Camera recc's for under $600US

Hi,

I'd like to get my nephew an underwater camer to celebrate his certification, and would like to spend $500-$600. Is an "underwater kit" like the Sealife D600 or Sea&Sea 860, or 750, something to consider vs buying a "better" point & shoot camera with a dedicated housing? As he does not have any camera at present, which route is best? I'm from the professional Nikon DSLR film & digi frame of reference amd know little about P&S cameras, let alone who makes the cameras that S&S or Sealife puts their label on. My daughter has a Canon A640 (the best in class, she was told), and that, with a housing would make the price point, for example. So what do the underwater photographers out there recc? A few Q's: 1. Is the "saturated underwater setting" some relabled land setting that the S&S and Sealife cameras list as a spec? 2. Is the color corection software that comes "free" with the underwater kits something to consider, or will Photoshop elements or some other app do it better? 3. How does the closeup and wide angle lens' that come with/ are options with these kits chime into the conversation? 4. Same Q. about the ability to add the outboard strobes to the underwater kits vs what to do with the better P&S in a housing? *****Thanks so much, Steve .

Hi Steve,

I have just bought the Canon Powershot A570 IS with a Canon WP-DC12 housing, this is my 1st underwater set up. It was purchased for under AUS$600, so US$ obviously it would be cheaper. Some good things about this camera are that Inon do several lenses that you can use with the Canon housing using Inon's AD bayonet lens mount. Camera is fully automatic with an underwater mode, or can be set to full manual mode for the more experienced photographer. Allowing lots of diferent options in between. External strobes are easily attatched to this housing.

I personally don't like the Sealife D600. I tried this camera out on a dive before I bought the Canon set up and found that I kept accidently turning off the camera. This is due to the on/off button being so close to the shutter button. Several others I have spoken to have also said they had the same problem.

As a novice photographer I know photoshop and photoshop elements do just fine with the photos I take. I'm know there are others more experienced on this forum then me that can offer you more advice on this.

Thanks. I like Canon P&S cameras myself. Does your model allow (auto or manual?) macro focusing after you have fully zoomed optically? ... after you"ve fully zoomed optically & digitally? That is an incredible feature. I have that in an old casio QV 3000, (Great pix, canon lens)but this is too old for a housing. I bought my daughter a Canon a640 after much research for pix quality, low noise, and its many manual features, but it won't do macro past a 2x zoom optically.. so it'll stay on land. Is an outboard strobe necessary, and what is recced? Does the ability to add a strobe depend on the housing having the appropriate mounting & electrical connections? How is the strobe triggered? I presume it is manually set by trial & error since it can't do TTL with a P&S?Doesn't the canon go wide enough, or is a WA lens necessary, and again I presume the housing determines whose lens will fit? What does the "Underwater setting" do, & why does a land camera have this? Thanks again.

From what I can see the camera doesn't allow focusing in macro once you have fully zoomed, optically or digitally.

I guess an external strobe is up to the individual and dependent on what you want to spend. A lot of people on this forum don't use a strobe all the time and use "Magic Filters" for most of their photos. You'll find several posts on this subject if you look, some have posted their pics as proof of how well they work. Or check out the "Magic Filters" website for more info. If you check out some of the links on the right hand side of the page, especially Inon and Ikelite, you will see examples of strobes and add on lenses that are available for this Canon model. Inon use the Canon housing and adapt to it, where as Ikelite use their own housing specific for this model. The Ikelite housing being more expensive then the standard Canon housing. The strobe is connected using fibre optic cable and works off the internal flash. Inon do about 8 different strobes that fit their mount and obviously there are alot more from other manufacturers on the market also. So there is plenty of options for someone to choose from. I'm certainly not the right person for advising on strobes for which is the best one to use as I don't have a strobe, as yet.

As for WA lenses, I guess it comes down to the individual, there is always that one time that you wish you had the option to use one. I personally am just trying to master the basic setup before I go spending more money on lenses and strobes.

As for the "Underwater setting", if you use this on land your pics will have a pinkish tinge to them. It is just a basic white colour balance setting which componsates for the loss of colour spectrum whilst underwater. You can also due a manual white colour calibration yourself whilst underwater which basically does the same thing. Probably better to do the manual calibration, as colour loss changes with depth and would allow you to get a better photo. Best to reset the white balance about every metre or so. Think the Canon has this feature more as a selling point for the novice photographer who hasn't learnt how to use some of the manual settings. That I think is a good thing with this camera as it will grow with you as your ability and knowledge allows. Its a good starting camera for a novice but still able to be used by someone who wants all the bells and whistles allowing for full auto or manual controls.

Hopefully some of what I've said answers some of your questions.

Thanks for the advice! I saw some stunning pix on this forum from a Fuji F31 fd w/o a strobe (I believe), so the choices will be narrowed to your canon model or the fuji. I just have to decide on the mfg'ers housing or an ikelite. I just didn't want my nephew to have to worry about spending 2x or 3x the initial expense of my gift on WA & strobe accessories... but if he gets into it, let him have that pleasure

Is it safe to assume that the widest these P&S's go is 35MM (35mm equivalent) and that they only do macro at the WA setting, which is where you need it anyway? Does the water then narrow the field of view 1/3, or did I misread this somewhere?

*** Any other happy P&S'ers out there who wish to chime in.. would surely be appreciated, as the gift will be purchased within the week. Thanks all!

Not too sure about the Fuji F31fd, haven't seen it, but know the F40fd is also a good camera and probably a bit cheaper then the Canon Powershot A570IS.

The widest the Canon goes is 35mm (35-140mm lens). As for macro, it does allow a small amount of zoom but not much. Not sure about the narrowing of field of view by a 1/3 when underwater, maybe someone else can help you with that.

Whatever way you go, Fuji or Canon, I'm sure your nephew will get lots of enjoyment out of it.