Need info on Canon A series

Alot of people have recommended the Canon A series cameras to me for my first underwater camera. I have been looking at the A620, it seems to be a good price. Does anyone know if Ikelite makes a housing for this camera. I may start out with the Canon housing but would like to be able to upgrade later. I would also like to know if the Canon housings are good quality and allow you to operate all features. If anyone can answer these questions or knows anything(good or bad) about the A620, please let me know. Thanks in advance

Hi,

Not all Canon housings let you operate all of the features, so I'd check before buying. I bet Ikelite makes a housing for the A series - check www.ikelite.com

The camera has Aperture priority, Shutter Priority modes, so it's a great starter camera.

Note that it takes SD media cards, not the more popular Compact Flash cards, but the SD cards are very good too.

Cheers

James

I am still using a Canon A95 in a Canon WPDC-50 case. This camera is still sold but I believe the A620 is now its replacement. They appear closely related designs.

For the A95 all camera functions are available through the Canon case. I would not expect the A620 to be any different. Overal the A95 with the Canon case has been very good.

The Canon case is a snug fit compared to an Ikelite and for me this added to the ease of use and feel of the control buttons. My only real complaint about the Canon is that some of the contols feel fragile.

Ikelite housing for the Canon A610 and A620 is coming............

Ikelite's new housings let you choose lens mounts (AD or 67mm). You also get a housing thats less likely to have condensation problems.

Ike, you just answered my question from that other thread.

I JUST BOUGHT THE CANON A620 WITH THE CANON HOUSING. I AM TAKING IT TO BONAIRE WITH ME IN A FEW WEEKS. I AM NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PURCHASE A STROBE BEFORE I GO, SO I AM GOING TO BE USING THE INTERNAL FLASH ONLY. I WAS HOPING SOMEONE COULD TELL ME IF I SHOULD USE THE REMOVABEL FLASH DIFFUSER THAT CAME WITH THE HOUSING OR WILL I GET BETTER PICTURES WITHOUT IT WITH INTERNAL FLASH. I AM NEW TO UW PHOTOGRAPHY SO IF ANYONE COULD RECOMMEND WHAT CAMERA SETTINGS WORK BEST UNDERWATER I WOULD APPRECIATE IT. ALSO, THE USER MANUAL THAT CAME WITH THE HOUSING DIDN'T MAKE IT REAL CLEAR ABOUT HOW OFTEN TO GREASE THE O-RING, DON'T KNOW IF I NEED TO DO IT EVERYTIME I USE THE CASE OR JUST OCCASIONALLY. THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE ME.

I started out with a Canon A20, then an A40 and now I'm using an A80. Needless to say, I like the A series cameras. I find the photos give you the most bang for your buck - if you don't want to lay out $2000+ for a setup, an A series camera and Canon housing will still allow you to take decent photos. All the housings have allowed me to access all the features of the cameras underwater.

I prefer the Canon housing - have used the Ikelite but find them too bulky - although I do agree with the condensation comment. I make up for this by soaking the camera in cold water (once I left it in a refrigerator for an hour before a dive and that worked, too) and leaving a small silica pack in the housing.

You need to remove, wash, dry and lube the o-ring every time you open the housing if you don't want problems. Make sure you understand the steps to cleaning the housing & o-ring, as well as how to check for o-ring problems.

I use an Ikelite DS-125 strobe, but prior to that I was using the internal strobe with the housing diffuser and found it worked well. If you are using the internal flash, make sure you use the diffuser - it makes a big difference!!

And one tip for taking u/w photos with a point & shoot - in your white balance selector (usually available in P mode, but not auto) choose the cloud - this adds red into your photos, which certainly helps when you don't have a strobe.

If you do get around to purchasing add-on lenses, I know Inon sells a fisheye and Sea & Sea sells a wide angle lens that attaches to the outside of your housing - a great advantage when you don't know what you may see on the dive. Add-on macro lenses are really a waste of time with these cameras, as the macro abilities are very good without extra lenses.

Cheers,

Kim