The reason I started this thread was because i was doubting which camera to buy. I tested the S70 and was happy with it. When i noticed the specs of the A620 i started doubting. The only advantage the S70 had vs the A620 for underwater use was the RAW capability and the 28 mm WAL instead of the 35 mm ... construction is also better on the S70 but you won't notice that underwater since you''ll be sticking it in a nice plastic box to keep it from getting wet.
I've been photographing top side for a while now i've learned that RAW can have its advantages ...BUT!... there are more important things then RAW.
RAW is how the image is stored but what's more important is how the image was captured. You can only store what you capture. Noise due to higher ISO values will still be there, blur due to slower shutters will still be there, the image will still be out of focus when the focussing was off, you can't store bright colors if you can not capture them.
This is where the A620 seems to have the advantage. Due to the digicII processor it's noise levels are lower (not so much since i'm mostly shooting at ISO 100 ... enough light here in Curacao
) , it focusses faster and easier in low light and it's colour sensitivity seems a little bit better. Overall i'm getting more good shots with the A620 because of this.
If for instance a shark should pop up and i would only manage to make a bad or under exposed picture of it having it in RAW would certainly give a better result after photo editing ... but it would still not be such a great picture.
I tried overdoing level / contrast on the A620's jpeg images and i notice little to no JPEG artifacts. A simple "auto levels" brings back colors i didn't know where even there. The color sensitivity of the A620 seems to be pretty good. I'm overall very happy with the results of the DIGICII processor. I was pretty convident since the 20D I use topside is also using a DIGICII.
The movie mode is great on the A620. The S70 didn't seem to adjust lighting , or not fast enough, if you would go from a dark to a bright area. The movie would then be overexposed. The A620 seems to do a better job at this.
Both the S70 and the A620 are great cameras but for me the advantages of the DIGIC II outweigh the RAW capabilities of the S70 under water.
Just my 2 cents.
Happy shooting to all of you!
I've been photographing top side for a while now i've learned that RAW can have its advantages ...BUT!... there are more important things then RAW.
RAW is how the image is stored but what's more important is how the image was captured. You can only store what you capture. Noise due to higher ISO values will still be there, blur due to slower shutters will still be there, the image will still be out of focus when the focussing was off, you can't store bright colors if you can not capture them.
This is where the A620 seems to have the advantage. Due to the digicII processor it's noise levels are lower (not so much since i'm mostly shooting at ISO 100 ... enough light here in Curacao
) , it focusses faster and easier in low light and it's colour sensitivity seems a little bit better. Overall i'm getting more good shots with the A620 because of this. If for instance a shark should pop up and i would only manage to make a bad or under exposed picture of it having it in RAW would certainly give a better result after photo editing ... but it would still not be such a great picture.
I tried overdoing level / contrast on the A620's jpeg images and i notice little to no JPEG artifacts. A simple "auto levels" brings back colors i didn't know where even there. The color sensitivity of the A620 seems to be pretty good. I'm overall very happy with the results of the DIGICII processor. I was pretty convident since the 20D I use topside is also using a DIGICII.
The movie mode is great on the A620. The S70 didn't seem to adjust lighting , or not fast enough, if you would go from a dark to a bright area. The movie would then be overexposed. The A620 seems to do a better job at this.
Both the S70 and the A620 are great cameras but for me the advantages of the DIGIC II outweigh the RAW capabilities of the S70 under water.
Just my 2 cents.
Happy shooting to all of you!
