Hi
Would I get better photos with the Nikon using say a Ikelite housing but without strobes ?
This is a pretty subjective question! All other things being equal the D70s should give you a much wider range of control over your photography: faster lenses of considerably higher optical quality, better control over depth of field, and so on. Many would probably argue that the D70s provides better image quality and resolution than an A640 could possibly manage. The cost (apart from $) of all this extra technical capability, is additional demands on the operator. I suspect there are people who are better off with a point and shoot and get better results than if they had a dSLR.
As for strobes, I don’t think you will be able to use the camera’s flash: I had a play with an ikelite housing for a D80 recently, and there wasn’t enough room inside the housing for the flash to fully pop up, and in any case, the port will block the flash over a large area of your shot. So, your choice is shoot ambient light or use strobes. If you mostly shoot in clear water and fairly shallow, or you use filters, ambient is an option. If you want to shoot alot of macro, you will probably find it difficult to manage without a strobe.
I also have Nikon SB 102 and SB 103 strobes and Ikleite strobes from Nikonos V days - can I add them to the Ikelite housing for the Nikon D70s ?
Nikonos strobes can be used with ikelite housings, although the current housings have TTL conversion circuitry intended for digital strobes: with nikon strobes, you have manual operation only.
Have a look at ikelite’s site.
IMHO, the choice between point and shoot cameras and dSLRs underwater comes down to the following:
- budget: there is a minimum price of entry for housings for dSLRs, and it’s not cheap!
- your motivation regarding u/w photography: dSLRs best suit those who wish to make the photography the focus (pun not intended) of their diving. If photography is more an adjunct to your diving, you may find a dSLR to be an inconvenience rather than an enjoyable activity.
- knowledge of photography: to use a dSLR to best effect underwater (and on land for that matter), it certainly helps to understand or be willing to learn the principles of photography e.g. exposure, depth of field, lighting, histograms, the effect and purpose of all the controls on the camera, etc. Many u/w photographers shoot in manual mode, or at least semi-auto modes, to exert better control over their shots. This generally requires a certain level of technical knowledge that whilst not difficult to acquire and comprehend, does require a degree of interest in the subject matter.
In many regards the choice of dSLR or compact for u/w photography is similar to the same choice for photography on land. There’s just few additional aspects such as the much larger size and weight of dSLR housings.
Hope that helps
Graham
