Sheng Si islands - great for a weekend!

[CrazyCarl]

KM,

Let me point you at this review of several underwater cameras. All of them are built as cameras to be used both in and out of water just as conveniently, therefore lacking the bulky and expensive extra external housing.

Tested cameras...

• Canon PowerShot D10
• Fuji FinePix Z33WP
• Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 (mju Tough 8000 in Europe)
• Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 (mju Tough 6000 in Europe)
• Pentax Optio W60
• Pentax Optio W80
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 (DMC-FT1 in Europe)

I think you'll find the review very informative! If you're not familiar with the site, at the top of the page you'll see a drop down link which will initially say "1. Introduction". Click that and you'll see several pages of fairly detailed tests, specs, comparisons, images and final concluding statements.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q209waterproofgroup/




CC

[kingmarty45]

Thanks for that CC, I was looking into the Canon, the Olympus and the Lumix for this trip. They seem to take nice pictures and are rugged.

Unfortunately, those cameras are only rated to depths of around 10m. So as a dive camera they are no good because I haven't been on a dive that shallow since in the swimming pool on my certification course in 1995. On my trip last month to Micronesia, I got to 64m. So for scuba I would need a housing for these cameras too

The camera housing is not an immediate concern because I am not expecting to take one with me on this trip, but I will be looking to invest in one in the future so it seems sensible to invest in a camera that has an aftermarket housing. Albeit they are bulky and expensive, but they are necessary.

I am looking for much more manual control than is on these rugged APS. I am keen to be a "prosumer" as they call it, which has me looking at the Ricohs. I also have a really liking to the 24mm wide angle lens.

Felix,

I can get the GX100 and GX200 for very similar prices here, which one do you think is better? It seems a lot of people complain about the load times when taking RAW images. Has that been a problem for you? Are the photos in this thread jpeg or raw?

Thanks for the info mate, really appreciated.

Marty.

[felix]

no worries bud! all the photos in these threads are jpeg, i hardly ever use raw because it does indeed take about 5 seconds to save each picture. i only use it when when i'm feeling a little arty around town, not usually on trips.
they're probably very similar cameras anyway, so go with which ever you fancy. if the prices are close, why not get the newer one.

[CrazyCarl]

To be honest, unless you're going for publication or large size print JPGs are totally fine and, whatsmore, easier to work with straight out of the camera.

If you're going to go RAW, go DSLR cuz' you'll REALLY see the benefits there. Otherwise, working with JPGs can be much faster and yield essentially the same results for most applications.

CC

[kingmarty45]

CC, yeah that is what I figured. Apart from the space issue on memory cards, I don't have the patience or inclination to pour over photos in photoshop or similar.

thanks for the info guys. I just need to take the plunge now...