Best point and Shoot

[snorkymn]

Hi everyone,

I currently have a Sea & Sea MX-5, film camera and am looking to upgrade to a digital point and shoot camera that will also work well for scuba diving. I could really use some good recommendations for something that will work well for now, and will also, perhaps in the future, be able to maybe add a strobe if I get more in to the photography. I'm really looking for a camera that will do a lot of the work for me, as I'm still pretty new to the whole photography thing and am only used the the MX-5.. With that I just held the camera up about 4 or 5 feet away from a subject and hoped the pic turned out. (Occasionally would get some nice ones.)

So any suggestions you could give would be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind It has to have an underwater housing good to probably 130-140 feet.
(In case I ever get back to the Blue Hole!)

Thanks ahead time for any help/suggestions you can provide.

-Trent

[tarczy]

I'm kinda partial to Canon. They just recently announced the 10mp Powershot G7. The press release can be found here . . .

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0609/06091405_canon_g7.asp (http://www.dpreview.com/news/0609/06091405_canon_g7.asp)

Street price for this camera is somewhere in the range of $550. So far, consumer reviews of this camera seem to be pretty good. However, if you're somewhat more advanced, you'll be disappointed to find that this camera does not store pics using RAW.

For really in-depth reviews and recommendations for all digital cameras, check out Digital Photography Review at . . .

http://www.dpreview.com/ (http://www.dpreview.com/)

. . . or Steve's Digicams at . . .

http://www.steves-digicams.com/default.htm (http://www.steves-digicams.com/default.htm)



Ikelite is currently designing the housing for the G7. You can watch for its release here . . .

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/camcanchart.html (http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/camcanchart.html)

I'd bet the street price for the housing will be in the range of $500

Considering that digital cameras are going the way of personal computers, you can expect to be buying a new camera every three years. Hence, investing in a ridiculously expensive machined aluminum underwater housing system becomes a waste of hard-earned moolah. Stick with the cheaper plastic housings like Ikelite.

[Jonathan Bird]

I agree that for point and shoots, Canon seems to be the best. But I do not use one underwater so I'm not very helpful here!

Jonathan