camero questions

[flexbicep]

hi,i was planning to buy canon eos350d for diving photography,today i ask the shop guy which is my friend,he ask me buy another one called canon powershot s80 which is cheaper,he said that cam is enough adyfor me.still deciding,ask for u ppl's opinion,willing to invest for a good cam,just no knowledge only,pls advise

[dradttg]

In my opinion, it all depends on the type of diver you are. Do you like to travel lite or you dont mind carrying heavy load?

Personally, I like to travel lite. Nowaday, even thinking of not bringing my BCD and regulator. So A95 is the camera for me (you can see sample of my photo). I just need to bring the camera and the casing and that's it. I can take all type of photo underwater. Best of all, the whole set up only cost $900. And since A95 uses AA batteries, I can get batteries off the shelves.

If you get a 350D, you need to bring multiple lens. I am not sure if there is a lens that is suitable for both macro and others. I know that there are lens that can be changed in the water but I think they are expensive. There isnt a Canon casing for 350D and you have to buy custom made ones that cost a few thousands. 350D does not use AA batteries -> meaning you have to buy spare and have to find a place to charge all the time.

I feel that if you are willing to spend the money, get the normal camera and a strobe. The only problem I have with my current camera is that if I take photo of distance objects, it tends to blue out. If I have a strobe the colour will be better.

[kelstorm]

in short, know wat sort of pics u are planning to take.. more of Macro or wide angle??

but then again, how often do u encounter plegics that need wide angle?

Personally, i'm more on macro.. thus, my setup is always to macro mode..

Like wat Dradttg mentioned, EOS350 housing aint cheap.. the most common ones are ikelite n already in 4 digits..

At the end of the day, it is the photographer, not the camera.. a good photographer can produce good pics even wif normal camera.. it is all abt composition..

a full setup of EOS350 wif single or double strobe is gonna set u back by close to $6k

[huanjie]

Totally agree with Kel and drad!

Price of the camera is a small part compare to the whole setup.

Find out more on the cost of other parts, like the strobe, housing ... weigh the budget and your passion then decide.....

that aside,

cons of SLR are, unlike compact camera, you have to see through the viewfinder to compose your image everytime you take a shot, not so easy with a mask-on, a little foggy make picture taking difficult.

pros are without the LCD display battery last longer....SLR give you options on more optics as well as feeling more real time with the shutter with the mirror flipping up and down.

[flexbicep]

thanks guys!appreciate ur time and advice!!!! more on macro actually!!!