Do any of the newer Canon +

[Jamdiver]

HERE is a Canon that looks interesting. It does not have RAW, which would be a deal breaker for me, and you would need to verify that Canon or Ike is going to make an UW housing. What I like about it is the 28mm wide lens, image stabilazation, and it appears to be fairly fast at 1.7 frames per second in high speed mode. It does NOT hava a hot shoe.

No Manual controls though Ron..........

That would be a dealbreaker for me as for anyone who wants to progress in underwater photography......

 

[sandrascuba]

Ron and Howard: Thanks again for your help. I'll look into the S70 and the SD800IS. I really want to get a system that's more compact. I've briefly looked at the Inon page and that strobe looks more like what I might want.

Ron, contact me by email and we can talk about you taking my DS125. I have 2 batteries for it, the strobe arm, sensor and chager. I'd have to knock the dust off it but I'm for sure probably going to get rid of it. It's been in the water less than 20 times. sfogarty@hughes.net

Sandra

 

[RonFrank]

No Manual controls though Ron..........

That would be a dealbreaker for me as for anyone who wants to progress in underwater photography......

OK, IMO that is a deal breaker for any UW camera. It never even occured to me that a camera with as many features as this boasts would NOT have Aperture/Shutter/Manual control.

 

[HowardE]

Ron and Howard: Thanks again for your help. I'll look into the S70 and the SD800IS. I really want to get a system that's more compact. I've briefly looked at the Inon page and that strobe looks more like what I might want.

Ron, contact me by email and we can talk about you taking my DS125. I have 2 batteries for it, the strobe arm, sensor and chager. I'd have to knock the dust off it but I'm for sure probably going to get rid of it. It's been in the water less than 20 times. sfogarty@hughes.net

Sandra

You should most definitely keep the DS125... It's a great strobe, and can work with any camera.

Sorry Ron.

Also the S70 can use the Inon - wet couple lenses, so you can add a macro lens and a WA lens.

 

[sandrascuba]

Well, the DS125 is too big and honky for me so I'm not looking to keep it. I've been back to dpreview and still can't decide what might be best to do. I know I want something that I can get a smaller housing for, has manual controls so I can grow into it and will take decent pictures u/w in auto mode using the built in flash. The ability to change lenses and add a external strobe to would be good too. I guess I'm just like most people that what to upgrade or make changes. There's just too many options. My Sony/Ikelite housing is going to Indonesia to a dive master I met there or will become a boat anchor soon.

I'm confused... I thought the Canon S series was not manually setable where the A series was??? Two more questions, do you know if the Inon strobes and extra lenses are available with the S80 or only the S70? And, does the S70 and S80 have an underwater scene mode?

Dang, I just thought of 2 more questions re the S70 and S80. Is shutter lag improved? My Sony sucks in that department. Also, Do the extrenal strobes for these cameras work off the preflash? Sorry for so many questions.

Thanks so much.

Sandra

 

[HowardE]

Well, the DS125 is too big and honky for me so I'm not looking to keep it. I've been back to dpreview and still can't decide what might be best to do. I know I want something that I can get a smaller housing for, has manual controls so I can grow into it and will take decent pictures u/w in auto mode using the built in flash. The ability to change lenses and add a external strobe to would be good too. I guess I'm just like most people that what to upgrade or make changes. There's just too many options. My Sony/Ikelite housing is going to Indonesia to a dive master I met there or will become a boat anchor soon.

I'm confused... I thought the Canon S series was not manually setable where the A series was??? Two more questions, do you know if the Inon strobes and extra lenses are available with the S80 or only the S70? And, does the S70 and S80 have an underwater scene mode?

Dang, I just thought of 2 more questions re the S70 and S80. Is shutter lag improved? My Sony sucks in that department. Also, Do the extrenal strobes for these cameras work off the preflash? Sorry for so many questions.

Thanks so much.

Sandra

The DS-125 is probably one of the best strobes out there. If you started a seperate thread about that, you'd get a lot of opinions, and people telling you not to ditch the 125.

There is (AFAIK) no p&s camera without shutter lag. You'll need an SLR for that. The S80 doesn't do RAW, which is a huge benefit... you won't need to use the underwater mode if you shoot in RAW, because you can adjust the white balance after the fact (on your computer) quite easily. Again... Search around, or start another thread.

Your strobe (the DS-125) would work with cameras with pre-flash, if you had the manual EV controller. Also, the S70 in Manual mode doesn't pre-flash, and does shoot faster than some p&s cameras, but there's still a lag. The S70 also has a small buffer for semi-continuous shooting. My wife has an S70 with DS-125 strobe, and the Inon Macro lens. She loves it.

Like I said... Start a different thread in the general UW Photography forum with your questions about the ike strobe, and you may change your mind...

 

[29South]

The S70 and S80 are both fine cameras, but only available secondhand.
The A710IS is recently out and runs from fully automatic to fully manual and a housing is available (Canon WP-DC6). Generally, The A series Canon allow for more creative control than their S series counterparts while only being slightly larger.
The Canon housing is smaller than the Ikelite's so should be more manageable.
I gotta agree with the others that a strobe is a massive aid to good u/w shots. The DS51 i think is a bit smaller than the DS125 yet would have an angle of coverage adequate for pretty much all P&S cameras. Again, like prior posts, best to use with the manual controller.

 

[HowardE]

The S70 is also unlike other S series cameras, with a 28mm equivelant WA lens. (fairly wide angle for a p&s) - the S80 is hardly like the S70 at all, except for shape.

 

[sandrascuba]

Wow you guys are too good to me! This is giving me a headache! Now, there's another camera in the mix A710IS thanks to 29South.

Ok, the S80 is out because it doesn't shoot in RAW. But what I was trying to get away from was having to correct each and every picture with some software, post vacation. That's what I have to do now! So why would the ability to shoot in RAW buy me anything over my pukey Sony?

The A710IS does not shoot RAW. I can't tell if it has the underwater scene mode or not. It does have stabilized zoom and is probably available new in a box.

I understand now that I'll have to deal with shutter lag but boy, it's a PITA. The first year I used my Sony I shot a LOT of fish butts. ):

Let me ask my question this way guys.... knowing what you know now about what I'm looking for, if you were to buy an U/W system for your wife or girlfriend what would you buy her, complete with strobe and options? Remember, I have a big system already that is nearly unmanageable and time consuming. My DS125 sits in the Pelican and never gets taken out anymore. I just want to dive, have fun and get a few good pics. I don't desire to become a pro or enter contests with any shots. I have about 400 dives in all kinds of conditions and have good buoyancy skills but don't want to have a camera system that I'll spend money on then never use (like my Sony/Ikelite system). A nice zoom would be good on the camera as well because living here in Colorado, I have lots of opportunities to photograph cool critters but of course, I can't get as close to them as I can a nudibranch. I do want to grow into the system but heck, I just want to dive.

Thanks to all of you. I'm looking forward to your help compiling my Christmas List. The cost isn't all that important. Compactness, ease of use and picture quality out of the box are most important. I want to enjoy underwater photography again and not feel like I'm consumed by my camera system.

Peace and health to you all.

Sandra

 

[RonFrank]

The S70 is also unlike other S series cameras, with a 28mm equivelant WA lens. (fairly wide angle for a p&s) - the S80 is hardly like the S70 at all, except for shape.

The S80 is actually the same form fact and optics as the S70. It improves on the S70 in that it's faster (shutter, and write speeds) with the DIGI II processor. The S80 would be my camera of choice in a PnS except it lacks RAW, and takes SD cards, and I use CF cards in my DSLR's.

Please ignore my original suggestion, but here are some more just to make things even worst!

The S70 (no longer available new, but you MIGHT be able to find one new if you shop around)
S80 - I believe this camera is also discontinued, but you can definately find it new. Both of these cameras take the same housing, and you can purchase wet lenses from INON.
Both are Highly Recommended by dpreview.

Canon Powershot A710 IS - 7 mpix, has manual modes, IS, and looks like a winner.
Canon Powershot A640/A630 - 10mpix and 8mpix. Both are not as wide as the S70/80 with 35mm at the wide end. These were just announced in Aug, so there are no reviews in dpreview, but the A series Canons are generally very good.

I like and own the S70, and like it for RAW and the wide angle 28mm lens. You will need to confirm UW housings for anything you purchase, and the decision on what to purchase must be yours. You can see results from the S70 in my gallery.

As for size, the Ike housings do have the big arms, but I think you will find that even if Inon's are a lot smaller at the flash head, any good system is going to be somewhat large by the time you add the tray, arms, and what ever you decide you want. You will also discover that Ikelite has one of the least expensive arm systems, and others like UCLS are rather expensive. Basically putting a strobe UW is just plain expensive!

You may take comfort from the fact that putting a DSLR UW is about 5X the cost of putting a PnS UW, and it's a MUCH bigger setup especially if one has two strobes.

I put my Nikon D200 UW, and I can tell you, it is really expensive by the time you get ports and a flash, and the thing is just plain huge. The first time my wife saw the setup she laughed as did my Cousin!