Should I get Canon S95 or SX210IS or G10

[lovesg]

Hi guys

I am new to underwater photography, and unfortunately my beloved A710IS is discontinued so i can't get the uw housing anymore.

I am considering to get either Canon S95 or SX210IS or G10 for replacement (and I prefer S95 more).
Question is, I want a camera that gives me the full manual control as I had it in-land.

I had do some research and i think somewhere it has mentioned that the real dial of S95 camera is inaccessible underwater. Anyway I am truely a noob in this arena.

Thankfully i am in the right forum :thumbsup:

I am looking for a camera + housing only, under $1k, with full manual control underwater.
Please give me your recommendation and opinions in this area.

Thanks

 

[howeikwok]

Hi guys

I am new to underwater photography, and unfortunately my beloved A710IS is discontinued so i can't get the uw housing anymore.

I am considering to get either Canon S95 or SX210IS or G10 for replacement (and I prefer S95 more).
Question is, I want a camera that gives me the full manual control as I had it in-land.

I had do some research and i think somewhere it has mentioned that the real dial of S95 camera is inaccessible underwater. Anyway I am truely a noob in this arena.

Thankfully i am in the right forum :thumbsup:

I am looking for a camera + housing only, under $1k, with full manual control underwater.
Please give me your recommendation and opinions in this area.

Thanks

For the Canon housing for the S95, yes the rear dial is not accessible, as is the ikelite housing. The FIX Fisheye housing allows access but costs a lot more. There are shortcut buttons and ways to get around this problem while still allowing full manual control u/w.

 

[lovesg]

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Oh man, I would love the S95.

As for shortcut, yes i read about it too. Can you point me to the short cut?

Imagine the lovely clown fish pops it's head out and I had to fiddle through the alternative way of getting the aperture right, i would have missed it. Unless the short cut provides faster alternate access than the dial, something like the chdk hack on my A710IS

For the Canon housing for the S95, yes the rear dial is not accessible, as is the ikelite housing. The FIX Fisheye housing allows access but costs a lot more. There are shortcut buttons and ways to get around this problem while still allowing full manual control u/w.

 

[howeikwok]

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Oh man, I would love the S95.

As for shortcut, yes i read about it too. Can you point me to the short cut?

Imagine the lovely clown fish pops it's head out and I had to fiddle through the alternative way of getting the aperture right, i would have missed it. Unless the short cut provides faster alternate access than the dial, something like the chdk hack on my A710IS

Should be the same as my S90. But I don't use it for u/w stills so i gotta go back and fiddle around to remember how to do it.

 

[senate747]

Take a look at the new olympus xz-1 as it is aimed at the high end compact users of G12, S95, LX5, etc which are also popular models for UW use. From what I had read so far about it's performance, it seems pretty good and olympus usually does come out with it's own UW casing for their cameras. It is mentioned somewhere that olympus is launching two new UW case soon and I think one of them is likely for the xz-1. I'm holding off my purchase of the G12 first till then...

 

[lovesg]

Olympus XZ-1 looks interesting!

Oh man, if only i had read your reply earlier on...

Anyway I got Canon S95 already. Looks fantastic! I am looking for a underwater housing for it.
I have checked out both Ikelite ($400) & Canon WP-DC38 ($319) housing - they don't come with real dial. 2 differences between these 2 housing are: (1) Ikelite allows addon lens; (2) ikelite buttons are aluminium while canon are plastic.

Other than the above 2, there are no other advantages. SeaRec & Fisheye Fix housing are real expensive, SGD$800-$1100 range. Is there any other 3rd party housing that you can recommend? (need those that supports depth of 40m and under)

 

[howeikwok]

Olympus XZ-1 looks interesting!

Oh man, if only i had read your reply earlier on...

Anyway I got Canon S95 already. Looks fantastic! I am looking for a underwater housing for it.
I have checked out both Ikelite ($400) & Canon WP-DC38 ($319) housing - they don't come with real dial. 2 differences between these 2 housing are: (1) Ikelite allows addon lens; (2) ikelite buttons are aluminium while canon are plastic.

Other than the above 2, there are no other advantages. SeaRec & Fisheye Fix housing are real expensive, SGD$800-$1100 range. Is there any other 3rd party housing that you can recommend? (need those that supports depth of 40m and under)

Based on my experience with the ikelite S90 housing and experience with canon housings there are some other factors to consider. The metal buttons on the ikelite housing becomes sticky if you don't do a through soak after a trip. I had to use grease on the shaft to 'unstick' it. so that's something to consider.
The ikelite housing walls are thicker than the canon one so is more robust.
The Canon housing shutter release button is well known to get stuck as you go deeper. Comparatively the ikelite housing shutter release lever is more sensitive allowing you to feel the half shutter release point. For myself i removed the spring holding the shutter release lever so that it's more sensitive.
If you can afford then get the ikelite housing. if more cash to splash then the fisheye one is niiicceee... :thumbsup:

 

[LeoDaddy]

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Oh man, I would love the S95.

As for shortcut, yes i read about it too. Can you point me to the short cut?

Imagine the lovely clown fish pops it's head out and I had to fiddle through the alternative way of getting the aperture right, i would have missed it. Unless the short cut provides faster alternate access than the dial, something like the chdk hack on my A710IS

While holding down the 'shortcut button', pressing the 'left' and 'right' button will adjust shutter speed. Knob infront of housing will adjust the aperture.. very easy and smooth.

I normally shoot only in a few shutter speed settings and do not adjust shutter speed very much underwater so the multiple button pressing does not bother me much.

 

[camerashy]

set it to "auto" or "P" and shoot raw, then adjust in PS. no need to fiddle so much... ;-)

 

[ponders]

I am a S90 u/w user and not a pro, just someone who wants nice and good shots underwater.

Why i chose S90 is due to the f2.0 feature. The plus points is that it is way smaller than a G10. I like to travel light and easy.. S90's casing is a plus point.

Personally, i don't see much of a difference between S90 and G10 and i feel S90 is more suitable to me for my applications since specifications wise they are essentially the same camera just that S90 is a f2.0 (i usually stay at 28mm all the time).

I don't really need the extra features G10 has that S90 don't (ND being one of them).

Also not a strobe user, i am able to shoot most photos at 1/125 to 1/160 range at ISO 400-800. I find in most cases, shooting in Tv-mode is sufficient for me as at 1/125 and 1/160 there won't be blur seen.

But having said all these, i just take pictures for personal memories and not wanting to display them as works of arts... hence I find what i did is sufficient for me...