It’s the biggest thing to happen in underwater photography EVER!
Digital cameras, either expensive SLR cameras or cheaper compact cameras are making underwater photography available to more people than ever before. I recently took the plunge and sold my film kit and purchased a Nikon D70 and a “sea and sea” housing for it.
I can only say the difference I experienced was like switching from macro framers on a Nikonos to working with a 60mm macro lens on a SLR. That change was like night and day but moving to digital the benefits were even greater, especially in our dark temperate waters. Working in low light and being able to see your image right there and then and being able to make adjustments underwater is just too valuable a tool.
I have tried for years to get good images of a favourite dive site, Cathedral Rock at St. Abbs but all my slides taken with my Nikonos V were dark or badly composed. My first dive at the site with my new set up and I gained exactly the image I was after.
Some divers still use film and that’s great, but the days of using film underwater are numbered. Great results can be obtained from digital compact cameras in housings that sell for less than a lens for the Nikonos V. At a recent “splash in” competition only 6 or 7 divers entered using film whilst 37 entered using digital systems.
I know it’s a hard decision making the change, and in the case of a SLR system it’s a massive outlay, especially where new lenses are required and with the loss of TTL flash, new strobes may also require to be purchased. But If you still want to use film there was never a better time to buy so check out ebay.
I made my choice of housing because I used a “sea and sea” housing for my Nikon f90x and I liked it a lot. I therefore had the ports for the “sea and sea” system which swung my decision.
As for quality I now have more A4 prints around me now and I know my stuff will enlarge to A3 without any issues and that’s more than enough for me and the editors of the magazines I submit to. A friend of mine has even had his Sand Tiger Shark image taken with a D70 Plastered all over a double decker bus. So as far as I’m concerned quality issues were things of the past.
