First UW Camera Selection

[ryan115]

on the note of olympus lenses, can the alternative lenses, available for the 720, be used inside the housing. So if I wanted to shoot only macro on a dive, put the macro lens on the camera before it goes in the housing. Just another thought.

 

[jbmooney]

I kinda doubt it (not a lot of extra space in there), but I don't know.

 

[randini]

The add on lenses will NOT fit inside the housings. The lens barrels are designed so that the lens just fits inside cleanly.

 

[f3nikon]

F3, those are gorgeous pictures, and interesting tutorial links, but I'm afraid you've lost me about what your point is. The Wikipedia link seems to make the point that chromatic distortion may be reduced by the addition of the right add-on lens (though it certainly may also be increased by adding the wrong one).

In any event, if you were replying to me, you seem to be saying that several things I didn't say are wrong. I don't for a moment doubt that Canon makes great lenses for its P&S cameras - that's why I bought a Canon P&S (not a Fuji - I'm sure they're fine, but I don't see anyone in this thread who's shooting with one). Also, you seem to imply that a higher pixel count is definitive for a camera's quality, an assertion that I would argue with. (If you were replying to someone else, I apologize for wasting your time, but, who were you talking to, and again, what was your point? What am I missing here?)

My point to ryan was that shooting with his Canon P&S, zoomed in to a really long focal length could overreach the lighting that was available underwater. That doesn't have much to do with chromatic aberration. If there isn't enough light, chromatic aberration won't be noticeable, or more precisely, the whole image will be underexposed enough so that fringing or other problems will be secondary.

- John

Not a problem...

The key point is that an image will NEVER improve in picture quality when you add any piece of glass in front of the “native” or original lense.

The add-on lenses will magnify the image size but the trade off is the loss of contrast, chromatic aberration and smaller depth of field.

The rule is that you cannot get something for nothing…there has to be a trade.

Now if you are willing to take the trade-off by adding the close-up lens is your choice…

“This reduces the amount of chromatic aberration over a certain range of wavelengths, though it does NOT produce perfect correction.” Wikipedia link

The link is referring to the native or original lens because there is still a small amount of “aberration” without the add-on lense. The camera makers design their lense to minimize these “aberrations” but is out of their control when you start adding any glass of your own.

“The goal is to minimize aberrations while still utilizing the fewest and least expensive elements” less is better, the human eye has only one lense.

Using an add-on lense goes against this goal, but it does give you magnification for the price of the added “aberration”.

 

[ryan115]

does anyone know about the INON lenses? I think the camera and housing is fine for me now. But I dont really want to be limited to having to get another camera later on for more shooting options.

 

[alcina]

Sorry, know what about the Inon lenses?

I used Inon lenses extensively with my Oly 5050 and loved them. Several of my crew use various Canon A series cameras and none have the add-on lenses at the moment...they all still get some great results of a good variety of subjects.

If you go with an Ikelite housing, the Inon lenses will fit. If you go with Canon housings and want to use them you'll have to do the adaptor thing (I've not seen it so don't know how it works) if your housing has an oval port - if you have the round one, double check with your Inon dealer to make sure the lenses simply screw on.

 

[mikerault]

Watch out! Soon you will want a DSLR and housings and ports and multiple lenses...

Mike

(Proud owner of 20D, 100mm macro, 50mm macro, 17-85 IS USM, 16-55 EF, Ikelite housing, dual DS51 strobes, second mortgage)

 

[ryan115]

thats what I meant, are they making the adaptor for the 720, or if I wanted the extra lenses should I go with the 570

 

[bladephotog]

I did a quick check at Reef Photo and didn't see the Inon adapter for the Canon housing. Like Alcina said with the Ike housing you can use Inon lenses. I've used an Inon UFL-165 on an A85 and it was great.

 

[ryan115]

What I am seeing on amazon is the 720 with housing costing about $90 more than the 570 with housing. From where I am standing now, this is what I am seeing
A720 IS.....................................................A570 IS
8.0 megapixel..............................................7.1 megapixel
6x zoom.....................................................4x zoom
INON adapter for canon housing.....................No adapter available
MMC, SD card, SDHC card.............................MMC, SD card
Can shoot in raw after hacking OS..................OS has not been hacked yet
$192.94(cam) + $179(housing)=$371.94..........$149.99(cam) + $131.99(housing)=$281.98

Both have other lenses available for top-side shooting
Both can use an external strobe

Does anyone see there being that large of a difference in the two cameras that would warrant the additional cost? Or would I be better spent taking the extra money towards something else?

Thanks for the help.