Canon S80 vs. Sea&Sea DX800G - what is best?

[nunomix]

Hi guys,

In terms of point&shoot, what is in your opinion the best of the two and why?

Thanks

Regards,

Nuno

 

[aabond]

I know a lot of people rave about the S70, which is what I'm about to purchase. The only difference between the S70 and S80 is that the 80 have 1 more megapixel, has a larger lcd, and the S80 does not have the raw capabilites whereas the S70 does.

I don't know much about the sea & sea so i'll let some else fill in for that.

Hope this helps some. http://dpreview.com has abundant amount of information regarding digital cameras but it does not seem to have Sea and Sea, which I suspect is someone elses camera with their name on it.

 

[nunomix]

Hi.

Thanks for your reply. The SEA&SEA is indeed a Ricoh GX8. My concern is whether the image quality from this camera is as good as a Canon. What I also heard is that a good thing about the SEA&SEA is the speed focusing... But not sure.

I know a lot of people rave about the S70, which is what I'm about to purchase. The only difference between the S70 and S80 is that the 80 have 1 more megapixel, has a larger lcd, and the S80 does not have the raw capabilites whereas the S70 does.

I don't know much about the sea & sea so i'll let some else fill in for that.

Hope this helps some. http://dpreview.com has abundant amount of information regarding digital cameras but it does not seem to have Sea and Sea, which I suspect is someone elses camera with their name on it.

 

[aabond]

Well, I just compared the two side by side on dpreview.com by hovering over the buying guide and clicking side by side. I selected both of them and up they came up. They look like very similar cameras. The Ricoh has a few higher ISO ratings. The canon however, has a better better optical zoom which may be a plus if you want to use the camera above water. The zoom plus the 8mp will allow you to render a better quality picture of something further away. The canon also has a longer macro range which would be a definite plus for underwater.

Have you priced each of them out including the housings.

Btw, I've heard that the built in flash for the S70 is great and for most diving you can get away without using a strobe. This may be an important factor if you are traveling to nice tropic waters.

Other than that, the cameras seem to have close to identical specs, and I would say the real decision maker would be actual pictures from both of the cameras.

 

[alcina]

I'd go with the Canon. Solid results and a nice carry around camera - I'd likely use this on land more than underwater, so this would be a big issue for me.

The S70 may actually be a better camera than the S80 because of its RAW function. If all else is equal (1MP is not an issue) I'd go with the S70 instead.

 

[DesertEagle]

I don't think DPreview even reviewed the Ricoh yet.

As far as the S80 vs S70- I'd probably take the S80. All reviews indicate that it is much faster, especially focusing.

From DPreview:
Where the S70 could feel sluggish, overall impressions of the S80 are much better - it feels very 'snappy' in everyday use, rarely - if ever - keeping you waiting. Focus speed isn't the best in its class, but it isn't far off, and is a lot better than most previous 'S' models. Importantly, it seems noticeably (and measurably) faster than the S70, and it rarely struggles even in low light. Continuous shooting performance is perfectly acceptable for a camera of this class, and there are none of the buffer-related limitations seen on so many competitor models.

Conclusion

So it was a great relief to discover that the S80 (which we presume to use the new Sony 8MP chip) not only offers noticeable improvements in performance and control, but also manages to increase resolution without a significant increase in noise...

The addition of dedicated ISO and AE-compensation buttons on the body make the photographic process a lot more fluid, and the results are superb. Most of the serious issues we had with the S70 - including purple fringing and focus problems - have been eliminated, and the result is a camera that seems perfect for the serious photographer itching for SLR - style control in a compact body.

 

[nunomix]

I indeed like the resolution of the Canons (at least on land). Now I might have the chance to get a DX8000G with the housing for around 400EUR while for the Canon S80 I would have to spend around 700EUR. Also I dont know whether the housings from Canon are as good as a SEA&SEA housing.

Taking into consideration I will be mainly using a EOS as main camera and the small P&S only as a 2nd camera, I dont know whether it is wise to spend the addit money.

Cheers.

Nuno

I don't think DPreview even reviewed the Ricoh yet.

As far as the S80 vs S70- I'd probably take the S80. All reviews indicate that it is much faster, especially focusing.

From DPreview:
Where the S70 could feel sluggish, overall impressions of the S80 are much better - it feels very 'snappy' in everyday use, rarely - if ever - keeping you waiting. Focus speed isn't the best in its class, but it isn't far off, and is a lot better than most previous 'S' models. Importantly, it seems noticeably (and measurably) faster than the S70, and it rarely struggles even in low light. Continuous shooting performance is perfectly acceptable for a camera of this class, and there are none of the buffer-related limitations seen on so many competitor models.

Conclusion

So it was a great relief to discover that the S80 (which we presume to use the new Sony 8MP chip) not only offers noticeable improvements in performance and control, but also manages to increase resolution without a significant increase in noise...

The addition of dedicated ISO and AE-compensation buttons on the body make the photographic process a lot more fluid, and the results are superb. Most of the serious issues we had with the S70 - including purple fringing and focus problems - have been eliminated, and the result is a camera that seems perfect for the serious photographer itching for SLR - style control in a compact body.