Advice on buying a point and shoot?

I haven't seen a post on this recently (let me know if I missed one!).

Sadly, I flooded our Fuji Finepix F30 on our last dive trip and now it's no longer made. I'm looking for a replacement that is at least as good if not better...I'm guessing I won't be able to find one as wonderfully small as the F30 based on what I've researched thus far.

While I'm relatively new to photography, I want full manual controls so I can grow with my camera...but I don't want to spend a fortune in case I flood it again! I was able to book a last minute dive trip to Bonaire for late February, so I'm looking for some quick advice on the best options out there now.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Splash,

I recently bought an F30 on Ebay so they are still available, just not from major photo stores.

If you want something with full manual control at a good price, and with an OEM housing, have a look at the Canon A series.

Cheers

James

PS: if you get rid of your F30 setup, I'm looking for accessories for mine :-)

If you want something with full manual control at a good price, and with an OEM housing, have a look at the Canon A series.

I've got a nice A80 for sale in the Classifieds! Housing included! Make me an offer.

I can also recommend the Canon A series, like the A640 or whatever is the latest. It is what i use for my compacts and i like it a lot.

Well, I also have the F30.

I just purchases a Canon A570IS. I chose it because it has full manual controls and an inon AD mount base. I was planning on getting the fisheye lense.

But, the focus performance of the 570 is very disappointing. The F30 is much faster, almost twice as fast. If both are prefocused with a half press, then they are about the same. But, if it's full press, the Fuji blows away the Canon.

I wonder if the other Canon A models are better. Problem is most of them have the weird oval port on the canon housing, so it's hard to add lenses.

I have used an olympus C4000 for years and the 570 is barely faster than that camera. I've only used the F30 on a few dives. My wife used it with no strobe while I had the C4000.

Someone already asked if you had F30 bits to sell.

I'll ask the same. If you have the inon mount base I'd be interested in that or inon lenses.

Thanks, all, for your advice! I actually found an F30 that didn't sound too sketchy on ebay today...hopefully it won't be a scam and I will be able to fill my housing once more!

Splash,

How did you flood your F30?

I've found the housing for the F30 to be the best point & shoot housing I've seen from a camera manufacturer. Double O-ring with a very nice cam system to bring in the back door. And the lense port has screws holding it in. That's kind of a plus and minus. It makes that very secure, but it eliminates the adapter ring the olympus housings have.

Even though I've never flooded my olympus pt-010, I feel more secure with the fuji housing.

Splash,

How did you flood your F30?

I've found the housing for the F30 to be the best point & shoot housing I've seen from a camera manufacturer. Double O-ring with a very nice cam system to bring in the back door. And the lense port has screws holding it in. That's kind of a plus and minus. It makes that very secure, but it eliminates the adapter ring the olympus housings have.

Even though I've never flooded my olympus pt-010, I feel more secure with the fuji housing.

It wasn't a housing problem--just carelessness...we had a bolt snap tied to the case and it had a small piece of cording at the edge of the knot that got stuck in the case and I didn't notice. I'll be cutting the cord shorter this time!