View Full Version : Which camera?
Mr Flibble
13-08-07, 12:56
Need some help from you happy snappers out there.
Kinda narrowed down my search for a camera for the missus to the following
Fuji F31 with O/W Housing £259.99
Sealife Reefmaster mini £194.99
both are 6Mp, depth rated to 40m
the Sealife works out £65 cheaper. Would also like to use the camera for non diving stuff also.
Anyone any opinions on these cameras?
Ta muchly.
I have been looking at the Sealife D600 pro set, comes with a strobe too for a good price, however cannot make my mind up with respect to the differences between digital strobe and ordinary strobe???
The sealife mini can be found on ebay under a different name for £99.99 BTW!!!
Scuba-Doh!
13-08-07, 14:38
I recently bought the Fuji F31fd for £120 on fleabay (second hand, never used) and the Fuji u/w housing for £130 on a fleabay shop. I'm very happy with this camera and having a great time snapping away with it. Loads of options too once I become proficient enough to start using them. The Fuji F30/F31fd is the only compact digital with an ISO rating of 3200, which makes it perfect for low light level. Video quality is pretty decent too.
Check the links in my sig for examples of photos and videos (excuse the dodgy vis or badly framed shots, they're not the camera's fault).
I would definitely recommend this camera to anyone starting out in u/w photography and expect that those with some experience would make good use of it too.
Finally, I heard that Splashsports should be receiving an order of the F31fd with u/w housing, might be worth investigating their price.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1298/940780163_223ea301cf.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nand/940780163/)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1110/1020342440_8b2f4dc120.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nand/1020342440/)
Here is a thread from the divernet forum. There are other threads on here that discuss this type of thing and the Fuji seems to be the most popular choice. I don't think you'll go wrong with it.
http://http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=4246§ion=2272&action=display (http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=4246§ion=2272&action=display)
it's only a matter of time before it floods... so i'd go for a cheaper one. :rolleyes:
it's only a matter of time before it floods... so i'd go for a cheaper one. :rolleyes:
my old F10 was flooded, but inside my wife handbag, destroyed by a Fruit Shoot.
Saying that, my Fuji case has never leaked, and it's been in water at -2C.
If you want quality pictures it will cost the earth. If you want good pictures it will cost £1500. If you are spending £300 get the Fuji F31 you will have to spend a lot more to get better results.....;)
http://finstrokes.com/scubaforum/viewtopic.php?t=434
http://http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=4246§ion=2272&action=display
The sealife mini can be found on ebay under a different name for £99.99 BTW!!!
fleabay (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rugged-Underwater-Sports-Digital-Diving-Camera-2_W0QQitemZ280142128731QQihZ018QQcategoryZ31388QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
Mr Flibble
14-08-07, 09:20
Thanks guys, the Fuji might be the winner here, the high ISO rate kind of swings it towards this one.
The cheap one on e-bay is only rated to 10m, so rules that out. :rolleyes:
Scuba-Doh!
14-08-07, 10:52
From YD: http://www.yorkshire-divers.com/forums/underwater-video-photography/59734-fuji-fine-pix-2.html#post751864
The F31FD has got underwater modes. I've just brought one today from Cameras2u for £112
use code C2UEXTRA1 to get it down to that price
Mr Flibble
14-08-07, 14:23
AAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Took the plunge (no pun intended) and bought one from Jessops today (£140). Needed it by Monday anyway so best to buy over the counter.
Just need to source a cheap housing for it.
Visit www.digidiver.net www.wetpixel.com www.digitaldiver.net all these sites have threads with advice for divers on choosing their first camera and housing plus there is a free underwater photography magazine you can download from www.uwpmag.com. I use an older Fuji the F810 in an Ikelite housing and am very pleased with the results one of them is currently on the front page of www.scotsac.com. Happy snapping.