what starting model DSLR camera recommend me?

[Peter Guy]

Mario -- I bought the E-PL1 last April with the Olympus Housing. I am still using the kit lens and the Oly Housing with its flat port. So far, I have just not been able to convince myself to spend the money for the 9-18 WA lens and the Zen port. Although the Oly housing is only "rated" to 130 feet (40 meters?), I've had it down to 160+ without any issues.

I tend to shoot Macro more than WA which is one reason I haven't upgraded the system. The kits lens has turned out to be a pretty reasonable Macro lens (I also have the external Macro add-on but I didn't find it to be worth the hassle of carrying it).

As far as I can tell, the Oly Micro 4/3's cameras have the same software/sensor as the Oly dSLRs -- with the only difference being in the focusing/viewing system. Because the Micro 4/3's don't use a mirror, they must use a contrast based focusing system which is slower (but I understand the new kit lens has significantly lessened the gap between it and the Oly dSLR focusing speed). Again, as far as I can tell, the Evils (such as the E-PLx) ARE dSLRs where it counts the most.

You can take a look at some pictures at:

Monterey - Labor Day 2010

which I believe will give you some good examples of the capabilities of the camera system at both WA and Macro using the simple kit lens, Oly housing with flat port (strobe used is an Inon D2000).

BTW, I love my Canon dSLR with the f4 70-200 L lens for shooting topside. But the housing for it cost as much as the E-PL1 with housing!

 

[Thiad]

Can't say whether I love you all or rue the day I read this thread! Started looking at the NEX-5 today which lead to the rumored Nikon D201 - I blame you all for my weakness.

So let's throw out a hypothetical question.... Let's say Nikon releases the EVIL of all EVILS in March/April. What's the usual turn-around time for a housing?

I did look at an NEX-3 today and was impressed with the size so I expect the NEX-5 is much the same. Still, I can't help but hope that whatever Nikon dumps on the market supports the existing DX lenses. I've put more $$ in lenses than anything.

 

[Warren_L]

Can't say whether I love you all or rue the day I read this thread! Started looking at the NEX-5 today which lead to the rumored Nikon D201 - I blame you all for my weakness.

So let's throw out a hypothetical question.... Let's say Nikon releases the EVIL of all EVILS in March/April. What's the usual turn-around time for a housing?

I did look at an NEX-3 today and was impressed with the size so I expect the NEX-5 is much the same. Still, I can't help but hope that whatever Nikon dumps on the market supports the existing DX lenses. I've put more $$ in lenses than anything.

I don't think there's any guarantee that a particular housing manufacturer will go ahead and make a housing for any new camera model. I'm not sure how each manufacturer decides, but it would obviously consider how popular the camera will likely be and thus drive demand for housings.

When the D3 came out in late 2007, I knew I wanted to get one. Because of it's popularity, a number of housing manufacturers committed to making housings for it. I had a hard time even finding a body, but managed to get one in January 2008 (several months after it was released in 2007). In May of 2008 I got a hold of a pre-production Sea&Sea housing for the D3 to test out. I ultimately decided on an Aquatica housing - I had been in contact with Aquatica about the housing early on in 2008 just after I bought the camera body and by June 2008 I had one of the first production models of the Aquatica D3 housing.

My guess is that it would likely take about 4 to 6 months to get a housing designed and in production. More recently the D7000 was announced in September 2010 and housings were available in early 2011.

 

[Viz'art]

Can't say whether I love you all or rue the day I read this thread! Started looking at the NEX-5 today which lead to the rumored Nikon D201 - I blame you all for my weakness.

So let's throw out a hypothetical question.... Let's say Nikon releases the EVIL of all EVILS in March/April. What's the usual turn-around time for a housing?

I did look at an NEX-3 today and was impressed with the size so I expect the NEX-5 is much the same. Still, I can't help but hope that whatever Nikon dumps on the market supports the existing DX lenses. I've put more $$ in lenses than anything.

I would think likely a EVIL Nikon would have some form of adapter for the AF-S line of lenses, this adapter would add substantial thickness to the camera boby (similar to what the NEX adapter does), one thing for sure if they do come out with an Evil type camera with adapter, you can bet as a manufacturer, we will consider it seriously.

 

[PatW]

One of the things with Nikon DSLRs is that the less expensive Nikons require AFS lenses. Also, the cheapest housing I have seen is the Ikelite Housing which is $1400 without the required ports for your lenses. So if you get 2 ports (at 200 each), you are now out $1800. Then you need strobes probably 2 of them. That would set you back another $1200. You are now at $3000 before you get your lenses or camera body.

For the camera, you can go FX or DX. I think FX is more suitable for underwater but it costs $$$. The high end DX cameras should work fine: Nikon D300, Nikon D300s, the Nikon D90 or the Nikon D7000. Depending on what you get, the camera body will cost $1400. I would think that you would want at least 2 lenses: a macro lens and a wide angle lens. You might want a short range zoom like 17-50. You could go third part on these: Sigma, Tokina or Tamron. Or just go Nikon all the way. Going used on Nikon lenses often yields decent savings and very good lenses by the way. For the lenses, let us say you are going to $1600.

So you have $6000 for the whole package.

 

[slowhands]

RUMORS: There is much speculation about if and when Nikon or Canon might introduce an Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens Camera (EVIL) system. Neither has officially announced a product, so no hard facts as of now but lots of intriguing rumors. It's clear there is a good market for them due to the appeal of their smaller camera size, so it's reasonable to expect them someday soon. It seems to take 1-3 months for the housing makers to follow up with a new housing for new cameras, if they decide the market is worthwhile.

Olympus: Olympus Micro 4/3 (M43) E-PL1 and E-PL2 cameras are the only available products with "affordable" housings. I have an E-PL1 system and like it very much. There are enough lenses from Olympus and Panasonic for any mission I can conceive, and also many add-on ports from Zen and Athena for the unusual ones, so it is a versatile family. The appeal is of course that it is smaller than a typical DSLR system, while having very good image quality compared to a Point and Shoot, simply because the sensor is larger by 6-7 times. A complete basic system of camera, lens and housing costs about $900 for a used E-PL1 system, or about $1200 for a new E-PL2 system. Strobes will cost what they always cost, from say $500 up depending on how deluxe you feel you need. Look in the Olympus Forum for more posts on these Olympus cameras.

SONY: Some people prefer the Sony NEX5, which has a larger sensor and more "professional" housings from Nauticam, Aquatica and Acquapazza, and may have more lenses some day due to Sony's engineering depth. The available housings for the Sony NEX5 are very expensive thus far, although Ikelite may release a cheaper one soon. Cost is in the $2500 range for a basic system of camera, lens and housing, with strobes adding even more. Check out the new Sony Snappers Forum for more posts on the Sony NEX5 cameras underwater.

 

[davelew]

RUMORS: There is much speculation about if and when Nikon or Canon might introduce an Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens Camera (EVIL) system. Neither has officially announced a product, so no hard facts as of now but lots of intriguing rumors. It's clear there is a good market for them due to the appeal of their smaller camera size, so it's reasonable to expect them someday soon. It seems to take 1-3 months for the housing makers to follow up with a new housing for new cameras, if they decide the market is worthwhile.

It's a little more than rumors with Nikon. Not much more, but a little more. For example:

Nikon Plans `New Concept' SLR Camera as Early as This Year, Kimura Says - Bloomberg

Nikon Corp. plans to introduce a new type of single-lens reflex camera as early as this fiscal year, President Makoto Kimura said.

The “new concept” model will probably have an enhanced function for video recording and may adopt the so-called mirrorless structure, Kimura said in an interview today in Tokyo.

and

Nikon says preparing camera to create 'new market' - Money - DNA

Nikon Corp is readying a camera model it hopes will create a new market, its president told Reuters, as speculation mounts it will unveil a product as early as this month to counter harsh competition from makers of small, high-end cameras.

But Makoto Kimura, a dapper camera enthusiast named to the post this year after engineering Nikon's successful transition into digital photography, gave no hints on a launch date for the model.

But several camera blogs expect it to compete with Sony Corp's NEX by combining a light-weight body with the high-quality images of a single-lens reflex (SLR) camera.

"We want to propose another type of photography," Kimura said in an interview on Thursday. "I don't think there is any need to limit it to two categories. We want to create a new market."

 

[Doc Harry]

"Not so expensive," "Nikon," "DSLR," and "Underwater" don't really belong in the same sentence.

Fixed it for ya!