Which Digital SLR should I buy???

I am an Underwater Photographer for 6 years now and I switched to digital about 4 years ago. I owned 3 different consumer digital cameras and the current one is an Olympus C-770uz in an Olympus PT-022 housing. I also have an Inon D-2000 s-TTL strobe and an Inon UWL-100 wideangle lens.

I would like to upgrade to a DSLR. Could anyone advise me what the best choice is? I would like to keep using my current strobe. And the SLR must be limited in price. I'm thinking of a Nikon D-50 or D-70s, EOS 350D or Olympys E-330/E-500.

Any suggestions are welcome...and thankx in advance...

Since you already have a complete setup, and are probably not in a rush, I'd suggest waiting a bit to see what sort of housing line-up will be on offer for the Nikon D80. After playing with it a bit, it looks like a good camera at a reasonable price.

Since you have a few camera models in mind you might want to look at available housings for those cameras. A lot more choices with Nikon or Canon. See what will fit your budget. Personnally I would stay away from Olympus housings (bad experiences with PT-015). Nikon D70s would be a great first DSLR camera at a reasonable price. Don't forget multiple lens & required ports. And a Plantium Card.

One thing with your strobe is that you will only be able to use it as a slave of another one (as far as I know DSLRs don´t allow the use of the internal flash)

If you wait, you'll wait forever. There will always be a newer better and cheaper camera round the next corner! Just remember that a film camera could last more than 50 years but your digital camera will be worth absolutely nothing (because no one will want to buy it from you) in about three years!

I am an Underwater Photographer for 6 years now and I switched to digital about 4 years ago. I owned 3 different consumer digital cameras and the current one is an Olympus C-770uz in an Olympus PT-022 housing. I also have an Inon D-2000 s-TTL strobe and an Inon UWL-100 wideangle lens.

 

I would like to upgrade to a DSLR. Could anyone advise me what the best choice is? I would like to keep using my current strobe. And the SLR must be limited in price. I'm thinking of a Nikon D-50 or D-70s, EOS 350D or Olympys E-330/E-500.

 

Any suggestions are welcome...and thankx in advance...

I highly recommend Nikon D50 (with Sea&Sea housing DX-D50)

the Auto focus speed is very fast ( i can't tell the different between my Nikon D2X and my Nikon D50)

and the ability to focus under low light condition is execent!

Pricewise i think the price of DX-D50 housing is very acceptable...

and i think the build quality for this housing is very good

i have no complains for this housing + (it's very compact)

I only use my Nikon D2X for top-side shooting. I was planning to buy sea-cam housing.

However, after i found out the price of the sea-cam housing, my breath almost stop instantly hahahha

so i decided to buy a housing for my Nikon D50 instead

here are 2 pics that i took at Anilao last august using

D50+DX-D50 + YS-90 auto 2 units + sigma 105mm macro lens

these 2 pics are stright out from the camera.

Only some minor touch-up to remove the sand + resized it.

Have fun in choosing the housing

Andree

Lampung, Indonesia

Hello,

I would have to agree with Andree, the Nikon D50 is a great camera to step up to the DSLR world,

Sea & Sea makes a nice housing for this and you will be able to move your Inon strobe to this setup, plus Sea & Sea is a committed manufacturer that can grow with your skill as you continue to add other things on to your setup or upgrade.....

On the flipside the D80 is a great camera comparable to the D200 and Sea & Sea will have a housing available approximately in November so if you would like to step up to that lvel that is also an option...

Regards,

Lee

Hi Lee,

Interesting. Can you tell us about how you use a D50+Sea and Sea housing with the Inon D2000?

Cheers

James

I have seen D2000s on several Sea and Sea housings. In fact I saw one Sea and Sea housing flood on its first ever dive because the crew on the boat grabbed the housing by the D2000, which rotated the port loose and it then flooded in rinse tank.

But it works, with the appropriate port. And this incident was an isolated one.

Alex

for the price, the d70/d70s is the best right now.

the market is saturated with d70/d70s cameras and housings.

I have seen D2000s on several Sea and Sea housings. In fact I saw one Sea and Sea housing flood on its first ever dive because the crew on the boat grabbed the housing by the D2000, which rotated the port loose and it then flooded in rinse tank.

 

But it works, with the appropriate port. And this incident was an isolated one.

Alex

But, how does it fire? and does it depend on the port? maybe you are talking about an inon ring strobe and not the inon D2000?

Ah yes I was - sorry totally confused there.

You can fire the fibre optic Inon flashes with an electrical optical converter (although this costs almost as much as new strobe)!

Alex

Well, don't rely on the L&M Titan D200 housing. At the Scuba show in Long Beach I was told they'd be shipping in Aug 06. I placed an order for one and then I was told October 06. Upon follow up I was told by December and I could take it with me on a trip then. Now I am being told it will be sometime in early 07 before the housing is ready, or at least my housing. I might not be on the first run list. I am considering going to a different housing and canceling my order, but if you go with a D200 you should stick to Subal or Sea & Sea and if you can afford it, SeaCam.

Good luck.

Hi James sorry I didn't enlighten sooner, the D2000 can be used if it has a Nikonos 5-pin cord connector, this can allow it to be used in manual, then with the addition of a conversion board then you could use TTL. Certain Inon models have the proper cord output (I believe the W model)!! So if he has that ability then he would be able to use it!!

As for the L&M D200 housing it's unfortunate that its taking such a long time to come to the market but L&M makes great products so hopefully we will be rewarded with the wait!!!!! B)

but if you go with a D200 you should stick to Subal or Sea & Sea and if you can afford it, SeaCam.

 

Good luck.

What about Aquatica. I have the Aquatica D200 housing and I can tell you it is the finest housing I have owned. I thought something was wrong the first time I put it together because the camera just slid into place and all of the controls meshed perfectly - no fiddling, adjusting or cajoling - everything just worked.

Larry,

You're right, I forgot Aquatica. At this point I am going to wait because like UW PHOTO TECH said, it will probably be worth the wait. In the meantime my Titan D100 housing and D100 cameras lose more and more resale value every day I wait for the Titan D200 housing. Ports are my main concern. I have all Subal ports and would hate to go with anything else that doesn't accept Subal. That leaves me Subal, which I have not had good luck with in the past from constant leaking and electrical problems. I don't want to buy another dud and spend a fortune trying to get it to work.

Hi Joe,

I think a friend of ScubaStu's is making some port adapters. I have a port adapter that I bought from Walt Stearns that allows you to use Subal ports on the Seacam housings.

Cheers

James

Tempting. The damn SeaCam viewfinders are expensive. Are they worth it and what one is the most versitile and biggest viewing field? I really like the ROC feature of the L&M though.

Hi Joe,

The Seacam housing is priced at about the same level as the Titan if you get it w/ the standard finder. The Secam standard finder is pretty good and would work well w/ a D200. Of course the S180 would work better :-) It's the most versatile, but whether its worth it or not is totally a personal decision. For me it is.

I agree ROC is nice, but if you want fingertip control on the Seacam, get it w/ a Heinrich's converter and use the flash compensation. Of course, it won't be strobe independent if you do that, both will go up and down together.

Cheers

James

On the other hand, for a LOT less money, you can get an Aquatica D200 setup.

I have Version 1.0 of the port adapters for my Subal. Ocean testing on Oct. 1st.... of the adapter and the mod kit for the 10D to 5D conversion kit.

Stay tuned!

Stu