My Canon S90/FIX Goes On

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Nemrod

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Just reporting in, for curiosity, how many are still shooting their S90 rigs, quite popular for a little while? True enough that had I bought a camera a couple of years later I would have gone with the Sony RX100 and yes my eyes cast about at the new crop of mirrorless rigs. But, the thing is, my S90 still shoots good pics and aside from the somewhat slow, sometimes, autofocus, I have no particular complaints.

I had two camera bodies, unfortunately one met an untimely death after being dropped hard. But, I was able to acquire a new S90 still in the box :). So, I still have two cameras, four wide angle lenses to play with a a few bits of Inon macro lenses I occasionally use to no real good. Not the fault of the camera or lenses so much as my lack of interest in macro. My two Inon D2000 strobe are still rock solid. I cannot ever recall a missed flash. The optical coupling has been in fact 100%.

I typically get 2.5 to 3 dives from a charge on the camera, pretty steady. Strobe battery life has never been an issue. A GoPro Silver 4 was recently added atop the camera which still rides on my mostly DIY tray with UCS arms, clamps and balls. Kind of heavy out of the water but underwater it handles like a sports car with perfect balance, small enough to get in tight without banging into the reef.

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Pretty good selfie rig, nothing much can be done about me though.

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I really need to send the FIX housing back to Reef Photo where it came from to hopefully be serviced, hope they can do that for me.

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N
 
Not a S90 but my S95 is still going rock solid. Just used it for two solid weeks of diving in the Philippines and the little guy is still going strong. Only get about 2.5 dives out of the canon battery on it but it still takes really fantastic macro photos and better yet only takes 1 hand and a 1/5 of my carry-on space.
 
Not a S90 but my S95 is still going rock solid. Just used it for two solid weeks of diving in the Philippines and the little guy is still going strong. Only get about 2.5 dives out of the canon battery on it but it still takes really fantastic macro photos and better yet only takes 1 hand and a 1/5 of my carry-on space.

Get all my above 'stuff' into this---all weighs in @ ~ 15 lbs......

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I still have my S90, just went out and got a strobe/tray and arms plus focus light for it. Going to try it out this Thursday so hopefully have some good pics soon


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---------- Post added April 28th, 2015 at 05:13 PM ----------

You guys are much more experienced than I am so I'm curious, do you think the S90/95 are worth upgrading? Or is it more about the strobes and lens?


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I still have my S90, just went out and got a strobe/tray and arms plus focus light for it. Going to try it out this Thursday so hopefully have some good pics soon


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---------- Post added April 28th, 2015 at 05:13 PM ----------

You guys are much more experienced than I am so I'm curious, do you think the S90/95 are worth upgrading? Or is it more about the strobes and lens?


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Not sure I understand your question. But, yes, I still like mine and continue to invest in it. A strobe is always a good investment, just make sure that it will be useful on future rigs. Most of the strobes from companies like Sea & Sea and Inon and similar can be used on most cameras from P&S to dSLR.

N
 
I meant would you see a big advantage by upgrading the camera?


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Good question but the answers will be very subjective. I went from SeaLife DC1000 to Canon S100 to Canon EOS M over the course of 5 and half years. I wouldn't recommend the SeaLife to anyone, but a compact Canon S or G series is an excellent place to start.

From my experience I would say it is time to upgrade when you have maximized what your camera is capable of doing and you are still craving better image quality. This means you have 1 or preferably two strobes, and have gotten the hang of shooting in manual mode with strobes, and are achieving results comparable to what the better underwater shooters can achieve with that camera. Once you have achieved that point, and you have a few extra $$ burning a hole in your pocket, then yes, you may want to step up to an interchangeable lens system. The problem of course is which interchangeable lens system? I personably believe that the future is in mirrorless rather than SLR (I believe SLR will be going the way of the VHS tape not to mention the dodo bird within 5-10 years but that is a whole other topic).

However when looking at mirrorless, it is hard to stay loyal to Canon at this point because so far they are not serious about Mirrorless. Their new mirrorless M3 I think would be great underwater, but since they have chosen not to release it North America, it remains to be seen if a housing will be made for it. At this point Olympus and Sony are the main players in mirrorless, but I just like Canon.

If you are happy with the image quality of your S90, I don't think I would bother upgrading to a newer compact (i.e., if staying loyal to Canon; S120 or G16), because the IQ will only be a little bit better. Of course, if your camera dies, or floods, or your housing malfunctions, then you have a good excuse to step up to a newer compact if you were happy with the old one! Until then you are better off spending your hard earned money on getting a second strobe, a focus light, a wet diopter, and dive trips!

On the other hand, some of the pictures I have seen from the new Canon G7X look amazing! The gap in IQ between compacts and SLR/Mirrorless is getting even more narrow, making it hard to justify the bulk and cost of larger systems. To me, the G7X looks like a very tempting choice for someone wanting to upgrade from an older compact but not wanting to get into an interchangeable lens system.

Cheers and happy diving!
 
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Here is what I currently have, a second strobe seems a given if one wanted to advance. Currently I have an Ikelite housing which is great except F/O connection is messy with tape inside to block the flash and a Velcro attachment. A housing with dedicated F/O connectors would be better I think. Next is lenses, I haven't done much research on them but a WA lens then some Macro lens would add up pretty quickly for a system that is on the older side

Pros would be if I had a flood I can replace the camera for $75-100 rather than $500+ for a newer camera.

When I look at some of the pictures Nemrod and others are getting I can only hope to get pictures that nice in the future so leads me to think that my camera is not the issue :)


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Here is what I currently have, a second strobe seems a given if one wanted to advance. Currently I have an Ikelite housing which is great except F/O connection is messy with tape inside to block the flash and a Velcro attachment. A housing with dedicated F/O connectors would be better I think. Next is lenses, I haven't done much research on them but a WA lens then some Macro lens would add up pretty quickly for a system that is on the older side

Pros would be if I had a flood I can replace the camera for $75-100 rather than $500+ for a newer camera.

When I look at some of the pictures Nemrod and others are getting I can only hope to get pictures that nice in the future so leads me to think that my camera is not the issue :)


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I would say for now your best bet is to practice shooting in manual mode with your current system. If you want to spend a few $$, the next logical step is to get another strobe. A wet macro flip lens is a nice addition too, but I am not sure what options exist for the Ikelite. I can lend you my old wet macro lens (Recsea 2-Diopter Flip Macro Lens for S95 & S100 Housing | Bluewater Photo & Video) but I am not sure if it could be made to fit on your Ikelite housing. I also have a wet wide-angle converter lens but we rarely have good enough viz locally to really put it to good use. The native wide-angle capability of your camera is good enough for the occasional large octopus. :)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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