Considering Canon G9

I have been using my beloved Canon S60 with the original Canon underwater housing for about four years now, and I have decided to upgrade to something a bit more, well, modern. On paper the Canon G9 seems wonderful, and by the looks of it the camera has done quite good in reviews as well. I have read a bit in here and it seems like many are recomending the ikelite housings, and since I do want to buy an external strobe I guess thet would be the way to go?

What I am actually wondering is what my options are with the ikelite housing. What kind of strobes can I use? How do the strobes work? Do they for instance react to the built in camera flash or is it possible to connect a cable to the camera and controll the flash that way? Is it possible to fit macro lenses to this housing? Basically, what sort of goodies can I get if i choose this solution.

Just to ask: Are there any other cameras I should consider? I love the ability to use my camera in full manual mode and to shoot in .raw format, so the camera I am going to upgrade to must have these possibilities.

I have read up on the options for this camera, and I think I am getting closer to what I am going to end up with. What do you guys think of this configuration:

- Canon G9

- Ikelite Housing #6147.09 ... Canon G9

and

3944.75 Deluxe Package ($ 1,100) includes:

- 4103.51 Digital TTL Sync Cord

- 4065 DS-125 SubStrobe with diffuser

- 4086.61 Ball Socket Arm system

- 4066.1 Smart Charger

And just to check if I have understood how this package works. I connect the strobe to the camera using TTL so that I won't have to set the strobe manually, right? And the arm can be brought down directly over the house for macro shots?

You understand how the package works. Set the strobe to TTL, and the camera controls strobe output automatically. It will do a very nice job. The DS-125 is a fantastic strobe.

I am in a similar position . I am upgrading from an S70.

On paper the G9 was my natural choice. however addition of wide lenses appears to be a problem for the G9. Even using the short port.

I think i would rather upgrade to the Old S80!!

I am also considering buying a cheap Fuji F30 & housing and wait a year to see if the new Spring range of models produces a perfect camera.!!

Have you considered the Nikon P5100?

I am also considering buying a cheap Fuji F30 & housing and wait a year to see if the new Spring range of models produces a perfect camera.!!

Have you considered the Nikon P5100?

I also am considering he 5100.

But looking over the Fuji F30 specs - Long-life battery (up to 580 shots)

I'm really interested in something that has a long life battery.

My Olympus SP350 lasted 20 min on time when diving - it's now on E-Bay!

I'd like something where I can leave the viewer on for an entire 1 hour dive - minimum!

Any other suggestions?

How long will the 5100 stay turned on?

I am in a similar position . I am upgrading from an S70.

On paper the G9 was my natural choice. however addition of wide lenses appears to be a problem for the G9. Even using the short port.

 

I think i would rather upgrade to the Old S80!!

I am also considering buying a cheap Fuji F30 & housing and wait a year to see if the new Spring range of models produces a perfect camera.!!

Have you considered the Nikon P5100?

I have considderd the Nikon P5100, but its lack of .raw does put me off a bit. I have grown quite fond of that format over the years. What is the problem with G9 and wide lenses? Does it have the same problem with macro lenses?

I also am considering he 5100.

But looking over the Fuji F30 specs - Long-life battery (up to 580 shots)

I'm really interested in something that has a long life battery.

 

My Olympus SP350 lasted 20 min on time when diving - it's now on E-Bay!

 

I'd like something where I can leave the viewer on for an entire 1 hour dive - minimum!

 

Any other suggestions?

 

How long will the 5100 stay turned on?

The SP-350 does fine with rechargeable CR-V3 lithium batteries. Moot point if yours is on eBay.

I've got the F31fd. Battery life is phenominal. Resolution is great. The camera is responsive. On the downside, it lacks the ability to control flash output manually. Not a big deal if you use a DS-125.

My understanding was that Ikelite took care of any wide angle issues for the G9 with the new port. Anybody have new info?

I have considderd the Nikon P5100, but its lack of .raw does put me off a bit. I have grown quite fond of that format over the years. What is the problem with G9 and wide lenses? Does it have the same problem with macro lenses?

I also have narrowed my choices down to the G9 and P5100. At first I thought lack of RAW was a deal breaker, but then I read what that does to the shot-to-shot speed on the G9. Steve's digicams has the G9 taking 2.5 seconds between shots to write the RAW file.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_review...non_g9_pg7.html

That is simply too long. I don't use RAW on my 5060 right now because it takes too long to write. I'm still not decided which camera I will go with, but RAW is off my list of "must haves" until someone can rival my Nikon D50's write speed in a P&S.

One thing that makes me lean to the P5100 is the Fantasea housing at street-price of $200. I won't buy the Canon housing for the G9 because of the lack of wide-angle lens support and the Ike at $539 makes it a much more expensive solution. Not to mention the P5100 is about $100 cheaper than the G9 anyway.

One cool feature with the Fantasea housing is the ability to use an Inon flash in true TTL since the housing is 5-pin Nikon compatible.

Still thinking...

JP

One cool feature with the Fantasea housing is the ability to use an Inon flash in true TTL since the housing is 5-pin Nikon compatible.

Is this new? My understanding was that the Fantasea housing for the P5000/5100 does not have a connector therefore requiring the use of optically triggered strobes via the internal flash. I remember reading somewhere that they were looking into finding a bulkhead with a low enough profile to fit into the housing, but I haven't seen any outcome on it. Also the Fantasea website makes nomention whatsoever of it having a connector.

Is this new? My understanding was that the Fantasea housing for the P5000/5100 does not have a connector therefore requiring the use of optically triggered strobes via the internal flash. I remember reading somewhere that they were looking into finding a bulkhead with a low enough profile to fit into the housing, but I haven't seen any outcome on it. Also the Fantasea website makes nomention whatsoever of it having a connector.

See, this what happens when you try to digest too much information The Fantasea housing for the D-50 Nikon has the 5-pin Nikon compatible bulkhead. I have also been looking at that one. Sorry, my bad.

JP

I also have narrowed my choices down to the G9 and P5100. At first I thought lack of RAW was a deal breaker, but then I read what that does to the shot-to-shot speed on the G9. Steve's digicams has the G9 taking 2.5 seconds between shots to write the RAW file.

 

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_review...non_g9_pg7.html

 

That is simply too long. I don't use RAW on my 5060 right now because it takes too long to write. I'm still not decided which camera I will go with, but RAW is off my list of "must haves" until someone can rival my Nikon D50's write speed in a P&S.

I'm used to waiting a few seconds while using .raw with my S60, so that's not a big problem for my part. Any new info regaring wide angel lenses for the Ikelite housing?

Are there any other houses that i should considder for the G9? Are there any alternatives with the eTTL system wich works equally good as the Ikelite system and costs less?

I'm used to waiting a few seconds while using .raw with my S60, so that's not a big problem for my part. Any new info regaring wide angel lenses for the Ikelite housing?

 

Are there any other houses that i should considder for the G9? Are there any alternatives with the eTTL system wich works equally good as the Ikelite system and costs less?

It's a shame Canon didn't take into consideration that people would want to use a wide-angle lens on their housing; as it is, the only choice for the G9 is the Ikelite. Perhaps someone else will chime in here, but I believe if you have the short-port for the Ikelite housing, either the Inon wide angle or the Ikelite wide angle lens can be used.

JP

I am another one considering the G9 v/s P5100. Canon is ~$225 more for camera + housing. Nikon image quality looks worse in the reviews - but is it really noticablly bad for practical prints (I dont put 100X zoom images on my walls). Canon has RAW - slows down response a lot but I think I would appreciate it as I just got Photoshop CS3 and want to play. Canon has closer macro - is this practical underwater, or do you need to get closeup wet lenses to practically get close enough to get in and light the subject - I have just seen some amazing pics from a G7 w/housing only (thanks islandbound) so I tend to think the Canon can take any shots I want to take.

Has anyone selected the Nikon over the Canon? Anyone come up with a good reason to get one over the other? The $225 is one day of diving in Maui - so I can justify it if it is justifiable (leaning towards Canon).

My next debate is DS-50 v/s DS-125 v/s Z-240. I guess thats for the strobes forum, but please post/pm opinions.

Thanks!

Jeremy

Check this out ...

http://www.scubacam.nl/catalog/product_inf...products_id=870

I'm pretty new to UW photography, but an avid scuba diver and land photographer ... hopefully this new hobby won't completely bankrupt me!

I've got a G9 - absolutely love the camera on the land.

http://www.flickr.com/jeremypayne

Going in a few days to Antigua (Cades Reef) for a week. Bringing my own stuff down for the first time ever ... have played with cheap rental stuff (no strobes) a few times.

Here's my setup:

Canon G9

OEM WPDC21 Housing

Sea&Sea YS-15

Fantasea Nano Focus light

Original Magic Filter

I have a G9, Ike housing and short port and can confirm the INON UWL-100 M67 and dome port is compatible. Vignetting is not an issue with the w/a INON glass. I use the standard port with an INON UCL-165 M-67 and need to zoom about 1/3rd to remove vignetting. HTH.

I have a G9, Ike housing and short port and can confirm the INON UWL-100 M67 and dome port is compatible. Vignetting is not an issue with the w/a INON glass. I use the standard port with an INON UCL-165 M-67 and need to zoom about 1/3rd to remove vignetting. HTH.

Say Tim,

Is there a reason you don't use the UCL-165 with the short port? Is it just to get the extra amount of "zoom" for closeups? I'm hoping on carrying both the UWL-100 and UCL-165 on the same dive.

John

John, before you put out the money for the Inon lens you should understand what the G7/9 can do on its own. The Canon has a built in macro telephoto with 2 powers available already. Combined with the optical zoom in macro mode this is a very powerful macro tool. This image is NOT cropped of a 2.5 inch long nudibranch using only the G7 in an Ikelite housing.

Say Tim,

 

Is there a reason you don't use the UCL-165 with the short port? Is it just to get the extra amount of "zoom" for closeups? I'm hoping on carrying both the UWL-100 and UCL-165 on the same dive.

 

John

Hi John,

I choose to use the standard 'long port' with the UCL-165 because, as you rightly suggest, it allows me the entire zoom range to work with.

I agree with inslandbound in that the G9 has a very powerful macro capability and can work down to 1cm from the subject. However I prefer the 'strobe room' the UCL-165 allows. I use a pair of YS-25s for macro work (I hang my Z-240's for w/a) and having around 15-20 cms from the subject to play with affords me better lighting possibilities.

I've just ordered an UCL-330 from Yuzo Kanda in Japan and I'm looking forward to how this glass compares and discovering new opportunities. Of course I'll post my findings.

Happy New Year.

Hi Guys

Am I missing something!

Most divers seem to be considering a G9 v Nikon 5100 and having made up my mind on the G9 a couple of days ago before doing much research because 'everyone is buying a G9' mainly because I didnt fancy the evaluation.

Still looking at peoples images inc Islandbound on this thread and on various sites I haven't seen a really sharp image yet. They seem to be a bit soft and certainly are not as good as the images I get above water from my Panasonic FZ20.

Combine my concerns about image quality and add lack of wide angle then it seems like I am back on the merry go round of camera hunting.

I have just about given up with this P & S market and think I will have to bite the bullet and go DSLR.

Any ideas?

regards

Ardy

Hi Guys

 

Am I missing something!

 

Most divers seem to be considering a G9 v Nikon 5100 and having made up my mind on the G9 a couple of days ago before doing much research because 'everyone is buying a G9' mainly because I didnt fancy the evaluation.

 

Still looking at peoples images inc Islandbound on this thread and on various sites I haven't seen a really sharp image yet. They seem to be a bit soft and certainly are not as good as the images I get above water from my Panasonic FZ20.

 

Combine my concerns about image quality and add lack of wide angle then it seems like I am back on the merry go round of camera hunting.

 

I have just about given up with this P & S market and think I will have to bite the bullet and go DSLR.

 

Any ideas?

 

regards

 

Ardy

Hi Ardy

I use the coolpix p5000 in the ike housing with inon glass and strobes, there are not as many p5000s underwater as G9s but im getting some very good images . with the propper lenses you can do good WA or Macro shooting . for macro having the inon ucl165 m67 stacked is very helpfull for getting room to position strobes. i find the images to be sharp color is good ,see links below .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8825200@N08/s...57603563164695/

also another housing for the G9 is this one , but a bit expensive i think

http://www.fun-in.com.tw/catalog/product_i...ed129faf41e4578

all the best in your search

Matt