UW cave photography equipment

Hi,

I really only "needed" a new digital camera, and got myself the Olympus C7070. Somehow I thought: now is the time for some UW photography as my skills as a diver are pretty up there (which means one less concern).

My interest is however challenging: I would like to take stills on cave dives, and also like to use the equipment kinda deepish. Eventually, who knows, I may even be interested in videography, but that is a long way to go.

For now, I would like to find out from you which housing, arms, strobes and lights you recommend. My selection so far includes the ikelite 6130.61 housing (though I would prefer a deeper rating if available - thoughts?) and the Amphibico Discovery Pro Arc Lamp Travel Kit, and have no clue which strobe I should pick. Any combination that costs less will be considered

Some of the time travel with all of this will be nicely limited, other times I will have to fly internationally.

Your help is well appreciated

Coco

If I were starting from scratch, for cave photography, I'd want a camera that performs very well in low light, and can take good long exposures. A wide angle lens would also be a requirement.

The 7070 doesn't meet those requirements very well. At anything above the base ISO, or perhaps ISO200, the photos are dirty with noise.

You didn't say anything about your budget, but if you have the option, go for one of the older DSLR setups which make VERY clean long exposure images.

Otherwise, you'll be happy with the Ikelite housing and wide angle dome port. Try to stick to the base ISO if you can and use nice big wideangle strobes.

Cheers

James

I'm also new to underwater photography, and interested in getting advice before I purchase anything. In April I was in Mexico cave diving with friends, and one brought an Olympus 5060 with us into the cave and took about 4.5GB of pictures and films. With only a single strobe it was very difficult to light up anything other than small caves that were white. Philip (the guys shooting the pictures) used photoshop to try to lighten some up, but there was a fair amount of noise. The staments made in the last reply about a camera more suited to low (no) light environments has me begging the question, like what specifically?

I've been reading a bit, and I'm leaning towards a dSLR, but like everyone else I don't have a fortune to spend. A few thousand is ok though. I also like to dive deaper than recreational depths and i'd like a housing that can withstand say 300 feet. I'd also like to spend say < $5,000 on camera, a couple of lenses, a couple of strobes, the camera case, and various sundry extras that are must haves. How limited are my choices if I say I want a housing good to 300'+?

Thank-you for any input,

Greg

(ordvr)

Aquatica is on the lower end of housing costs, but not quality. They are rated to 300 feet. I am sure some of the others are as well, but for bang for the buck Aquatica is the way to go for deep rated stuff.

As for photography, i think using some well place strong dive lights, like those that cavers use , placed in strategic areas around the cave bring some nice lighting into the picture to help light up the whole system, diffusers on the lights help to spread out the light. Try using a model with a light in his/her hand and diffuse that as well.

Also, as you will likely be dealing with slower shutter speeds, i would invest in a cheap tripod or monopod to help steady the camera.

If you want serious cave photos it will take a lot of time and effort to set up, snapshot shooting won't really get you a lot.