Dual pupose camera. Good for family snaps but has a good underwater case

"dechucka" <dechucka@vomithotmail.com> wrote in message
news:46231e1e$0$25449$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
>I am looking for a digital camera that is good for the family/holiday snaps
>( decent zoom and can blow up pictures to poster size) but that I can also
>get a underwater housing to 40 metres or so for.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> By the way what is the difference between an optical and digital zoom?
>
> I know a totally luddite question
>
Hi!
I would recommend the Canon 640:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona640/page16.asp
It has a great rating. It's not too expensive and Canon also has a
underwater housing for it (I think it's 30m, but it's sufficient).
The camera has an excellent zoom and is a 10 MP.
I have a Canon XT, but wanted to go back to UW photog. Ikelite housings for
the Xt as well as a strobe would have cost more than $2000 Cad.! No way! The
460 is a great solution and can be used as a spare camera as well.
Cheers!
Marcel

> I am looking for a digital camera that is good for the family/holiday
snaps
> ( decent zoom and can blow up pictures to poster size) but that I can also
> get a underwater housing to 40 metres or so for.
> Any suggestions?
> By the way what is the difference between an optical and digital zoom?


Most popular cameras have an underwater casing these days (check the
manufacturers' websites).

For poster prints 6 or 7 megapixels is enough.

The Canon mentioned is a good camera, but have a look at the Canon A710IS,
which has a 6x optical zoom and image stabiliser. The A570IS is similar but
with 4x opical zoom and cheaper.
There's also the Panasonic TZ1, TZ2 or TZ3, which have 10x optical zoom
(TZ2/TZ3 are wide angle, so better for group shots and interiors) but are
still compact. Not sure if the underwater housing is available yet though.
The Fuji F31fd is smaller and has only 3x zoom, but is a great camera,
especially for photos indoors and in dark conditions.

Have a look at some reviews on www.dpreview.com

Optical zoom is when the lens physically moves in and out. This gives the
best quality.

Digital zoom just enlarges the pixels of the image, so if you use it, you
might start to see jagged edges and a blocky look, especially if you zoom in
a lot or print at a large size, so be careful with it if you're printing
poster size. It could ruin your photos.

Androo

> I am looking for a digital camera that is good for the family/holiday
snaps
> ( decent zoom and can blow up pictures to poster size) but that I can also
> get a underwater housing to 40 metres or so for.
> Any suggestions?
> By the way what is the difference between an optical and digital zoom?


Most popular cameras have an underwater casing these days (check the
manufacturers' websites).

For poster prints 6 or 7 megapixels is enough.

The Canon mentioned is a good camera, but have a look at the Canon A710IS,
which has a 6x optical zoom and image stabiliser. The A570IS is similar but
with 4x opical zoom and cheaper.
There's also the Panasonic TZ1, TZ2 or TZ3, which have 10x optical zoom
(TZ2/TZ3 are wide angle, so better for group shots and interiors) but are
still compact. Not sure if the underwater housing is available yet though.
The Fuji F31fd is smaller and has only 3x zoom, but is a great camera,
especially for photos indoors and in dark conditions.

Have a look at some reviews on www.dpreview.com

Optical zoom is when the lens physically moves in and out. This gives the
best quality.

Digital zoom just enlarges the pixels of the image, so if you use it, you
might start to see jagged edges and a blocky look, especially if you zoom in
a lot or print at a large size, so be careful with it if you're printing
poster size. It could ruin your photos.

Androo

> I am looking for a digital camera that is good for the family/holiday
snaps
> ( decent zoom and can blow up pictures to poster size) but that I can also
> get a underwater housing to 40 metres or so for.
> Any suggestions?
> By the way what is the difference between an optical and digital zoom?


Most popular cameras have an underwater casing these days (check the
manufacturers' websites).

For poster prints 6 or 7 megapixels is enough.

The Canon mentioned is a good camera, but have a look at the Canon A710IS,
which has a 6x optical zoom and image stabiliser. The A570IS is similar but
with 4x opical zoom and cheaper.
There's also the Panasonic TZ1, TZ2 or TZ3, which have 10x optical zoom
(TZ2/TZ3 are wide angle, so better for group shots and interiors) but are
still compact. Not sure if the underwater housing is available yet though.
The Fuji F31fd is smaller and has only 3x zoom, but is a great camera,
especially for photos indoors and in dark conditions.

Have a look at some reviews on www.dpreview.com

Optical zoom is when the lens physically moves in and out. This gives the
best quality.

Digital zoom just enlarges the pixels of the image, so if you use it, you
might start to see jagged edges and a blocky look, especially if you zoom in
a lot or print at a large size, so be careful with it if you're printing
poster size. It could ruin your photos.

Androo

> I am looking for a digital camera that is good for the family/holiday
snaps
> ( decent zoom and can blow up pictures to poster size) but that I can also
> get a underwater housing to 40 metres or so for.
> Any suggestions?
> By the way what is the difference between an optical and digital zoom?


Most popular cameras have an underwater casing these days (check the
manufacturers' websites).

For poster prints 6 or 7 megapixels is enough.

The Canon mentioned is a good camera, but have a look at the Canon A710IS,
which has a 6x optical zoom and image stabiliser. The A570IS is similar but
with 4x opical zoom and cheaper.
There's also the Panasonic TZ1, TZ2 or TZ3, which have 10x optical zoom
(TZ2/TZ3 are wide angle, so better for group shots and interiors) but are
still compact. Not sure if the underwater housing is available yet though.
The Fuji F31fd is smaller and has only 3x zoom, but is a great camera,
especially for photos indoors and in dark conditions.

Have a look at some reviews on www.dpreview.com

Optical zoom is when the lens physically moves in and out. This gives the
best quality.

Digital zoom just enlarges the pixels of the image, so if you use it, you
might start to see jagged edges and a blocky look, especially if you zoom in
a lot or print at a large size, so be careful with it if you're printing
poster size. It could ruin your photos.

Androo

"dechucka" <dechucka@vomithotmail.com> wrote in message
news:46231e1e$0$25449$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
>I am looking for a digital camera that is good for the family/holiday snaps
>( decent zoom and can blow up pictures to poster size) but that I can also
>get a underwater housing to 40 metres or so for.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> By the way what is the difference between an optical and digital zoom?
>
> I know a totally luddite question
Our local paper had a short article about digital cameras in yesterday's
paper. The article concerned reliability and was attributed to Consumer
Reports. They said there was not a clear winner as to which brands/models
were most reliable, but there were losers. For P&S cameras they said
Vivitar had the highest incidence of repair and Olympus held the same spot
for DSLRs.

Ron

"dechucka" <dechucka@vomithotmail.com> wrote in message
news:46231e1e$0$25449$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
>I am looking for a digital camera that is good for the family/holiday snaps
>( decent zoom and can blow up pictures to poster size) but that I can also
>get a underwater housing to 40 metres or so for.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> By the way what is the difference between an optical and digital zoom?
>
> I know a totally luddite question
Our local paper had a short article about digital cameras in yesterday's
paper. The article concerned reliability and was attributed to Consumer
Reports. They said there was not a clear winner as to which brands/models
were most reliable, but there were losers. For P&S cameras they said
Vivitar had the highest incidence of repair and Olympus held the same spot
for DSLRs.

Ron

"dechucka" <dechucka@vomithotmail.com> wrote in message
news:46231e1e$0$25449$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
>I am looking for a digital camera that is good for the family/holiday snaps
>( decent zoom and can blow up pictures to poster size) but that I can also
>get a underwater housing to 40 metres or so for.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> By the way what is the difference between an optical and digital zoom?
>
> I know a totally luddite question
Our local paper had a short article about digital cameras in yesterday's
paper. The article concerned reliability and was attributed to Consumer
Reports. They said there was not a clear winner as to which brands/models
were most reliable, but there were losers. For P&S cameras they said
Vivitar had the highest incidence of repair and Olympus held the same spot
for DSLRs.

Ron

"dechucka" <dechucka@vomithotmail.com> wrote in message
news:46231e1e$0$25449$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
>I am looking for a digital camera that is good for the family/holiday snaps
>( decent zoom and can blow up pictures to poster size) but that I can also
>get a underwater housing to 40 metres or so for.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> By the way what is the difference between an optical and digital zoom?
>
> I know a totally luddite question
Our local paper had a short article about digital cameras in yesterday's
paper. The article concerned reliability and was attributed to Consumer
Reports. They said there was not a clear winner as to which brands/models
were most reliable, but there were losers. For P&S cameras they said
Vivitar had the highest incidence of repair and Olympus held the same spot
for DSLRs.

Ron

> Thanks so if i want to look through the "eyepiece to get a zoom photo i am
> relying on optical zoom ie you shoot what you see
>
> is that correct?
>
Underwater you will struggle to look through the eyepeice with your mask on,
I think most housings now assume you will use the screen to line up a shot.
In which case it doesn't matter what zoom you use, its WYSIWYG (but digitial
zoom may give poor results - especially in low light).