Just wondering if anyone can help me with some advice on a camera set up I'm looking to purchase. I'm looking at the Canon Powershot A570IS with a Canon WP-DC12 housing. If anyone can give me any advice wether its good or bad on how appropriate this set up would be for someone who is wanting to get into underwater photography it woul dbe greatly apreciated. I'm hoping to purchase a camera and housing as soon as possibly as I'm travelling to Bali at the end of October. Will be diving at Tulamben (Liberty shipwreck), Nusa Penida / Nusa Lembongan, Padanbai and Candidasa. So hoping to be able to capture what I'm sure will be some fantastic diving.
All advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Adam
Welcome to Wetpixel!
The A570 is a good choice. The camera and housing will allow you to grow with additional lenses and strobes.
Make sure to get very close when photographing. It's the first rule of underwater photography.
Aside from getting close, learn how to use the white balance calibration. It's very easy on Canon cameras. Doing a quick manual white balance often makes the difference between a nice photo and one that's blue-ish all over.
I highly recommend buying a Magic Filter. These red/orange filters are inexpensive. They'll allow you to capture more color detail during shallow dives. If you search in Wetpixel, there are a lot of us using them.
I am considering a P&S as a backup and boat camera. You may want to look at the new Canon SD 870 IS. Wider lens, 3" LCD, 8 Mpix.
www.usa.canon.com/consumer/
IMHO, 35 mm (as 35 mm format eqv.) = ~ 47 mm under water in a flat port is not wide enough.
My advice is nice camera but get a different housing. I have seen many of these types of housing flood and think they are not tough enough to last, the buttons stop working, cracks appear, one even the front glass imploded at 35m. I Recommend you look at a housing from Ikelite, costs a little more but is much more durable.
Thanks for the advice guys. Have been looking at the magic filters web page, is certainly something that I'll be looking into. As for the SD870IS, it seems that this model isn't available in Australia at the moment. I was also looking at the Ikelite housings but this does add a bit to the price. Although I have PADI Advanced Open Water certification, I'm only looking to be photographing to about 20m at the moment. So hopefully Canon housing will be fine for this environment, at least for the time being. Ikelite housing is on the wishlist, maybe next years Christmas list. So far I've been able to price the A570IS at AUS$560, so its fairly inexpensive and hopefully will allow me to learn the basics. I know there is Inon lenses that can be adapted to the Canon housing, so who knows how far I may be able to go with this camera. Any advice on possible set ups with additional lenses in the future would also be appreciated.
