Camera suggestions

Hey everyone. Within the next week or so I plan on purchasing a decent digital camera. Ideally the camera will be around $400 give or take and capable of taking pictures of smaller fish species. I know a lot of you guys have excellent photography skills and since my focus will likely be native fishes in the field I figured this would be the best place to ask. Any recommendations, advice or suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.

I haven't tried it yet, but the Canon Powershot G9 is in that price range and is highly recommended. I believe there is a fairly inexpensive submersible hardcase for it available at B&H. If I get a new camera any time soon, that will probably be it; my poor old Rebel D300 is showing its age (and the abuse I've put it through).

Good question... I am considering doing the same. I'm intrested in what the others have to say about this topic.

Good question... I am considering doing the same. I'm intrested in what the others have to say about this topic.

I would recommend one of the Olympus waterproof cameras. The model 720SW is the one I use. I believe they now offer a 770SW, 790SW, 850SW, and 1030SW. They are waterproof down to 10 ft. and shock proof from 5 ft. The newer ones are crush resistant and can be used in temperatures down to 14 degrees. All are within your price range. I know I am going to get another one soon.


Bill F.

I would recommend one of the Olympus waterproof cameras. The model 720SW is the one I use. I believe they now offer a 770SW, 790SW, 850SW, and 1030SW. They are waterproof down to 10 ft. and shock proof from 5 ft. The newer ones are crush resistant and can be used in temperatures down to 14 degrees. All are within your price range. I know I am going to get another one soon.
Bill F.

I got *excellent* results from an Olympus C-750Z that I bought about 5 years back. That model is certainly no longer around, but I'd expect some of the Olympus successors to be equally good. You definitely want large lens and pay particular attention to macro capability and focus/shutter lag. You need to be able to focus and take the photo as quickly as possible once the fish is in the position you want.

I would recommend the Canon XT series. I got the XTi recently and I love it.

Thanks for the info everyone, I'm leaning towards Canon at the moment but I'll write all the suggestions down and do some research. Of course a big determining factor is what the store carries.

While the Canon G9 is the best of the best in its catagory (IMO) I think one of the new Olympus models may suit a wet and rough environment much better. Someone already mentioned them but the specks on one of the new ones is waterproof down to I think 30 plus feet maybe 33 or 35, drop proof I think is incresed to around 6 foot 6 inches, and you can sit on the dang thing up to a 200 pound crush factor. That would be my choice for taking around streams. The G9 offers zero waterproof and zero other specks the Olympus has. If that Olympus gets dirty just plop it in the water and use a soft rag and wash it off then use a clean lint free soft cloth to dry it off. And I have been dealing with B&H photovideo.com for over six years and they are a rock solid company you can purchase said camera from. But if you want a sweet clasic camera that will serve you very well and you are not worried about the drop, wet, crush factor by all means the Canon G9 I do not think can't be beat. Well maybe a Leica rangefinder (digital) but you did say four hundred and not five thousand plus.

Daniel J. Benoit

Thanks for the info everyone, I'm leaning towards Canon at the moment but I'll write all the suggestions down and do some research. Of course a big determining factor is what the store carries.

I apologize for resurrecting a slightly old thread but for the benefit of the search engine I thought it would be worthwhile.

In the time that this thread has been dormant, I've been spending a good chunk of my free time in the local fashion industry and art scene honing my photography skills. I'm not going to say that I'm the best out there, and I certainly am not the best with shooting fish, but I'm picking up on some things.

Took this tonight of my (non-native) firemouth cichlid.


ISO 100 1/80 f/13, Canon Digital Rebel XTi, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Vivitar 285HV

This was with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi (discontinued digital SLR type camera) with a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens (about $90) and a Vivitar 285HV flash (about $80). The flash was only set at half power.

I'm finding that having a digital SLR type camera makes it so much easier to get decent fish pictures. The Canon Powershot G9 mentioned before is a great camera but the lens on it is very limited in its capabilities and quality of the glass. And because it is a point-and-shoot type camera, you can't change the lens. In every other sense it's a great camera.

The other key is to have lots of light. The tank this guy is in has 130W of Power Compact lighting and it is still not enough to get the kind of images that I'm after. Having a flash pointing at the fish improves the images considerably. Added bonus: the colors are much stronger with strong direct lighting from a decent flash. The same fish photographed with just the aquarium light is rather washed out looking and requires more extensive post processing to draw out the colors that the naked eye would normally be able to see on this fish viewing it live.

Now let's take it up another notch. Let's say we're not necessarily looking to get all the fine details of the fish but rather have something attractive that might lose some details into shadows.

For this image with a (non-native) "Gold Saum" green terror, I had a flash sitting on top of the tank pointing straight down over the fish and remotely triggered.


ISO 100 1/250 f/5.6, Canon Digital Rebel XTi, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Canon Speedlite 430EX @ 1/8 power

Those are some nice pics viridari, thanks for sharing them as well as a little sage advice!

Incedentally I have a G9. I'm pretty happy with it so far but I would like to get an underwater setup next. Here are a few I shot with a G9.

I've had the good fortune to play a bit with the Olympus 1030 and I'm quite impressed with it as a rough-n-ready outdoor camera. The LED feature on the Macro is like something out of a dream. I can't even think of how many times I had poor lighting, but not poor enough to need a full flash, plus it lights the object to help focus. For a point and click, and one that ain't gonna tank if you happen to tip, I don't know that it can be beat. I'm curious to check out the Pentax W60 again, with this in mind, unfortunately Best Buy doesn't carry them. But man, that LED feature is tough to beat, all other things being equal.

If you're shooting on a more professional grade, good luck picking one out. Everyone has an opinion, as you've probably already learned

Todd

I've had the good fortune to play a bit with the Olympus 1030 and I'm quite impressed with it as a rough-n-ready outdoor camera. The LED feature on the Macro is like something out of a dream. I can't even think of how many times I had poor lighting, but not poor enough to need a full flash, plus it lights the object to help focus. For a point and click, and one that ain't gonna tank if you happen to tip, I don't know that it can be beat. I'm curious to check out the Pentax W60 again, with this in mind, unfortunately Best Buy doesn't carry them. But man, that LED feature is tough to beat, all other things being equal.

If you're shooting on a more professional grade, good luck picking one out. Everyone has an opinion, as you've probably already learned

Todd

For anybody that is looking for a point and shoot that they can take with them collecting -- Olympus has just came out with another Waterproof camera. The model is Stylus 550WP and Lists for $199.99.

Bill F.

They have also come out with the Stylus Tough cameras