Help: Canon G2 vs S400

[wetnorm]

I have both cameras. Now am thinking @ U/W photos. Which one should I dress up? thanks wetnorm

 

[mattloaf]

It depends on how much you want to spend. A Canon housing for your S400 (pretty sure they make one for it) is under $200. And attaching strobes to those housings is kinda tricky to say the least. But they are easy to use, compact and semi durable.

For the G2 you can buy a Ikelite housing with attached hand grip. Strobe arms can snap right into the hand grip for convience. Ikelite and Sea and Sea both make strobes that will work well with this housing, although you are more likely to get deals if you get a package (housing, arm, strobe and slave sensor). The housing will cost ya around $700, strobe and arms another $500.

If money is not a issue, go for the G2 all the way.

 

[SimonJ]

I was in a similar dilemma, in that I have a G1 and an S400. In the end I decided to go for the S400 for underwater use. It really came down to 3 things.....The price of the housing, the camera/housing size (all my diving is done on holiday) and finally that I was a beginner and the S400 was more than I needed. The G1 and G2 are great cameras, and offer much more manual control, but at the end of the day I have seen some great photos taken underwater with the S400, and until you really really know what you are doing underwater, IMHO the S400 will more than meet your needs.

 

[wetnorm]

>>>Simon, thanks for the fotos. Do you have any problems with the flash as Matt (and others) say is true of the S400 due to its pre-flash and lack of manual setting? I love the brief movie clips, too! Was that under ambient light? Boy, would a video light be the best? Would this work for still and video clips? G2 can do this, but only for 30 secs.
>How is your YS-25DX set-up, TTL or manual?
>At what depth can you get away w/o a strobe?
>This housing cost is bearable and perhaps I can learn with this set-up. Next step is to ask if there is a strobe for S400 that is adaptable later to the G2? The S400 has fixed lens, and a suitable flash would not have to do occasional work for Wide Angle use; ie., I could get away with a less $$ strobe, but I probably would invest the first time in a larger strobe -- that's just my way. Unfortuneately, I'd have to wait and do this in stages.

>>>Matt, Ryan at Underworld Foto seems to agree with you; ie, manual settings, strobe compatibility (synching) and expanding to W/A lenses favors the G2. Money/value is the perennial conundrum.
> Do you have any G1 fotos to share? Especially those w & w/o a strobe.
> Do you find the DS-50 suitable? Ryan thinks DS-125 for later addition of inon W/A to 100 degrees is the ticket. My understanding is that object distance is also a tad further.

 

[SimonJ]

Norm,

I had no problems with the strobe. The Sea&Sea DX strobes allow you to trigger the external strobe from the internal, allowing for digital pre flash and the like. Personally I would not overly rate the 25-DX, but would opt for the 90DX or probably the Inon D180 instead if I had time again. The video was taken using ambient light. Am just about to buy the Inon AD adaptor, to allow me to add filters and wide angle/macro lenses. The filter should make the video better. I did try using my UKDR4 torch for a while, but even diffused (a little) it created a hot-spot. The extra time on the video really makes a difference (to me).

In terms of the stages I am going through...I originally just went with the camera and housing (Turkey 2003) and then bought the strobe/arm/tray for my next trip (Grenada 2003). My next purchase will be the Inon lens adaptor, a ULCS digital tray/handle and then I will buy an Inon D180 strobe or it's successor if that is available by then. Eventually I intend to replace the camera and housing as well, but for what I am not sure. I love Canon cameras, but their housings are not as good as the Oly's, so I will have to see what is on the market in a few years. I have my eye on a dSLR for land use, but will wait and see.

At the end of the day you can have the best or the worst camera and strobe setup in the world, but they are only as good as your ability to take good photos with them.

At the end of the day u/w photography is a learning process and

 

[wetnorm]

Thanks Simon.

 

[SimonJ]

Did you see that Canon have just announced the S500 and an S410!!! Can't see that there is much difference other that a 5MP sensor on the S500 and a direct print button on both.