looking for advice on what to buy...from scratch

Hi,

I'm looking for some seasoned advice about what to buy, I don't even have a camera at the moment. As a working scuba instructor, I have plenty of friends who do underwater photography professionally or semi-professionally, but they all have a lot more money than me. So my criteria more or less is...:cheap. I can't spend loads so looking for best value for money. Ideally i'd like something that I can add to when possible. For now I'm looking just to buy a camera and housing, nothing more.

I've been checking out g15/16, S120 and Sony rx100ii...all recommended by friends. Seem decent and affordable but what housings? With Canon, the Canon housing is cheapest but is that silly in the long run? I've been looking at second-hand Nauticam offers, they're expensive, but is it worth it in the long run? (defo can't afford an new one :-( )

Other background - I'm currently in Indonesia, any recommendations for quality cheap shops around the region? I ended up not buying anything last time I was in KL as I wasn't convinced they were authentic!

Finally the reason I'm trying to buy a system now is because I may be going to Raja Ampat for a while, so don't want to miss out on pics while there!

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hi Katisima

Raja Ampat eh? Nice! Enjoy....

Have you thought about second hand? The price drop between a new system and it's second hand value is significant. I think too most people who use this forum will tell you that you can get a very good deal buying from people via this forum. Buying a second hand system, at this stage of your uw photography, could mean that you can get something decent, you won't have to pay a (relatively!) massive amount - and, if you decide you want to move on, will not lose a huge amount of money if you sell your gear on.

Although I'm a DSLR user, I too know people who are very happy with the Canon G series and have produced some cracking pics with it. If you went this route, I wouldn't worry too much about the quality of the housing: Canon v Nauticam - especially if you see this as a staging post to something else in the future and something to get you going. I'd suggest that once you are clear where you want to take your photography (P/S against DSLR) - and what your budget will allow - you can then look more closely at housings and the qualities of, say, Ikelite and Canon (i.e. the polycarbon ones) against the aluminium housings of Nauticam, Subal etc.

One or two things though do make sense to chose carefully at this stage as they are things that you will not need to change as you upgrade: arms and strobes. I'd suggest you look at getting one strobe with the necessary arms. These is a huge choice of arms with the ULCS and Inons systems being pretty popular. I think most people on this forum would recommend the Inon strobes: Z240 or D2000.

Hope this helps get you going.

thanks! I just narrowly missed out on a 500 dollar nauticam g15 housing. I'm open to used systems, but don't want anything over complicated, yet. For now, any pics I take will be for me and for sharing with friends, but who knows I suppose.

Question: are Canon housings fully compatible with INON (or other) systems? I really don't know anything about arms, trays, lenses etc, that part worries me....

also, I've read that canon housings don't have access to all functions, is that important, given I don't require too much from the system?

Hi

Pity on that housing. But keep looking - check out this forum's Classifieds if you haven't already.

On your Canon question, a quick look on the B&H website for the G16 housing says it is fibre-optic compatible. So no problem with the Inon strobe.

It also says the housing gives you access to "all controls"

It's easy to get blinded by science with the arms/tray thing. But essentially it is relatively straight-forward. To attach the strobe you need some form of movable arm(s). Most people use two - an 8" plus a 5" to give lots of flexibility and reach with e.g. wide-angle but the ability to tuck-in the strobe for e.g. macro.

The arms are connected to each other and the strobe by "clamps". Chances are you would need 2 clamps: one to connect the two arms, one to connect the final arm to the strobe. And then you have to connect the arms to something that can connect to the Canon housing - the tray. If you go with Nauticam or a similar housing you might not need a tray as the higher end housings have a ball mount that you can attach your arms to using a third clamp.

It might be an idea to try and pick up a copy of Martin Edge's book on UW Photog - you'll find that really helpful. Or, quicker and cheaper - but very helpful, take a look at the Info Sheets that Reef Photo have on their website. It'll help explain things. But Martin Edge's book is a good investment.

PM sent,

Elmer