Underwater Digital Cameras

Post by **phantasmagoria** » Tue May 17, 2005 2:49 pm

Fuji own, i have an s7000 and it's fucking brilliant.

Post by **Billy Bellend** » Tue May 17, 2005 2:49 pm

Doombrain wrote:
Billy Bellend wrote:i always say sony
yeah, you have to love that wanky memory stick bollocks

i'd be lying if i said thare not handy.

but mostly because i like the audio/video some sonys do.

for me i dont need a pro cam, just small and handy with good pics.

Post by **Doombrain** » Tue May 17, 2005 2:51 pm

phantasmagoria wrote:Fuji own, i have an s7000 and it's fucking brilliant.

i've had one of those for a bit. i think it's great

Post by **R00k** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:34 pm

Doombrain wrote:
R00k wrote:This one looks like a good buy to me, what do you guys think?

Canon PowerShotA520:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona520/

I'm not going to be diving very deep (maybe 40-50 feet), so I wouldn't think I'd need a super-expensive enclosure, right?
for point and click you CAN'T go wrong with Canon or Fuji and TBH i think Fuji are alot better than Canon in the 3 to 4 mpix range, IMO

Good friend of mine works for Fuji Medical Systems. I didn't even think about it before, but I gave him a call so he's checking to see if he can get any discounts on cameras and such.

He does radiology/imaging systems, but surely there's a company-wide discount....

Post by **Doombrain** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:35 pm

R00k wrote:
Doombrain wrote:
R00k wrote:This one looks like a good buy to me, what do you guys think?

Canon PowerShotA520:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona520/

I'm not going to be diving very deep (maybe 40-50 feet), so I wouldn't think I'd need a super-expensive enclosure, right?
for point and click you CAN'T go wrong with Canon or Fuji and TBH i think Fuji are alot better than Canon in the 3 to 4 mpix range, IMO
Good friend of mine works for Fuji Medical Systems. I didn't even think about it before, but I gave him a call so he's checking to see if he can get any discounts on cameras and such.

He does radiology/imaging systems, but surely there's a company-wide discount....

I don’t see why not. I get 50% off Seiko watches because Epson are owned be them

Post by **PhoeniX** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:40 pm

phantasmagoria wrote:Fuji own, i have an s7000 and it's fucking brilliant.

That looks nice; please tell me you can fit standard SLR lenses onto it? We have a lot of Canon lenses (big 30cm zoom lenses, filters, etc) as my dad used to do a lot of photography so I'd like a camera which supports them.

Post by **Doombrain** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:43 pm

PhoeniX wrote:
phantasmagoria wrote:Fuji own, i have an s7000 and it's fucking brilliant.

That looks nice; please tell me you can fit standard SLR lenses onto it? We have a lot of Canon lenses (big 30cm zoom lenses, filters, etc) as my dad used to do a lot of photography so I'd like a camera which supports them.

no you can't, it's not a dslr. you need one of these http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/C ... os350d.asp i've just bought one and it's fucking awesome for the price.

Post by **werldhed** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:46 pm

R00k wrote:This one looks like a good buy to me, what do you guys think?

Canon PowerShotA520:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona520/

I'm not going to be diving very deep (maybe 40-50 feet), so I wouldn't think I'd need a super-expensive enclosure, right?

I have a PowerShot A95 and I absolutely love it. It's great in every way except the flash is a bit heavy-handed at times. Usually I keep it turned off and the pictures turn out just fine. I've never used it underwater, though, so I can't be too much help there. I do know the A95 has a specialized shooting mode specific for underwater shots to make optimizing your stettings easier, but like I said I've never used it.

The only underwater photography I've done was while snorkeling, and I used a disposable camera for that. It worked fine, but I doubt it will work for diving.

Post by **PhoeniX** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:14 pm

Doombrain wrote:
PhoeniX wrote:
phantasmagoria wrote:Fuji own, i have an s7000 and it's fucking brilliant.

That looks nice; please tell me you can fit standard SLR lenses onto it? We have a lot of Canon lenses (big 30cm zoom lenses, filters, etc) as my dad used to do a lot of photography so I'd like a camera which supports them.
no you can't, it's not a dslr. you need one of these http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/C ... os350d.asp i've just bought one and it's fucking awesome for the price.

Cheers; looks a nice camera too.

Post by **Doombrain** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:17 pm

it's fucking sweet mate. you can pick one up for £800 with a good lens

Post by **R00k** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:20 pm

Doombrain wrote:I don’t see why not. I get 50% off Seiko watches because Epson are owned be them

Looks like he gets a 27% discount on Fuji stuff, but apparently the website they use for ordering is a piece of shit. Right on the website it says that you may have better luck looking for retail prices. :lol:

He's checking on the Fujifilm FinePix S5000 Z, and the Fujifilm FinePix S5100 Zoom for me to see what kind of price he can get.
Keeping my fingers crossed.

Post by **R00k** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:22 pm

Doombrain wrote:it's fucking sweet mate. you can pick one up for £800 with a good lens

Damn I wish I had 800 bucks to drop on a camera. Would be overkill though since I don't know enough about photography to use its potential.

Been saving hardcore for a down payment on a house, but this trip is eating into that a little bit already.

Post by **Doombrain** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:23 pm

R00k wrote:
Doombrain wrote:I don’t see why not. I get 50% off Seiko watches because Epson are owned be them
Looks like he gets a 27% discount on Fuji stuff, but apparently the website they use for ordering is a piece of shit. Right on the website it says that you may have better luck looking for retail prices. :lol:

He's checking on the Fujifilm FinePix S5000 Z, and the Fujifilm FinePix S5100 Zoom for me to see what kind of price he can get.
Keeping my fingers crossed.

if you're going for the 5xxx go for the s5500

Post by **R00k** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:47 pm

I checked the site and it looks like the 5500 is the same as the FinePix S5100 Zoom, so I'm in good shape. :icon14:

Post by **phantasmagoria** » Tue May 17, 2005 5:41 pm

my flatmate has the s5100 zoom, it's really nice.

Good choice

Post by **R00k** » Tue May 17, 2005 6:40 pm

Shit, none of the Fujis in that range have water-protective covers. :icon27:

Looks like I'll be going with a Canon after all.

Post by **R00k** » Tue May 17, 2005 8:11 pm

Okay, I've settled on the Canon PowerShot A520, since it's the only one in the feature/price range I'm looking for that has a waterproof case available.

So one more question.... Since underwater isn't the only place I'm going to be using it, are there any accessories that I need to think about getting when I buy the camera -- aside from a decent sized memory card?

Post by **werldhed** » Tue May 17, 2005 8:20 pm

Battery charger and/or AC cable. My Canon eats batteries like mad, but only when using the LCD a lot. If you keep it off, you should be okay. Just make sure you have pleanty of extra batteries when you're on vacation.

Post by **R00k** » Tue May 17, 2005 8:25 pm

When I'm shooting underwater, I'll probably be using the LCD for all the shots, so that may not be a bad idea.

I wonder how long it will run with the LCD on...

Post by **R00k** » Thu May 19, 2005 11:29 pm

Well I just ordered the Canon PowerShot A520

Review:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/C ... n_a520.asp

I also got the waterproof case for it:

Plus a 512mb memory stick.

Should be here by next Thursday or so and I'll try to post some pics while I'm playing with it.

Thanks for all the input guys. :icon14: