Nikon D90 vs Canon 50D?

I've been reliably informed to also consider the Nikon D90 instead of the Canon 50D. Its lower in fps and MP but also lower in price yet still higher than my original choice of the 500D.

Has anyone got any more thoughts to help me choose between either the D90 or the 50D for underwater photography.

Thanks

Paul

What kind of overall system are you looking at? The Canon and Nikon systems are pretty similar but have a few unique lenses depending on what brand you choose.

Cheers

James

Hi James,

I dont quite understand your question, mainly looking at, of course, underwater photography, and hobby nature stuff, nothing else really specific, maybe hopefully the odd wedding eventually!?

Just wondering why you have discounted the 500D (T1i)? Recently returned from a 3 week trip to Bonaire and I was very pleased with my 450D in a Seatool housing (500D/T1i will fit perfectly). It is about as compact a setup as you can get in a DSLR. I believe Aquatica is even making a housing. If you have to travel to get to your favorite diving size matters. I had my housing, Dome port, flat port, 2x lenses, 2x gears, 2x Inon D2000 strobes and some other odds and ins in a legal hardside carryon with a pelican 1510 padded liner inside. I was confident if I had to gate check or plane side check (which I had to do on DAE) the bag that my gear was well protected.

Just wondering?

Jeff

Just wondering why you have discounted the 500D (T1i)? Recently returned from a 3 week trip to Bonaire and I was very pleased with my 450D in a Seatool housing (500D/T1i will fit perfectly). It is about as compact a setup as you can get in a DSLR. I believe Aquatica is even making a housing. If you have to travel to get to your favorite diving size matters. I had my housing, Dome port, flat port, 2x lenses, 2x gears, 2x Inon D2000 strobes and some other odds and ins in a legal hardside carryon with a pelican 1510 padded liner inside. I was confident if I had to gate check or plane side check (which I had to do on DAE) the bag that my gear was well protected.

 

Just wondering?

 

Jeff

Hi Jeff, Just listening to wise words from a friend, if I get a 500D he says , one day I may want to upgrade to a 50D, I do see your point about size tho, but in weight we are only talking a quarter of a kilo/half a pound and around a half an inch in size difference...but the D90 falls right in the middle of the 2, in everything

I've just been to compare the 2 in a local shop, hmm...tough choice...can anyone help swing it, think its going to be the Nikon D90.

Does anyone know if TTL is any different with the Canon and Nikon in ikelites or Aquaticas housings?

I know I dont want fibre optics again and I'm thinking about a step to Inon Z240's instead of ikelite ds125 or 160, can they operate in the same way as ikelites thru the bhd connectors?

The Nikons are much simpler and usually an off the shelf TTL converter is all you will need to get going

If you want to run Inon Z240, you will need to get a Sea & Sea converter and a pair of Sea & Sea to nikonos cords.

Canon uses a 6 pins protocol that is where it gets complicated as there is a few differents versions of 6 pins connectors, nothing standarized by the strobes manufacturer yet in this area.

The whole underwater TTL industry revolves around a 5 pins setup as developped initially for 35mm film by Nikon and then applied to the Nikonos, thus the whole of underwater strobes technology spun from this trendsetter. Throw in a sixth pin and you end up with various but not standarized way of getting the system to work.

Thanks Jean,

I got your email as well, thanks.

Could you possibly highlight the pros and cons between ikelite or inon? I'd rather buy one converter in the first instance if I have to, and possibly sell my ds125 on.

email me again if you prefer

Kind regards

Paul

The obvious is size, the DS-125/DS-160 are quite bigger and heavier but do have a really nice light quality and output coupled with a good autonomy, but they are dedicated battery pack so extra's are recommended (heavy and bulky when considering the required charger that has to come along).

The Inon are nice and small, but to me that is one of their problem, they are too small and the knob are hard to reach at least with gloves on, and impossible when wearing dry suit glove, plus you need a magnifier to read anything on them dials, on the plus side they run on AA batteries, so in remote area it can be a downright plus if a plug in the wall is not available.

I've been reliably informed to also consider the Nikon D90 instead of the Canon 50D. Its lower in fps and MP but also lower in price yet still higher than my original choice of the 500D.

Has anyone got any more thoughts to help me choose between either the D90 or the 50D for underwater photography.

 

Thanks

Paul

Nikon vs. Canon... long story.

D90 is a smart choice as you can get more for less.

I own one and I am very happy of my gear. I have a D90 with Aquatica housing and 2 Ikelite DS 125/DS160.

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30545

I hope you'll make up your mind.

Damien

Hi Paul,

Like Damien said the whole Nikon vs. Canon thing is really a personal preference. I've shot both and both do the job well. So I won't say much on that. Currently I have a D300 in an Ikelite housing with 2 DS125.

But on the stobes, since you already have a DS125, I think adding a 2nd would be a nice way to go. It is true the Inons are small and light, great for packing. But I like the warmer light from the DS125, if I remember correctly it is 4800K vs. 5500k for the Inons. Your pictures will have a nicely blue water background shooting WA. Also I love the 1 sec recycle of the DS125, it is just fast. The newer DS160 is 1.5 sec I think. The Inons are powered by 4 AAs, while the Ike battery packs are 6 Cs for a lot more juice.

As for housing, if you want TTL, and already have the DS125, I think it will save you a lot of money to go with the Ikelite housing with the TTL built in. That's basically the chain of logic I followed when I brought my Ike housing for the D300 instead of going with Aquatica or Nexus. I like shooting TTL for macros and I don't want a big, expensive external TTL converter. One more point of failure and more drag in the water.

My 2 pennies worth. Hope that helped.

Cheers,

alan

Hi Paul,

 

Like Damien said the whole Nikon vs. Canon thing is really a personal preference. I've shot both and both do the job well. So I won't say much on that. Currently I have a D300 in an Ikelite housing with 2 DS125.

 

But on the stobes, since you already have a DS125, I think adding a 2nd would be a nice way to go. It is true the Inons are small and light, great for packing. But I like the warmer light from the DS125, if I remember correctly it is 4800K vs. 5500k for the Inons. Your pictures will have a nicely blue water background shooting WA. Also I love the 1 sec recycle of the DS125, it is just fast. The newer DS160 is 1.5 sec I think. The Inons are powered by 4 AAs, while the Ike battery packs are 6 Cs for a lot more juice.

 

As for housing, if you want TTL, and already have the DS125, I think it will save you a lot of money to go with the Ikelite housing with the TTL built in. That's basically the chain of logic I followed when I brought my Ike housing for the D300 instead of going with Aquatica or Nexus. I like shooting TTL for macros and I don't want a big, expensive external TTL converter. One more point of failure and more drag in the water.

 

My 2 pennies worth. Hope that helped.

 

Cheers,

alan

I have a DS 125 and a DS 160. I make no difference about the recycle time.

The only thing I can complain about is size and weight.

My girlfriend owns a Z240, believe me or not, I am unable tomake it work properly...it is too complex. Probably because I am used to shoot manual with my strobes.

You are really down to personal preference with the cameras you mentioned. Imagining Resource has a review of the 500D (T1i) and actually compares it to the D90 and the 50D. It held it's own well. In the right hands I doubt you could tell the difference between the images each would produce underwater. For Value For your Money I would throw out there to go with a 450D, Ikelite housing and another Ike strobe. You could even go with a Sea & Sea RDX housing for the same price as the Ike. Down the road if you found, for whatever reason, that the 450D didn't meet your needs you can put a 500D in the same housing. Your friends ascertion that you'd want to upgrade holds true for any make/model you buy. It is an illness!

Just some thoughts.

Jeff

Thanks for the comments guys, I ordered my Nikon D90 earlier on, hope to pick it up on Friday morning! Got it with the 18-105 lens as a kit with also the 60mm AF-S, and I'll order the Toki10-17 when I've got it altogether. I'm hoping to find stock of the Aquatica, I just love that housing.

I'll still consider going all Ikelite, will compare it all once I get all my quotes in

Cheers

if I did go the ikelite route, could I still get ok fish eye results with just one DS125 for a while?

Its not so much a question of which housing but of lens coverage, the Tokina will cover a Field Of View of 180 degrees diagonal, the DS-125 will cover +/- 100 degrees with its diffuser, you are going to be short of coverage no matter what housing you select. the usual result is a hotspot fading into blue, I mean you can work around it and select your composition to match it, but its not going to be peachy all the time, If your plan is to stick to one strobe, I would consider the Nikon 10-24mm, the Sigma 10-20mm, the Tokina 12-24mm or 11-16mm all of theses are rectilinear lenses with and average of +/- 100 degrees FOV, that would make single strobe feasible, but you can't beat that Tokina 10-17mm for wham effect!

Its not so much a question of which housing but of lens coverage, the Tokina will cover a Field Of View of 180 degrees diagonal, the DS-125 will cover +/- 100 degrees with its diffuser, you are going to be short of coverage no matter what housing you select. the usual result is a hotspot fading into blue, I mean you can work around it and select your composition to match it, but its not going to be peachy all the time, If your plan is to stick to one strobe, I would consider the Nikon 10-24mm, the Sigma 10-20mm, the Tokina 12-24mm or 11-16mm all of theses are rectilinear lenses with and average of +/- 100 degrees FOV, that would make single strobe feasible, but you can't beat that Tokina 10-17mm for wham effect!

Thanks for those facts Jean, it makes sense now, it was just something to consider on a short term plan thats all

Its not so much a question of which housing but of lens coverage, the Tokina will cover a Field Of View of 180 degrees diagonal, the DS-125 will cover +/- 100 degrees with its diffuser, you are going to be short of coverage no matter what housing you select. the usual result is a hotspot fading into blue, I mean you can work around it and select your composition to match it, but its not going to be peachy all the time, If your plan is to stick to one strobe, I would consider the Nikon 10-24mm, the Sigma 10-20mm, the Tokina 12-24mm or 11-16mm all of theses are rectilinear lenses with and average of +/- 100 degrees FOV, that would make single strobe feasible, but you can't beat that Tokina 10-17mm for wham effect!

I think comparing the field of view spec is a little misleading. You're not going to put the strobe right on top of the lens, so their 2 FOV values don't mean the smaller angle of the strobe don't have enough coverage. If your stobe is far enough away from the subject relative to the lens, the strobe's narrower FOV will cover the subject just fine. I do agree it is really all about your composition and subject matter. Example, if you are shooting reef scenes you'll mostly be fine with just 1 strobe, as you'll not need to light the background much. So you can concentrate the strobe on the subject right in front. But if you're trying to shoot sharks or other large fish close up, you'll have to work much harder to get a nicely lit shot.

I would still get the Tok 10-17, just zoom in a bit, if it is a short term thing rather than get something like the 10-24, just to spend more later to get the Tok when you've your 2nd strobe.

Cheers.

hey Paul - I think Alan made some great points. Good luck with your d90/tokina 10-17mm, that will be a great combo!

Scott

Thanks for your help guys!