I'm trying to upgrade from my Sealife Reefmaster mini setup to something a little better. I have looked at the following setups:
SD1400
ikelite housing
AF35 strobe
S95
ikelite housing
AF35 strobe
Can anyone point me in the correct direction? I don't think I'm going to be using the manual options on the S95 enough to justify the money spent. I would like to take quality underwater pics, good video, about 2-3 times a year. I'm also not going to break the bank on this setup. I'm I looking at the correct setups? Does buying the Ikelite housing over the Canon housing make the most sense?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
There are a lot of opinions about this, and no right answer for everyone. All I can say is what worked for me.
First, there are a lot of nice cameras that work well for underwater use. But I have certain requirements. Based on experience, I expect the cameras to have the following specs:
Ability to shoot in Manual exposure modes,
Ability to set custom white balance
Ability to shoot RAW format
Close focus lens
Wide angle lens
Available underwater housing
These specs are just what I have found to be needed after shooting quite a bit, and I won't get in to why. There are few compact cameras that meet have those specs.
The list includes the Canon S95, the Canon G12, Panasonic LX3, Nikon P7000 and Olympus XZ-1. There may be others, but that's my short list. Note that housings for the Olympus and Nikon will not be available until March. I really like the Panasonic LX5, but the housing was expensive.
The winner for me is the Canon S95. I several and this was the best choice for me. (Actually, I own the S90, which is essentially the same camera). I tried both the S90 and G11 (almost same as G12) on several dives and for me the S90 worked better.
In both cases I used the stock Canon Housings. Frankly, I don't think the Ikelite housing is any better than the stock Canon housing for the S95. Neither supports the rear command dial, but you can work around that. I don't think the Ikelite AF35 is worth anything as a strobe, there are so many better ones available that trigger from fiber optic. Strongly recommend the Inon S2000 instead for the same money.
You originally asked about the SD1400 vs the S95. The sd1400 is a fine little camera as a walkaround cam, but it does not have manual mode or shoot RAW. You will want that for underwater. The S95 is much much better for serious photography, because it produces better images due to a better sensor and better lens.
That's how I see it, and I know others will have different opinions. We're lucky, the camera makers have some great offerings to choose from. The Panasonic LX5 is a sweet camera too, especially if video is your thing. But for me, shooting mostly little critters and a few wide angle shots, the S95 is just fine.
