Inexpensive camera and housing

Hi there,

I'm an occasional diver (usually on vacation) and I'd like some advice.

As I don't dive often I can't justify spending $1k's on equipment.

I've looked at Sony's Marine Packs and was wondering if any other companies make a similar product for other digital cameras?

Does anybody have any experience using the Sony Marine Packs?

Would buying higher end used equipment at a similar price make sense?

Any other 'starter' advice?

Thanks,

William

I've looked at Sony's Marine Packs and was wondering if any other companies make a similar product for other digital cameras?

yes there a lot of other options to P&S cameras/housing combinations. see digideep

Does anybody have any experience using the Sony Marine Packs?

I don't have experience but I have few friends with the P cameras& Marine Packs, Its advance is the small size but most of the P series are quit limited, no much control on the camera.

Would buying higher end used equipment at a similar price make sense?

I'll go that way

I guess it all depends on what you want to do. If you want to take good quality photographs, then you'll want to sink the money into a system, bu if you're happy just taking snapshots then a P&S camera with clear plastic housing should do.

You could buy a Canon P&S camera and housing for under $1k. The Canon A series gives you a decent amount of control and resolution. I know a lot of folks like the Olympus cameras and housings. I'm not familiar with the Sony Marine Packs, but if you're willing to consider used equipment, they Olympus 5050 and 5060 cameras are nice and not state of the art. I almost bought one of those before I decided to go dSLR.

Arnon_Ayal makes a good point of pointing you to digideep. They've got most everything covered. The important thing, is that when you're selecting a camera, you need to be sure to pick a camera that has a housing made for it. No sense in buying a camera that doesn't have a housing for it.

Another thing you should consider is lighting. Most on board flashes aren't powerful enough to provide proper lighting in a marine environment. They're useful if you're shooting subjects that are within a foot of your lens. Farther than a foot away, the subject will probably be underexposed or you will get tons of backscatter in the image. That's why we all use external strobes, but that's another expense for a casual diver/underwater photographer.

Just my very humble opinions,

Ken

I'm a rookie, too, since I just bought a camera today -- what better time to join this forum? This is my first post.

I'm only a recreational diver, too, and my only previous UW photography where I rented a 35 mm Sea and Sea camera once. But I've been researching for a good while, and bought the SeaLife DC500, a 5 Mp point 'n' shoot with its own lexan case for about $650 street (including a flash bracket and a large external slave strobe).

I have several diver acquaintances who own the earlier, 3-Mp model, and they all rave about it. I don't think its inability to operate under manual control -- or shutter-preferred or aperture-preferred -- is a show-stopper. I know when I dive, all I want to do is get the right distance, compose, and shoot, with my frined Mr. Photoshop to help me if my color balance or exposure is off. And the price sure is right!

I'm going to Baja California in a couple of weeks, and Cozumel in November; I should have a good chance to figure out if I made the right choice!

Does anyone here have that particular camera?

If you could swing it, go with a used system. They are going for good prices these days as technology improves. And you won't be sorry you went with the finest system you could afford.

Joe