Subal or SeaCam for EOS 1Ds (1Ds Mk II)?

Its horses for courses Alex, so they tell me. I have a friend who just bought a Hasselblad H1Digital set up - and he has no pretentions to be a pro whatsoever!

If you look through the forums on sites like Rob Galbraith, you'll see that many Stock agencies are insisting on 10MPixel+ cameras being used. This is of course because the quality is far superior and has absolutely nothing to do with not wanting to get swamped with too many images to handle whatsoever. Of course they must have files from high MPixel cameras, it stands to reason.

I figure myself that good images will out, but during a recent image collation project I have been involved in I discovered another variation on the nmatural law of difficultness. This states that the better the image in terms of its content, lighting, composition, etc., the lower the MPixel camera it was shot on!

One good thing about today's 10MPixel+ cameras is that they'll be a lot cheaper in a year or so and still very, very good. Bit off topic but there you go.

Yeah, I guess that most of these points aren't relevant to a professional underwater photographer, hey Mike!

 

Its a funny world.

 

Alex

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Allow me to reiterate.......

I need a Sugar Mama to read this thread.....

Didn't think that this forum was for the benefit of "professionals" only...this thread has been very helpful to me and I appreciate the excellent responses...If it's not relevant to the pros so be it...

And since we've been diverted off-topic and the thread appears to be hijacked I'll go off in the new direction for a minute...

How many "real" professional underwater photographers are there in the world? My guess is less than 5 people in the world actually earn the majority of their income strictly from shooting still images underwater (stock and location shooting)... the rest supplement their income with work as dive instructors, equipment repair, selling equipment, writing books, teaching seminars, etc....others made money in unrelated occupations or inherited big trust funds...

Maybe I'm just being defensive, but it seems like there are several instances where so called pros come off as arrogant and jealous at the same time... I'm not sure why...It is indeed a funny world...

I know a few of professional photographers who resent serious amateurs...many times the source of this resentment is that serious amateurs are sometimes willing to sell their images at bargain rates which dilutes the pool that true pros drink from to sustain themselves...perhaps this is one reason that there are so few "real" pros??? As I see it if a pro can't distance himself from the amateur then, well, he isn't a pro and he needs to find some other means of income...

I just don't see any problem with the pro or amateur who has the means and desire to buy the best photographic equipment available so that they can optimize their chances at the best of images...

I have so much respect for so many of the photographers (pros and amateur) that frequent this site and I am amazed at the images that are being captured...and anyone that truly makes a living with his camera is an amazing talent...anyone that makes a living with a camera system that is "less than the best" is a God... <_<

H2Oplanet, sorry if you misunderstood Alex and i on earlier replies. WE are by no means having fun at your expense or poking fun at the topic. We are certainly not trying to sound arrogant, but i for one am a bit jealous i must admit!

Alex was actually making fun of me on his reply... we can't help it sometimes... its that British and Canadian thing....

You will find we (alex and i) have a history of some (at least what i think) are witty, sarcastic replies into threads to inject a bit of humour and whatnot, often poking fun of myself or some of the other regulars here (Giles and James come to mind!! )

Mike, Perhaps I did overacted a bit...maybe alot...

Typically, I do enjoy and appreciate the comments and images of yours and Alex's...

But, ...What could be more amusing than the irony of an American implying that a Brit and a Canadian might be arrogant?

Bye the way, thanks for turning me on to the series "Trailer Park Boys"...now that's funny...remember Cocos a few years back???

No hard feelings...

Is that you Scott?!?!?! I remember playing with your Canon in Cocos, my first intro to the big bad world of digital......

Damn, small world....

Trailer Park Boys... now that is funny!!!

This topic is going nuts, its like those religious wars .. hehe

I dont own a subal & seacam but people do you really think those housings are the best of the best??

Maybe before 1-2 years but now more and more manufacturers comming out with housings in exelent quality , big viewfinders and great ports & glas domes.

I have still a nexus d70s housing and a 170 glass dome from Athena...

what can give me Seacam & Subal that my rig cant give me?

A viefinder only and on this Nexus is buidling one right now...

We all only like what we use, right Alex & James :-)

h2oplanet, MF is available w/ the Canon 10mm Macro in Subal's FP-FC105 with a custom gear that at least 2 enlightened USA dealers offer.

Just a few quick comments on the above four points in Alex's post:

1) After much contemplation, I was able to solve this problem with a fine point permanent marker.  

 

2) I don't argue that you would win a port/lens changing race, but I can swap out lenses and ports in about 1-2 minutes.  Thus far that hasn't significantly impacted my ability to get back in the water and/or work on my tan (although the extra few minutes probably gives me slightly less risk of skin cancer than you).     And the extra time I spend on ports/lenses is likely offset by the fact that I use AA lithium batteries in my strobes, which only need to be changed about every 10 dives.

 

3) I haven't submitted my rig to the "tiger bump" test like James did (maybe next week?!  ), but having lost a camera to a bumped Ikelite port, the solid screw-on mount on the Seacam was a real selling point for me personally...

 

4) I live in Seattle, and Stephen Frink (the only Seacam dealer in the U.S., AFAIK) is in Key Largo, FL.  That's about as far from "local" dealer as you can get (within the U.S.), and I've never met any of the people there, yet my experience dealing with Liz been great and very "personalized."

 

As others have said, I think you're talking about two outstanding products here, and I'm not sure one has any clear overall advantage over the other.  My decision to buy this housing (and camera) was partially colored by past "mistakes" I have made, mostly in attempts to save money (e.g., I tried to house a Minolta SLR because I already owned it, and I can't tell you how many times I wished I'd made the switch to Nikon or Canon way back then).  So--determined not to look back and regret my short-sightedness again--the overriding question I asked myself (and some other uw photographers I know) was, "If money was no object, what would I buy?"  That's how I ended up with this rig, and painful as the initial cost was, I still feel like it was a good decision.  OTOH, I'd trade it in a minute to have taken 1/10 of the great shots Alex has, so I guess it all goes to show that there really IS NO WAY to overcome picture envy! 

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Hey Bruce - Thanks for the kind words, which I truly apppreciate, and I know Liz does too.

As for the fine-point Sharpie solution for the control marking, we can do better. The newest D2X, MKII, and 5D housings will have appropriate control decals, and for those housings already in the field, we have decals we will happily send you at no charge.

My sales territory is North America and Caribbean, but I'm sure Paul or any Seacam dealer will have decal sets as well. Send me a private e-mail at sf@stephenfrink.com with a mailing address, and for any Seacam digital user in my territory I'll send immediately.

BTW ... it is not that unusual to have subtle mid-stream improvements or enhancements to the Seacam housings. I just had a guy in the studio today with a D1X he had purchased used, and was complaining that the commmand and subcommand dials were slipping. That is normal wear, but unknown to him, the rubber gears on the housing that drive those controls were modified to a beveled configuration rather than flat (a far more positive control solution). All our customers have had those retrofitted out by now. Same fix applied to F100 housings as well.