Top Ten Consumer/Prosumer Cameras

I have many people asking me about the best consumer camera for UWP, but It´s been a while since I been shooting DSLR, and I don´t know what to answer...

So I think if all wetpixelers post here what 10 cons/prosumer camera are the best for UWP (or as many as they want, less or more), It´s going to add value to this forum.

If you have the time, please post why do you think is a good UW camera on each one.

I think we should consider at least AF & Shutter Lag, RAW option, hotshoe, avaliability of housings...

Let´s say cameras out in the market since 2004? or 2005? I mean, for example the Oly C5050 was a very popular camera, so why not list it and see which rank gets? That´s the spirit of the post.

I compromise to do the maths and arrange the information, let´s say every 10 to 20 posts?

So... If you must put together a compact setup (you know with all the toys attached.. )wich 10 cameras you should pick to choose from and why?

Canon G9 - RAW, Hot-shoe, short shutter lag, OEM housing

DX1G/Ricoh GX1000 - short shutter lag, good housing from sea and sea

Cheers

James

I agree with James. Those are the top 2. Nothing else really comes close, alas.

I´m adding Oly´s C-5050 (classic) and SP-350 (RAW, battery life, hot-shoe, supermacro 2 cms.)

Maybe we should change the direction of this post a little bit... maybe we should post the best compact camera for each manufacturer, i mean witch oly, sony, nikon, canon, etc...

That way we certainly going to have a top ten...

Fuji E900 - RAW, processing quality, sensor, battery life, speed

OOh I forgot to add the Fuji F30/F31 - small, has an OEM case, and great image quality.

Cons - takes XD cards - yuck!

James

SP-350 - RAW, full manual control, manual WB, hot shoe, 4 customizable setups for macro and WA. Programmable hot-key for quick access to manual WB. OEM housing with full control over camera.

Amigo,s

Heading out for two days, but thought I'd add my insights after actually USING many of these cameras above and UNDERWATER......

* Fuji E900 - Nice, avaiable cheap now but RAW processing times (SLOW!) and xD cards as James states is a small minus. Small screen, too, compared to current P&S models.

* Olympus SP350 - Again, slow RAW write times, plus screen going dim when "locking" AF at least when I tried one underwater in bright light in Cayman this May. AF not the fastest either and frankly I never understood why everyone fell in love with this camera.

* Canon G9 for those who HAVE to have RAW. Recent tests show a tad better IQ than the G7, less noise reduction applied and a HUGE screen and IS. Plus a eTTL hard wired hot shoe with the Ikelite housing and strobes

* Canon A630 / 640 - Large screen, fast AF, good resolution and you can even hack RAW into it. The great Lazaro Ruda (my amigo in FLA) has been exploring it and results are very promising! 4 AA batteries give extremely long life between housing openings, too.

* Canon A650 IS - Same great features as A630 / 640 WITH IS and likely will be hacked for RAW very soon, also. Again, 4 AA battery power.....

* Nikon P5000 and now P5100 - Great tiny camera, hot shoe and iTTL capable with Ikelite housing and DS strobes and very, very portable. Some reports slow AF, but many users are shooting and having a ball with it. See www.ikelite. com web site and new BLOG for samples.....

YMMV

dhaas