lee3
Contributor
Ok, i really like the learning curve associated with underwater photography and am really psyched whenever i get lucky with a shot that seems to make big improvements over the rest of the crap i've taken. I have not used very serious cameras underwater, but have flooded two cameras since February. One a canon s300 and the other an s500 this past weekend. The strobes have been fine to date, thankfully and everything is DEPP insured but wow is it frustrating to look down and see your housing half full of water at 30 feet no matter whether it's insured or not. I have big hands and just don't seem too skilled at the delicate nature of removing o-rings, greasing and replacing.
My question involves better cameras and housings which would be all the more frustrating to flood but are affordable to me. I honestly was really getting into the s500 and was thrilled with some of the recent shots i had gotten (now lost on the flooded and fried memory card, damn). I did learn to order four 500 meg cards instead of a pair of 1G cards from the latest mishap. Lets say i stepped it up to a cannon (really like their interface) G5 and got the corresponding ikelite housing. Anyone here have any experience with that combo or the G3 perhaps? The idiot american consumer in me thinks that the housing for $750 vs. the cannon housing at $150 that i've already flooded and would love to point the blame finger towards, would be superior. Though, i've already treated a new o-ring for the "faulty" housing and took it down with the flooded camera to 80 feet without any problems.
Are the better housings worth the added expense in your opinions? Are they better at preventing flooding and easier to use as far as o-rings, or should i just stick with the $400 cameras and $150 housings and face the reality that i'm particularly talented at breaking things at depth?
My question involves better cameras and housings which would be all the more frustrating to flood but are affordable to me. I honestly was really getting into the s500 and was thrilled with some of the recent shots i had gotten (now lost on the flooded and fried memory card, damn). I did learn to order four 500 meg cards instead of a pair of 1G cards from the latest mishap. Lets say i stepped it up to a cannon (really like their interface) G5 and got the corresponding ikelite housing. Anyone here have any experience with that combo or the G3 perhaps? The idiot american consumer in me thinks that the housing for $750 vs. the cannon housing at $150 that i've already flooded and would love to point the blame finger towards, would be superior. Though, i've already treated a new o-ring for the "faulty" housing and took it down with the flooded camera to 80 feet without any problems.
Are the better housings worth the added expense in your opinions? Are they better at preventing flooding and easier to use as far as o-rings, or should i just stick with the $400 cameras and $150 housings and face the reality that i'm particularly talented at breaking things at depth?