I'm thinking of getting a new compact

How about the Canon S80 ?

its very useable ... lots of control ...

Canon S80 @ DPReview.com

Good suggestion, Cowboy. But lack of RAW is a pity as I was planning to use the camera for quite a bit of Magic shooting.

Alex

Alex,

I just bought the oly sp-350...got a great deal from justdiscounted.com ($305) including shipping. Its a small camera...much smaller than its bulkier cousins the 7070 and 8080. For a little camera its pretty powerful, 8MP RAW, RAW+JPEG, Fast turn on (1 second), large LCD, full control over SS, A in manual mode. Pretty slick...I can't wait to get it unda da sea!

You seem to find important the good looks and I can´t really understand why when you plan to use it as a backup if something bad happens to your main camera

He is very fashion conscious, haven't you seen those fancy neon yellow fins.... :)

You seem to find important the good looks

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I think I am trying to compensate for my own lack of them.

Today's favourites are one of the newer Canon IXUSes or a Nikon S3... I fear that this is going to be settled by whichever camera is favourite next time I get paid for something. Not very scientific!

Alex

I think I am trying to compensate for my own lack of them.

then you may need a bigger than what you are looking for!!!

just kidding!!.

Maybe a sony would do it for your purposes. They are small, get nice pictures, cheap housings and very good party cameras...

I would like to know how good is the sony R1 for UW use but I guess we will have to wait...

Alex,

- Just noticed the Oly SP700. The specs are fairly unremarkable- but it does have a 3 inch LCD at 230,000 pixels' and a 1cm macro. Aesthetically it looks a bit like your current favourites and of course being an Oly, there is a case for it.

On a seperate point I was playing with the Oly SP350 today and noticed you can choose between 4:3 and 3:2 aspect ratios. An interesting feature, although perhaps pointless.

Trev

Interesting about the aspect ratios, Trevor. We were talking about that at BSoUP last night. And thanks for the Sony suggestion, Davichin. Good one.

The other use I have for this camera, which will probably be its main UW use, is as a prop for models. I always try and have my models doing something, if I can. And pretending to shoot some small compact is excellent. Not only does it reflect what a lot of divers actually do these days, but like using up-to-date dive kit it keeps your pictures looking current/modern. IMO, there is nothing worse than 1960s oval masks and fluorescent pink 1980s dive skins (and a lot of editors agree).

Alex

Interesting, I'm looking into exactly the same scenario. I'm err'ing on the side of the S80 & the E900 but have been put off by the latter's bad purple fringing.

not having used RAW mode before (let alone photoshop!), is it seriously worth the option of having Vs jpeg? the S80 does have an underwater mode which granted is going to be no way as flexible but that's the only limiting factor I see of the Canon.

such a quandry as no compact has all the features and quality you want, no matter how much you want to spend!!!

cheers,

james.

Alex, neither of the Canon or Nikon models you suggested have an uncompressed format. If either of those models are worthy of consideration then why not the S80? Fewer and fewer digicams have RAW, so it's going to be harder to find what you're looking for.

I would love to see the Magic Filter work on a small digicam. It would provide a bridge until I get a monster DSLR setup.

So what can anyone recomend for soemthing super small in at least a 5mp range?

I am looking for something tiny that's easy to freedive with yet still works in low light without a strobe- since I won't be carrying one.

I already have film cameras/strobes set ups if I put a tank on as well as a larger digitial set-up (5050 with an inon wideangle/dome lens), but am looking for something small enough to carry with one hand while freediving down 100'- I stop dragging my oly with me past 80' since the lens adds too much bulk to it.

I got my wife a casio Z55 for her birthday and have been eyeing up a housing for it ever since- even though she assures me "her" camera is actually affraid of the water. It has gotten me thinking aobut getting my own compact to use on days when I just don't feel like carrying my oly.

I see others have mentioned the coolpix 7900 and the sea+sea 8000x. My father-in-law just got the sea+sea as a back up for his video camera. It is a nice camera with the optional wide angle lens, but it's still too big forwhat I want to use it for. I don't care about RAW, but am concerned with low light.

With all of that in mind what can you suggest?

Thanks,

Jon

I think I am trying to compensate for my own lack of them.

 

Today's favourites are one of the newer Canon IXUSes

 

Alex

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Alex -

The Ixus series do not have manual controls, do they? Wouldn't that be important?

I'm looking for a very small camera - two actually - but ideally want it all: sexy, very very small, good optics (I know I won't get great), control of aperture and shutter and a housing!

Now you can get that Leica!

Leica C-Lux 1

This camera is the same as the Panasonic DMC-FX01, and that has an underwater housing.

Thread on Panasonic underwater housing

during the plethora of xmas coupons and discounts, i picked up a panasonic lumix dmc-lx2 ( leica d-lux 3 ) from dell for just under $350 shipped and 2GB SD cards elsewhere for $10. one fine camera. no reservations.

I don't believe there is a housing for that camera. Ike once mentioned that he couldn't do a housing for a camera because it had joy stick controls. The Lecia also has those.

Have you been using this camera? The reviews say that it has a lot of noise above 100 ISO. Have you noticed this? I ask because I was very tempted to buy one.

I don't believe there is a housing for that camera.

Ike once mentioned that he couldn't do a housing for a camera because it had joy stick controls.

i'm not counting on it, but given this, i'm lead to wonder if the LX2 would fit in the LX1 housing, and which buttons would line up.

The reviews say that it has a lot of noise above 100 ISO.

options via the joystick may also be reached through the traditional menu buttons. As far as I've found, that is true of _all_ joystick options.

my bad

the joystick may be pressed like a regular button. doing so brings up a v nice set of menus on the lcd which can be navigated via the joystick. the options in these menus may be set via the traditional buttons as well.

the joystick is also used to the adjust manual focus, and ss and fstop when in M mode. those capabilities are unique to joystick.

.

So Alex, what did you end up getting?

I'm at the airport in Singapore right now, had a few hours to kill, and ended up buying the Canon Ixus 950. I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do on my next trip -- headed to Angola and didn't want to lug the entire 5D setup with me just for a few topside shots.