Camera Advice

[AlanD]

Hi All,

Looking to buy a half decent compact camera for underwater use and would appreciate any advice you have to offer.
I am thinking about going for the Ixus960 IS with the 40M housing as this would be my max depth for the next year or two while i gain more experience.
In this price bracket would you say this is a good buy or is there something out there that would be more suitable for now and future use .

cheers
Al

[Richard Whitcombe]

Id say Canon and get the RAW hack to allow you to shoot in RAW. Very useful. Decent cameras along with Canons own housing provided you dont want external lenses and so on.

[ChristianG]

Looking to buy a half decent compact camera for underwater use and would appreciate any advice you have to offer.
I am thinking about going for the Ixus960 IS with the 40M housing as this would be my max depth for the next year or two while i gain more experience.
In this price bracket would you say this is a good buy or is there something out there that would be more suitable for now and future use
Forgive me for asking but - how's your buoyancy control? You sound as if you might be a rather new diver and if you haven't got your buoyancy absolutely nailed down, to the extent that it is completely second nature, luck will play a large part in getting a halfway decent shot.

As for "now and future use", most (but not all) of the housings supplied by the camera manufacturers themselves don't allow the attachment of wide angle and/or fisheye lenses - which you will want as soon as you get a better idea of this underwater photography lark.

Having said that there are many tyro underwater photographers who give up just as soon as they realise that "Point and Shoot" quite simply does not work underwater, thus I would suggest something cheap and nasty as a starter kit if you find you are one of those, because you won't then lose as much money on the deal. My recommendation would be a Fuji F30/31, provided you can find one and provided there is a housing with it. Sorry to be rather negative but underwater photography is not all beer and skittles.

[Richard Whitcombe]

Forgive me for asking but - how's your buoyancy control? You sound as if you might be a rather new diver and if you haven't got your buoyancy absolutely nailed down, to the extent that it is completely second nature, luck will play a large part in getting a halfway decent shot.

I'd argue with that. When you start taking photos the tiny variations in buoyancy that didn't matter before now do. So you notice them. In my case my buoyancy IMPROVED when i started taking the camera because suddenly it had to.
My recommendation would be a Fuji F30/31, provided you can find one and provided there is a housing with it. Sorry to be rather negative but underwater photography is not all beer and skittles.

I wouldnt recommend that purely due to lack of RAW.

[Phil Mauer]

If you go for the 960is how can you get the RAW feature on it?

[Richard Whitcombe]

If you go for the 960is how can you get the RAW feature on it?

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

[AlanD]

yes Christian i am relatively new to diving having only 68 logged dives but so far haven't had any problems with buoyancy,
Maybe as Richard says if there are any issues this will identify them and give me a kick up the backside.
I see this as natural progression and just want to bring something back from the dive to share with family and friends

As for the camera choice i think i will stick with cannon

Thanks for the link Richard ! it claims this is installed as an addition to existing firmware and does not interfere with the original

Have you had any issues ? major or minor

Cheers
Al

[ChristianG]

I'd argue with that. When you start taking photos the tiny variations in buoyancy that didn't matter before now do. So you notice them. In my case my buoyancy IMPROVED when i started taking the camera because suddenly it had to.
Well, what comes first? The chicken or the egg? :)

I wouldnt recommend that purely due to lack of RAW.
A rank beginner is hardly likely to want, or need, raw. A rank beginner is going to be tested by white balance anyway. As well, my own argument was more to the point of the fact that rank beginners often give this photo malarkey up once they realise how hard it actually is, thus a second hand, cheap, camera is a good idea as an entry point.

I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't take what I say out of context.

[kath2407]

I have the Canon Ixus 90 with 40m housing from Cameras underwater. And I love it! It doesn't do RAW but then again in the 3 years I've been "happy snapping" at the bottom of the sea I've never needed it. My old camera didn't even have white balance adjustment.

I snap so that I can remember things when I get to the surface, so that I can show my friends what I've been up to and enjoy the memories in the future.

For that sort of camera work the Ixus 90 is more than adequate. It also has excellant video capabilites and you can switch between stills and video whilst underwater.

K XX

[Richard Whitcombe]

Well, what comes first? The chicken or the egg? :)


A rank beginner is hardly likely to want, or need, raw. A rank beginner is going to be tested by white balance anyway.

I disagree with that too. Nothing more offputting than having every shot come out awful and one click with a RAW editor after the event is quicker and easier than playing with white balance underwater especially on small compacts with thick gloves etc. Its a simple easy method of vastly improving your shots for no extra outlay.


As well, my own argument was more to the point of the fact that rank beginners often give this photo malarkey up once they realise how hard it actually is, thus a second hand, cheap, camera is a good idea as an entry point.


I'd also disagree entirely with that. Most people are quite happy taking shots for their own and friends enjoyment. This is far from difficult with modern compacts which really dont require a lot more than point and shoot. It can also be very enjoyable even if you dont want to graduate to bigger and vastly more expensive cameras. Rather than see people give up which you claim im seeing more and more people going in with cameras on every dive and who continue to take them on every dive because it is so easy now.

[bigjo]

.

As for "now and future use", most (but not all) of the housings supplied by the camera manufacturers themselves don't allow the attachment of wide angle and/or fisheye lenses - which you will want as soon as you get a better idea of this underwater photography lark.

.
There are add ons available to give th option of wide angle lenses though or iklite do a housing for the 960 which will take additional lenses

[bigjo]

Id say Canon and get the RAW hack to allow you to shoot in RAW. Very useful. Decent cameras along with Canons own housing provided you dont want external lenses and so on.
Worth mentioning that not all Canon models have a CHDK hack available. I bought the ixus 90 and guess what! Having said that the white balance feature on it is a doddle to use, only a couple of buttons to press

[Ding]

The Fuji F100 is not to expensive has a 40m housing has auto white balance and you can get a wide angle lenz, its point and shoot so what more do you want......;)

[mitchole]

This kind of question is always difficult and tends to end up with technical debates and tit for tat! I would suggest that you get a camera that will give you really good results with the minimum of faffing. This will mean that you are likely to continue to take your camera diving with you if your initial results are good. If your initial results are poor then you may get fed up with trying to produce acceptable photo's and give up! If you can drive photo software such as lightroom and photoshop then using RAW may make good sense, coz you can forget a lot of the cameras settings such as white balance and adjust them later on your Mac. Just swim, stop, point, compose and shoot, shoot and shoot again. The cannon G10 has just been released so you will certainly be able to get hold of a good 2nd hand G9, it's easy to use takes great photo's, has RAW if you want it and the housings won't break the bank. Hope this helps!

[Richard Whitcombe]

The Fuji F100 is not to expensive has a 40m housing has auto white balance

Auto white balance is probably the worst thing possible on an underwater camera!

Hasnt the F100 got very high ISO noise too hence people preferring the F30 and older range?

coz you can forget a lot of the cameras settings such as white balance and adjust them later on your Mac.

Even better you can do it on proper computers as well not just toys!

Worth mentioning that not all Canon models have a CHDK hack available. I bought the ixus 90 and guess what! Having said that the white balance feature on it is a doddle to use, only a couple of buttons to press

True - thats why i pasted the link to the site - the list of supported models is on the front page (and growing). Manual white balance i just find a complete pain in the arse recalibrating every time i change depth before i take a photo.

[mitchole]

Even better you can do it on proper computers as well not just toys!

Ouch!! Politics, Religion, Cameras, PC's versus Mac's - Let's not go there! :)

[bigjo]

Ouch!! Politics, Religion, Cameras, PC's versus Mac's - Let's not go there! :)
If i were to view the photos on a TV would they look better on plasma or LCD :D I'm going out now.......