Newbie - can't decide!

Hi everyone,

My first post here :-)

I've been reading various forum posts but still haven't decided which camera and housing to buy. I've been diving for about 11 years now but have decided I'd like to take up underwater photography - hence me being here! This is going to be a hobby, and I won't get more than 3-4 opportunities per year so I'm not looking for anything super duper to start with - so it's going to be a compact camera with housing.

When I went into the underwater camera shop they recommended two canon cameras to me - the IXUS 75 and the IXUS 950, which both looked great, and they said they were good because I could manually set the white balance. (You can probably tell by now I'm a complete beginner!!) But equally I need a camera that is going to perform well on land. I was drawn to the Panasonic Lumix TZ3 as it looked like a good land/water compromise, though I realise the 10x zoom will be useless underwater. I couldn't figure out if it had the manual white balance though, that the camera said was so important.

So I just want some opinions really - on which you'd go for. I don't want anything too bulky, and don't want to spend an arm and a leg, just something to have an experiment with and see how I get on. I'd probably prefer to stick to Canon or Panasonic as I've had them before and I'm familiar with them, but open to all suggestions!

Thanks for your advice :-)

Sarah

Sarah, I believe the Ixus 950 you mentioned is a SD 850 in the states.. a SD camera either way. A good "true" point and shoot camera. You would have no manual controls but would have control over WB and some exposure control. I have a SD 700 IS and like it for it's ease. Don't know about the Ixus 75 or the Panasonic. I would recommend looking at a Canon A 570 IS. It is one of the few "A" series Canons you can put wet lenses on using the Canon housing. It has manual controls and would certainly allow for more growth than the 950. If you look at Backscatter they even have a A 570 IS kit for $1200 which would have everything you would need to get started: camera, housing, tray, arm, joints, strobe, optical cord and AD mount. If your not interested in a kit like that right now I have seen and actually took advantage of just the A 570 IS plus housing for just under $300.

Good luck!

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Thanks so much for responding, and for the advice. I'll certainly check out the A570IS and see what sort of price it comes in at here in the UK.

At the moment I'm swaying towards the panasonic after reading a long review online - I'm still hunting for sample pictures but haven't come across any yet. I need to get it this weekend so lots of decisions to be made!

Thanks a again for your help

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

Are you sure you want to got down this road? Yes its starts easy enough...little P&S just to take photos to show friends...before you know it you look like an underwater praying mantis with strobes ablazing!!! You'll become fixated with wide angle lenses, macro gear and eventually you'll sell a kidney and buy a full sensor DSLR. .. haha. Seriously, the more control you have over your P&S the more you're going to like taking photos. Canon G7 and G9 users have shown these cameras to be very good underwater.

He he, you made me laugh!

I think considering I know I won't be going away to dive more than a couple of times per year, this is probably the best compromise for me. I need a camera that will be good on land and in the sea, to see how I get on. At least then if I do get into then I can keep the camera for land and sort myself out with a setup for underwater. Unfortunately for the time being it will get used much more on land than underwater and so I think a G7 or a G( will be too bulky at the moment. That isn't to say that in time I wont expand (and sell a kidney, if not both :-D), but I think as a beginner and a poor student (!), I should probably go with the compromise to start off with.

Still open to suggestions though, and thank you so much for your advice :-)

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

I have the Canon A570IS camera in a Canon WP-DC12 housing that Jeff mentioned earlier. I have found this to be an excellent first underwater camera. This setup will allow you to learn the basics, but has the ability to grow with you as you gain more experience. With the possibility to add strobes and wet lenses (macro, wide and fish eye), this setup is a much cheaper option if you don't want to go the way of a DSLR.

Below is some sample pics taken with my A570IS on a trip to Bali a couple of months ago. This was the first time that I had used the camera so pics aren't of the best standard, but it does show what is possible for someone who is just learning the basics. All these shots were taken without strobes and with no filters, just natural light and the Canon underwater setting.

I should also mention that this camera is really good on land also. Its small enough that it fits comfortable in my pocket or in your bag. Its just as simple to use above water as it is below.

Hope this is of some help to you.

Adam

Adam,

Thanks so much for responding, your photos are excellent especially for a first attempt! That's all I want really - a record of what I've seen, some nice colourful pictures. I'd have given my right arm to have proof of the manta rays we saw last year! I'm sure the hobby will turn into much more once I get into it, but the A570 looks really good for what I want to start me off. Argh! In a quandry now!

Sarah

Hello,

I have the Panasonic TZ3 and can assure you it has manual white balace.

It even has a special feature preprogrammed for underwater photography.

The picture quality is great and though you won't be using the 10* optical zoom underwater it is very useful when trying to take a picture of jumping dolphins or whales above water.

Hello,

I have the Panasonic TZ3 and can assure you it has manual white balace.

It even has a special feature preprogrammed for underwater photography.

The picture quality is great and though you won't be using the 10* optical zoom underwater it is very useful when trying to take a picture of jumping dolphins or whales above water.

Excellent, thanks ofabre! I still really like the look of it.

Don't suppose you have any pics you could show me so I could see what the quality is like do you?

Do you find not being able to put a wide angle lens on the housing a problem?

Thanks again

Sarah

Here are some examples .

I don't miss the wide angle since I am just an amateur underwater photographer.

Thank you so much Ofabre, that's really kind of you.

Lovely pictures!

The Canon G7 or SD850 post has a reply from philsokol with a link to his SD850 photos - very impressive for a camera with hardly any manual controls. He does have an external strobe which would make a big difference in the photos. The strobes alone can cost more than the simple point and shoot camera.

I'm pretty new to UW photography myself, but I've been using the Canon SD 800 IS which I assume is the recent predecessor of the 850. It's really kinda apples and oranges in one sense. The SD 850 is a true compact point and shoot without alot of options whereas the G7 has full manual controls which is what you want if you're interested in maybe progressing further with your photography. With that said, you can take some great shots with the compact once you get to know how it thinks. I took these with the SD 800, an Inon external strobe and (sometimes) a Inon wide angle wet mount lens using the pre-set "underwater" mode:

 

http://gallery.mac.com/philsokol#100023

 

(most of these have been cropped and had some post-processing, at least what iphoto will let you do)

Thanks for the nice compliment! Unfortunately, I've now been bit by the bug and spend all my time on wetpixel and recently had to sell a kidney for a Canon 40D , Subal housing, etc...