By Julie Brennan (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - 10:23 pm: |
OK, we are beginning dive photographers and are looking for one of those digital cameras that we can purchase a houseing for, or one that comes as a set, but the camera is removable to use on the land..any suggestions, we are looking to spend less than $500.00 total including additional memory...and I guess no stobe lights at this time....thanks Julie and Tom
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By John Stigaard (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #298) on Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - 11:20 pm: |
I found a Cannon A80 for $360 and a case for $160 through an outfit in New York that I found on e-bay
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By Julie Brennan (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 1:32 am: |
Do you know what their name or ebay store name was?
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By Cecil Berry (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3707) on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 8:41 am: |
Julie here's listing from DPreview. Looks like the camera is $300 new, looks like the case is another $200, here. That camera is a very good choice and will do the job.
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By Richard Burdette (BonaireTalker - Post #47) on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 9:37 am: |
Hi Julie and Tom
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By T-Shirt Divers John and Sue (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #131) on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 2:31 pm: |
I have a P 9 and a housing. Just bought a strobe for it. Pictures are great underwater as well as on land. The pictures are better after I took an underwater photography course with Jim Church's School. Sue
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By Mike & Cathy Bailey (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #4) on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 4:11 pm: |
Check out the Sea&Sea Aquapix 3.1. I use an Olympus C400 in an Ikelite housing and love it. Digital is the way to go. There are a lot of possibilities. I strobe is hard to do with out, but can be added later. Try liesurepro.com and bhphotovidio.com. I have found good values at both sites. Good luck!
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By Sue Goodman (BonaireTalker - Post #55) on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 4:25 pm: |
The best place to get camera gear in NYC is B&H Photo. The website is very complete - bhphotovideo.com
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By Freddie Hughes (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5124) on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 4:33 pm: |
Hi Julie another website is www.backscatter.com
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By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3994) on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 6:24 pm: |
I picked up the Canon S40 digital with a Canon housing made for the camera a couple of years ago and I'm certain the prices have really come down by now. The housing was very reasonable and easy to use. Canon has later models out now, too, so the S40 is not the most current one. The camera is 4 million pixel capable and takes great shots on land as well as under water.
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By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3995) on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 6:33 pm: |
I picked up the Canon S40 digital with a Canon housing made for the camera a couple of years ago and I'm certain the prices have really come down by now. The housing was very reasonable and easy to use. Canon has later models out now, too, so the S40 is not the most current one. The camera is 4 million pixel capable and takes great shots on land as well as under water.
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By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3996) on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 6:34 pm: |
Oops.....sorry about that! cb
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By Mick Dunham (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 7:53 am: |
We use the Canon S45 with the underwater housing which is good to 30M. Other Canon models are available with housings to 40M for the deeper divers. Its a good piece of kit and reasonably priced despite our bias (we both work for Canon!).
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By Cecil Berry (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3711) on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 8:26 am: |
Julie, Office Depot has the Canon A80 on sale for $200 for the next three days. Click Here.
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By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3997) on Thursday, September 2, 2004 - 9:11 pm: |
Hi, Mick! I tried to access your link a couple of times but I can't get it to open up...."Website not responding....". I tried to reboot, too, but nada. I was really looking forward to seeing your photos!
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By Mick Dunham (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Friday, September 3, 2004 - 5:44 pm: |
Hi Carole,
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By Cecil Berry (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3720) on Friday, September 3, 2004 - 6:56 pm: |
Mick, I looked at your pictures, very nice stuff. The Canons do a nice job, are reasonably priced and have a great UW white balance. You can post pictures here. It's a little tricky and worth trying in the test area first. The instructions are at the bottom of the page.
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By Gail Elliott (BonaireTalker - Post #19) on Friday, September 3, 2004 - 7:26 pm: |
Hi Mick - I enjoyed your photos, you got some great shots....
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By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4003) on Friday, September 3, 2004 - 11:48 pm: |
Hmmm, maybe it's my settings. I'll have to play around with it some more. Same message tonite. Thanks! Carole
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By Yana girl (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #175) on Saturday, September 4, 2004 - 10:05 am: |
Mick,
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By Pam Redmond (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Sunday, September 5, 2004 - 10:04 pm: |
Hi Julie,
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By Julie Brennan (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #9) on Monday, September 6, 2004 - 10:26 am: |
Where do I get a housing for the A80? I am assuming I can purchase the extra memory etc....from the where I buy the camera...but where do I look to purchase a housing?
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By John Stigaard (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #308) on Monday, September 6, 2004 - 10:34 am: |
Ritz and/or Wolfe camera for extra memory. I also bought a card reader and memory together.
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By Julie Brennan (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #10) on Monday, September 6, 2004 - 10:54 am: |
I found an A 80 on ebay I can afford new, what do I look under for compatable housing...sorry to sound stupid, I don't want to end up with a $200 housing that I can't use. So is there a specific brand size etc..to look under....thanks for all your help!!
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By Julie Brennan (BonaireTalker - Post #11) on Monday, September 6, 2004 - 10:56 am: |
I found an A 80 on ebay I can afford new, what do I look under for compatible housing...sorry to sound stupid, I don't want to end up with a $200 housing that I can't use. So is there a specific brand size etc..to look under....thanks for all your help!!
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By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4014) on Monday, September 6, 2004 - 11:07 am: |
Julie, try looking on this Canon site. The A80 is on the left column, click on that and then go to Accessories on that left side and see what they have in there. There is a housing made just for this camera so it should (hopefully) give you the model number, etc. If so, you can check the price of the housing there and then on eBay or somewhere else. Good luck! Here is the link to the Canon site. Carole
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By John Stigaard (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #309) on Monday, September 6, 2004 - 1:26 pm: |
Just ask for the housing for the Canon A80
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By Cecil Berry (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3728) on Monday, September 6, 2004 - 10:17 pm: |
Julie the second link from my above post was for the UW housing. This one. There are a number of places to buy the housing. This is the part number you are looking for Canon WP-DC900.
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By Jane Marie Garchinsky (BonaireTalker - Post #64) on Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 7:43 am: |
We bought a Digital Nikon Coolpics 4300 for general surface use and like it for the most part. Has anyone tried to use that underwater. Don't even know if it's a possibility. The count down begins and the wishes and needs list is beginning to mount.
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By John Stigaard (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #312) on Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 7:57 am: |
I considered buying the 4300 when I was shopping. I think there is a case for it. Try searching on ebay or go to the Nikon site to see whats available.
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By David Stewart (BonaireTalker - Post #24) on Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 7:59 am: |
Julie and Jane
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By Ray and Pam (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #3) on Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 8:07 am: |
We found ours by just doing a search "Canon A70 underwater", which lists many websites and a little info. One site even broke down the different sites by price. These are for new cases, we finally got ours from a place like electricsam.com?
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By Mike & Cathy Bailey (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #5) on Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 10:39 am: |
Jane you can get an Ikelite housing for your 4300. Nikon housings are more expensive but worth it. You can add Sea&Sea strobes and lenses. That camera takes awesome under water photos housed, a friend has one. I use the Olympus C400 in a simular housing and it works fantastic. Will be adding a post soon to share some photos, so check it out when I get the site running. Also, the best place to by these housings cost wise is bhphotovideo.com. Cannon housing for A40 or A80 is $169.95 / Ikelite for the Nikon 4300 is $475.00. Hope this helps, Take Care
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By Mike & Cathy Bailey (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 10:42 am: |
Typo / Cannon A70 or A80 is 169.95 (Buy)
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By John Stigaard (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #313) on Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 12:16 pm: |
I am running a slave Reefmaster strobe from Sea Life with my A80. I took off the reflector plate and filed a nob on the base plate. There is enough flash from the A80 to trigger the strobe.
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By Jane Marie Garchinsky (BonaireTalker - Post #65) on Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - 5:41 pm: |
Mike,Cathy,Dave and John,
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By Julie Brennan (BonaireTalker - Post #16) on Sunday, September 12, 2004 - 7:05 pm: |
Thanks to everyone for the great info. I think we have deferred our purchase until we get back, so many decisions and so little time, and with the investment we want to make sure we get the right thing for us. So we'll just have to wing it with renting a couple times and hope we end up with some good pictures....again thank you to everyone.
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By Pat Relich (BonaireTalker - Post #69) on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 10:44 pm: |
Julie,
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By Julie Brennan (BonaireTalker - Post #20) on Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - 9:41 pm: |
Well, while I was fine to wait, Tommy got ants in his pants and decided last evening he had to have a camera to go to Bonaire with. We found a great deal on a SeaLife 310 with strobe, carry case, on http://www.divesports.com/. I was able to go up to our local dive shop and actually look at the camera and I think for now it will be fine....we will get more technical down the road, since he is probably going to be the picture guy, and they are going to get it to us tomorrow morning and we still paid less than if we paid everything seperate....go figure. Now we will really be able to post a few pictures when we return!!
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By Cecil Berry (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3746) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 8:48 am: |
Julie, your killing me. After all that great advice you go out and buy that POS. My bumper sticker on that camera is an inferior camera at a superior price. It's 3 megapixel, no zoom camera and costs a lot. I have yet to see anyone get even a mediocre picture with it. You would be better off with a disposable. Ahhhhhhhhhh.
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By Ron Edison (BonaireTalker - Post #23) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 2:36 pm: |
It’s a bit expensive, but in terms of simplicity and basic functions, it’s not a bad first camera. You may experience a lot less frustration than you'd have with some of the other choices. Another option would have been to rent a couple different cameras for a few dives and see what you like, what results you get. (Check out the topic ‘Bonaire Photography & Videography’ on this site for more camera discussion and great pix.)
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By Pat Relich (BonaireTalker - Post #70) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 4:56 pm: |
Julie,
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By Cecil Berry (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3748) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 6:02 pm: |
Julie sorry I was so negative, having been burned badly by a Reefmaster I have to strong an opinion. I still hate to see someone pay $700 for a camera with a fixed focus lens that can not focus inside 4 feet, shoot, I never take a picture UW if the subject is further than 4' from the camera. Most times the subject is inside 1' which that camera will not do even with a $50 macro lens.
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