.

Expect worse ease of use from a DSLR in an EWA-Marine bag, but better image quality.

I recently bought an EWA-Marine bag for my 450D, as a test to help me decide whether to house it properly. Unfortunately I chose the large U-AX bag which is unsuitable for me. My conclusions of the U-AX + 450D after one snorkeling trip: (NB: a correctly-fitting bag will be better.)

• In my setup this bag was too buoyant, and unbalanced with most air being at the "top". I had extreme difficulty submerging it, even with excess air removed and weights inside the bag. (Easier when diving to depth, of course.) I plan to build an external frame so I can attach a few pounds of lead without stressing the plastic seams.
• The wrist-strap's attachment-point obstructs thumb movement between my camera's shutter/exposure lock button and the button used during exposure adjustments. Cutting the strap off leaves buttons covered by a reinforced plastic dot; usable but frustrating.
• Not specific to EWA-marine: using a viewfinder restricts me to positions/angles that my face can be placed into. Unobstructed locations in open areas would be fine, but a lot of my photography will require "shooting blind", though some could benefit from a right-angle viewfinder adapter.

I'm not familiar with your DSLR but presume that it should produce much better picture quality than the G11 and S90 during imperfect snorkeling conditions. Specs and land-based image quality seems less relevant.... Snorkelers near the surface can get tossed around a lot, and would benefit greatly from fast & accurate focus, low total lag (shutter-press to release), high shots-per-second, access to high ISOs, and speedy adjustments to manual focus. At my skill level, for shallow photography in rough conditions a DSLR would often make the difference between several good photos of a critter vs no photo. YMMV.

Now, back to the good stuff. If only we didn't have to wait for S90 housing reviews!