Creepy.

Cool.

I think I want…

This would be the German-built series, and it does pretty well.  There have been a few situations where a light leak has cropped in, but all salvageable images.  And beautiful grain, relative to digital.

Note that the total price is just over $600, and remember that I said “cheap-ish“. You’ll see a few more posts about this setup over the next few days – this is the setup I took with me to Hawaii for my latest dive trip.

The obvious reason you may want to get this (or something like it): price wise, you get a camera and case for less than half the price of an SLR waterproof housing. If you don’t dive all the time, or don’t want to spend $1400 on just a housing, then this is the way to go. Besides, you’ll end up with a spare camera that has most of the features of an SLR.

Guard Crab in Antler Coral

Less obvious: when doing underwater photography you sometimes want to work your way in to some mighty tight nooks & crannies.  You can’t do that with a huge camera.  This setup is already pretty large, but it was small enough to stick into some antler coral and get the pic to the right. Want to get close in tight quarters?  This is the way to go.

Further, the full-size setups are pretty bulky.  If you’re looking to document your trip, then it’s easier (and arguably smarter) to take a smaller camera.  Maybe even one smaller than this (it’s almost the size of a high-end SLR when in the waterproof housing).

Now, if you do want to move up to off-camera strobes, it can be done.  You’ll have a starting point for spending far, far more money.  However, I tend to go light when diving, and I like my equipment to have multiple uses.

The multiple use in this guy?  Inside its housing, it makes for a great beach camera: you can use it in the sand (camera’s safe!), while snorkeling, in the pool, or anywhere that you think might be dangerous for the camera (where it might get wet).

This isn’t to say that it’s perfect for everything.  I did get some gallery-quality shots off of this setup, but the lighting is definitely uneven when using the on-camera flash.  And it is difficult to change settings (shutter speed, aperture) when the camera is in the case.  But despite being a bit put off by the camera’s handling, I’m pleased with the quality that came out.

White-tipped Reef Shark, Molokini

Not a bad way to start, no?

Just suffice it to say, the slowness hasn’t Newman issue in my dirst two days of testing.

Rather, it seems that there’s no buffer. Instead of taking shots until memory is filled up, it just takes ‘em one at a time. Which puts you at the mercy of the disk write speed. 

Even with a professional SD card, it’s painfully slow. Forget about using this with your kids…

To explain: since I spend so much of the year in cold places, I tend to escape to warm places. These warm places tend to be areas where you can swim, and spend time on the beach. And in those places, you must have a waterproof case.

The last two trips that I have taken were effectively without the waterproof housing. You may recall that my old camera died on the first one, and I spent the second trip occasionally borrowing one. I will not go through that again, so it’s time to look for a replacement.

That replacement is now here: the Canon G11.  Not sure if I like it that much, but we’ll see if it grows on me.

G11, Sample image (macro)

It’s a pretty nice thing. Compact, solid, and surprisingly heavy. The clarity of pictures are surprisingly good, although I could detect some pixellation. The interface is nice & smooth – even nicer than the iPhone. And reading: much, much easier.

I could see myself loving it.

That being said, I’m completely underwhelmed. This is what the whole hubbub was all about? A glorified iTouch, for $800?

Ouch. No thanks.

But feel free to buy me one. I promise I won’t whine about it…

Major Pros:

Small, easy to pack, lightweight, carries a fair amount, tons of pockets.

Cons:

Doesn’t carry as much as I’d like, tight fit for a lot of equipment, bulging when overloaded can be a prob.

Overall:

I’m afraid I’m still looking for that miracle bag that does everything.  This one won’t be sold out – I’ll keep it in my arsenal, but probably as a carry-on for travel & a daily around-down bag for short shoots.  For longer-term shoots?  Not quite good enough…

So, why mention in here?  Just because it’s cool.  I mean, how often to you get your hands on a large-format camera with bellows?

More on the camera (from Wikipedia).