underwater camera (1 Viewer)

[zocr-AZ]

@ cheppi - YOU DIDN'T GET THE NIKON!?!?! DIDN'T YOU KNOW THAT MORE EXPENSIVE CAMERAS (AND LENSES) ARE THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES PICTURES BETTER????



Nah, I'm just kidding, but I AM looking forward to seeing the pics when you get back!!! Feel free to share them with the club!! :greenguy:

 

[capman]

Ditto on my experience renting from them, they're really helpful and prices are decent to rent even with insurance - I rented a few Canon L lens for some trips = talk about saving some $$$.

I know from time to time they post stuff for sale but I haven't seen one in a while.

When I rented from them for the wedding, I rented about $5000 worth of equipment (a really awesome camera, and an amazingly awesome lens) as an 8 day rental (I think the rental fee was less than $500 - a lot of money, but in this context it was good deal - I would not have been able to do this wedding photography near so well without this camera/lens combo). Since my rental period was supposed to start the Wednesday after Veteran's day, they ended up sending the camera and lens out even earlier than usual to make sure I had it in time. I ended up having the equipment for almost a whole extra week for no extra charge. This was nice since it gave me time to work with the camera and get familiar with its features before the big couple of days.

 

[capman]

Decided on the panasonic TS3. Most people noted the canon was too old. they haven't updated it for 3-4 years and it's bulky. The panasonic and new nikon seemed comparable but the panny is $100 cheaper. They all seamed to have a possibility to leak and all leave a little to be desired in photo quality but it is a point and shoot not dslr.
thanks scott

Actually, the Canon underwater point and shoot was coming out right when I was buying my Olympus for my New Zealand/Cook Islands trip about 2 and a half years ago. It seemed like it might have had better image quality than the Olympus, but I was unable to try it out because it came out a few days (literally) too late for me given my departure date. It did seem like it was going to be a bit bulkier though, so that was also making me less inclined to go with the Canon for this particular trip.

I normally shoot with a nice DSLR and some nice lenses, but sometimes there's no substitute for a nice, really compact camera that you can have in a case strapped to your belt for easy access on a moment's notice. When I went to Boston in June for the wedding I had two really nice DSLR's with me and an impressive collection of lenses. I didn't take along the Olympus Tough because it was not going to be useful for the wedding photography, but I was really missing it otherwise!

 

[capman]

.....DIDN'T YOU KNOW THAT MORE EXPENSIVE CAMERAS (AND LENSES) ARE THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES PICTURES BETTER????

Certainly not the only thing, and quite often not the most important thing at all, but in some situations really good equipment can make a world of difference. I could hardly believe what a spectacular lens the Nikon 24-70 that I rented was. If I did wedding photography for a living I can hardly imagine doing it effectively without at least one lens of this caliber. Yes, cheaper primes could work too, but this lens was just so incredibly awesome..... I guess it should be given its price ($2200 I think!). I have serious longings for a lens like this now, but I have no justification to warrant spending that sort of money on one!

 

[zocr-AZ]

Certainly not the only thing, and quite often not the most important thing at all, but in some situations really good equipment can make a world of difference. I could hardly believe what a spectacular lens the Nikon 24-70 that I rented was. If I did wedding photography for a living I can hardly imagine doing it effectively without at least one lens of this caliber. Yes, cheaper primes could work too, but this lens was just so incredibly awesome..... I guess it should be given its price ($2200 I think!). I have serious longings for a lens like this now, but I have no justification to warrant spending that sort of money on one!

I generally agree, hence the accentuation on the "only" part of my phrase. However, while super nice (or expensive, not always interchangeable) equipment is awesome (I own some very nice pro-sumer Nikkor glass and have rented some lenses far superior to my own), I try as hard as I can to not focus on it at all. There are just so many times when I see people with their point and shoots, taking aweful snap-shots, and I think to myself, with some actual knowledge about their camera and photography, they could be making great portraits! When you consider some of the trash equipment that pro's USED to shoot with all day long and get some of the best photos of all time, you tend to realize how little the gear actually matters, in the grand scheme of things. I am sure you could have shot pictures of equal quality without that lens, it just would have been slightly less-convenient (faster A speeds, focus time, or whatever it was). I actually want to slap myself anytime I "think" I need some new lens (etc) when you look back at the equipment people were using 20-30 years ago and making great shots.

Anyways, back on topic though , I am realy looking forward to your pics when you get back! Please post them!

 

[capman]

I actually agree with everything you are saying, and was not intending to be contradicting you........I was just rambling and daydreaming about that amazing lens! (not to mention the amazing high ISO performance of the D700!). I could have gotten comparable results with a set of primes (and some really fast lens changing) but I can certainly see why a lens like the one I rented is standard equipment for most professional photographers (a fast zoom lens with outstanding image quality comparable to a good prime lens even with the aperture wide open....simply amazing).

Bird and wildlife photography though is one place where there is no good substitute (other than extreme patience and outstanding, highly improbable luck) for good equipment. It is hard (or nearly impossible) to match what some of the pros can do in bird photography without spending some big bucks on equipment!