Digital Cameras suggestions

"J B" <joledy@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:zbAVf.30528$4%1.5737@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com...
> I'm looking for something simple that comes with its own housing and which
> can also be used on land. Is the Sealife Reefmaster the way to go? Any
> other suggestions?
>
>

I have a Canon A20 and a Canon A70 with the Canon Housings and use the
internal flash. Both work great. Here are some picx I took with the A70

http://www.divewithjay.com/gallery.htm

"J B" <joledy@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:zbAVf.30528$4%1.5737@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com...
> I'm looking for something simple that comes with its own housing and which
> can also be used on land. Is the Sealife Reefmaster the way to go? Any
> other suggestions?
>
>

I have a Canon A20 and a Canon A70 with the Canon Housings and use the
internal flash. Both work great. Here are some picx I took with the A70

http://www.divewithjay.com/gallery.htm

Jo, has Cozumel recovered from the pounding it got last fall?
Padeen



"jo" <jo@privatemail.com> wrote in message
news:reWWf.83071$_c.34550@tornado.tampabay.rr.com. ..
>
>
> J B wrote:
>> I'm looking for something simple that comes with its own housing and
>> which can also be used on land. Is the Sealife Reefmaster the way to go?
>> Any other suggestions?
>
>
> I decided on the Sea & Sea DX750G after looking at several other options.
> My goal was to keep the camera/housing cost at under 500 USD since I don't
> always want to take photos when I dive. I actually got the camera only
> days before our trip to Cozumel, so I left all the settings on auto and
> didn't even bother hooking up the strobe for these photos. I did adjust
> brightness and sometimes cropped a photo or occasionally hit the "enhance"
> button using the simple photo software that came on my computer.
> Photoshop would have no doubt been better, but I'm just learning that and
> wanted some immmediate gratification.
>
> I put up some of my first underwater digitals here. I will admit I culled
> quite a few photos since it was a challenge to remain relatively
> motionless in Coz currents - but it was great to immediately see if I "got
> it" or not.
> http://community.webshots.com/user/seabeads
>
> Camera review with photos by a pro here
> http://www.marine-cameras.com/galler...iew/index.html
>
> There is an option to add the strobe, a fiber optic connection, and a wide
> angle lens if you ever want to expand your system.
>

Jo, has Cozumel recovered from the pounding it got last fall?
Padeen



"jo" <jo@privatemail.com> wrote in message
news:reWWf.83071$_c.34550@tornado.tampabay.rr.com. ..
>
>
> J B wrote:
>> I'm looking for something simple that comes with its own housing and
>> which can also be used on land. Is the Sealife Reefmaster the way to go?
>> Any other suggestions?
>
>
> I decided on the Sea & Sea DX750G after looking at several other options.
> My goal was to keep the camera/housing cost at under 500 USD since I don't
> always want to take photos when I dive. I actually got the camera only
> days before our trip to Cozumel, so I left all the settings on auto and
> didn't even bother hooking up the strobe for these photos. I did adjust
> brightness and sometimes cropped a photo or occasionally hit the "enhance"
> button using the simple photo software that came on my computer.
> Photoshop would have no doubt been better, but I'm just learning that and
> wanted some immmediate gratification.
>
> I put up some of my first underwater digitals here. I will admit I culled
> quite a few photos since it was a challenge to remain relatively
> motionless in Coz currents - but it was great to immediately see if I "got
> it" or not.
> http://community.webshots.com/user/seabeads
>
> Camera review with photos by a pro here
> http://www.marine-cameras.com/galler...iew/index.html
>
> There is an option to add the strobe, a fiber optic connection, and a wide
> angle lens if you ever want to expand your system.
>

padeen wrote:
> Jo, has Cozumel recovered from the pounding it got last fall?
> Padeen
>

They have done an amazing job of getting things in order. The cruise
ship docks are not yet rebuilt (they are tendering in) and some of the
larger resorts such as Presidente are still working on their structures.
But, for the most part, the island is very functional. Shops are
open. Most restaurants are operational. The ATMs work. The road is
open all the way around the island. The many trees and flowers took a
hit, but they've been busy replanting and it's looking better as time
passes. Several beach clubs are open again. I wouln't hesitate to
vacation on the island.

Our timeshare at the Reef Club was in the final stages of rebuilding
when we were there in March. Although, their pier hadn't been rebuilt
yet. We didn't suffer much inconvenience since we rented a house with
satellite tv, high speed internet access, and a pool within a 10 minute
walk to town. We met our dive op at the Aldora pier rather than travel
to the Caletta, and we were fortunate that they rinsed and stored our
gear each day so we didn't need to hike it back to the house every day.

Diving was very good. Marine life was as good as always. We didn't
dive Yucab or Tormentos this trip, but I hear they are somewhat
"remodeled" and I like them the way I remember them. Some of the
swim-thrus look a little more open now with less sand. For the most
part, however, I didn't notice much difference on the reefs we dove.
Our viz was around 80 fsw, can't complain.

If you like seafood, I can suggest La Lobsteria for some very nicely
grilled lobster or seafood soup. We also bought fresh fish from the San
Carlos Pescadaria (Fish Market) and grilled it ourselves a couple of
times, besides getting their fresh fried fish for lunch once. We "ate
in" for many of our meals since we had the house, but it wasn't for a
lack of great restaurants.

padeen wrote:
> Jo, has Cozumel recovered from the pounding it got last fall?
> Padeen
>

They have done an amazing job of getting things in order. The cruise
ship docks are not yet rebuilt (they are tendering in) and some of the
larger resorts such as Presidente are still working on their structures.
But, for the most part, the island is very functional. Shops are
open. Most restaurants are operational. The ATMs work. The road is
open all the way around the island. The many trees and flowers took a
hit, but they've been busy replanting and it's looking better as time
passes. Several beach clubs are open again. I wouln't hesitate to
vacation on the island.

Our timeshare at the Reef Club was in the final stages of rebuilding
when we were there in March. Although, their pier hadn't been rebuilt
yet. We didn't suffer much inconvenience since we rented a house with
satellite tv, high speed internet access, and a pool within a 10 minute
walk to town. We met our dive op at the Aldora pier rather than travel
to the Caletta, and we were fortunate that they rinsed and stored our
gear each day so we didn't need to hike it back to the house every day.

Diving was very good. Marine life was as good as always. We didn't
dive Yucab or Tormentos this trip, but I hear they are somewhat
"remodeled" and I like them the way I remember them. Some of the
swim-thrus look a little more open now with less sand. For the most
part, however, I didn't notice much difference on the reefs we dove.
Our viz was around 80 fsw, can't complain.

If you like seafood, I can suggest La Lobsteria for some very nicely
grilled lobster or seafood soup. We also bought fresh fish from the San
Carlos Pescadaria (Fish Market) and grilled it ourselves a couple of
times, besides getting their fresh fried fish for lunch once. We "ate
in" for many of our meals since we had the house, but it wasn't for a
lack of great restaurants.

I'm looking for something simple that comes with its own housing and which
can also be used on land. Is the Sealife Reefmaster the way to go? Any
other suggestions?

J B wrote:
> I'm looking for something simple that comes with its own housing and which
> can also be used on land. Is the Sealife Reefmaster the way to go? Any
> other suggestions?

I just bought a Canon A610 with a Canon underwater housing. B&H Photo
is a good source of information because they carry lots of underwater
housings for comparison and I found that their prices were very
competitive as well, so I bought from them. (Note, the management is
orthodox Jewish, so you can't get hold of them from Friday sundown to
Saturday sundown EST, as well as on holidays, but they have popups on
their site that warn you about the schedule.)

Diving conditions have been poor since I bought the camera (last week),
so I haven't yet gotten it underwater, but I've taken lots of land
pictures and am very pleased with the results. Camera boot time (.6
seconds) and power consumption have been greatly reduced since the last
Canon I owned. I took 20 to 100 pictures a day for a week, uploading
daily using the USB connecter on the camera, before the juice ran out of
the 4 NiMH AA batteries (third party).

The auto-focus and auto-exposure modes work well, the lens is glass and
has a decent range (4X zoom, macro to 1cm). The LCD is big and bright
and it is on a swing arm so you can take pictures from difficult angles
very easily. The programmed modes work very well. I rarely have to
switch to manual control unless I'm doing something extreme like
focusing on a particular point deep in the middle of some foliage.

The A610 also has no limit on the length of video it can take, other
than disk space, of course. This was the deciding factor for me in
choosing this camera over the A520, which limits video clips to 3
minutes. Three minutes is a pretty long video clip to watch, but I
figured with my luck the whale shark would show up at 3:01.

The housing is rated to 130' and seems well made. I greased the o-ring,
dropped the camera in and took it out in the rain. I had no trouble
operating the camera, the controls all worked very naturally. I'll see
how it goes with 5mm gloves on as soon as the weather clears.

Bottom line, I'm still working on my photography skills and I've never
used a camera underwater, so I figured that buying a digital SLR with
housing was a bad idea. The A610 is helping me learn, I'm getting
quality photos, and if I flood the thing I'm only out about $250, not $1250.

J B wrote:

> I'm looking for something simple that comes with its own housing and which
> can also be used on land. Is the Sealife Reefmaster the way to go? Any
> other suggestions?
>
>

I use a Sealife Reefmaster DC310. Here are some pictures I took last
year. You can judge for yourself. Some pictures were night dives.
Some during the day.

http://www.divingenterprises.com/MAI...how=NEKTON2005

Dan Bracuk wrote:

> nitespark <nitespark@cox.net> pounded away at his keyboard resulting
> in:
>
> :I use a Sealife Reefmaster DC310. Here are some pictures I took last
> :year. You can judge for yourself. Some pictures were night dives.
> :Some during the day.
> :
> :http://www.divingenterprises.com/MAI...how=NEKTON2005
>
> Nice pix.
> Dan Bracuk

Thanks. I got quite a few more on CD. Those were just a few put on the
LDS website.