Looking to upgrade

[Hawkwin]

My wife told me it was time to finally upgrade our Canon A40 and from reading the comments here, it seems like the Canon PowerShot A710 might be a good option. I also have read a bit about the PowerShot SD800 / SD850. I would like to use this camera diving as well so I want to make sure it has the necessary features I will want. Unfortunately, I am mostly a camera novice and while I am working to educate myself on what I should want, many of the terms and jargon might as well be greek at this point.

I leave for Mexico in about three weeks so I have limited time to make a decision. Does anyone have a recommendation about a comparison between these models?

A side by side comparison can be done at:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...categoryid=113

www.cnet.com also has a good review - but they obviously are not focusing their review on underwater use.

Thanks for any feedback!

[seasnake]

Check on the availability of an underwater housing for each model. That might help narrow it down for you.

[Sarah]

Make sure you can get an external strobe, otherwise the internal strobes are all but useless for anything other than real closeups.

Ikelite tends to be the first out with decent housing/strobe combinations.

The 850 looks pretty interesting....

[Hawkwin]

Make sure you can get an external strobe, otherwise the internal strobes are all but useless for anything other than real closeups.

Ikelite tends to be the first out with decent housing/strobe combinations.

The 850 looks pretty interesting....

Ike has housings for both:

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

the 800/850 is $100 cheaper. It also appears that both will take an external strobe. The 800/850 can also take a wide angle lens. The thing that concerns me about the 850 is that it has no manual exposure controls and the 800 has very few; this an issue?

At $400 for the camera and another $300 for the case, not counting the additional $650 for the strobe, I wonder if I might simply be better off with a Sealife DC600 with strobe. I found it here: http://www.scuba.com/shop/diving.asp...CAMERA-PRO-KIT for under $700.

Anyone have a good review (pro or con) on the Sealife line of cameras?

[scubajam]

If I may be so bold, I'd like to suggest an alternative.

Look at the Nikon P4. It's 8 megapixel, full manual controls, and now under $200 (lots available on ebay, I bought one for $150, almost new, works great). Was waaaaayyyy more than that just a year ago.

Then look at Fantasea housings, available at a discount at

http://opticaloceansales.com

Only $200 for a great housing with all the manual controls.

I take video myself, but my tropical waters only diving wife has one of these units.

Their small strobe isn't the best, good for what it is, but I'm told they're coming out with a new one between their mini and larger one. Email Jack on the site for more info.

8 meg images, small package housing, price is great, buy camera and housing for what most charge for housing or camera alone. Look into their strobe with fiber optic trigger that fits over the camera's internal strobe (cover it up for best images, only use for external flash trigger).

Jim McGauhey
Washington State

[acelockco]

I may not be the best person to ask but I know who is. Check out http://www.steves-digicams.com/

This guy reviews just about every digital camera made, and not a little review, he really gets into it. 5-6 LONG pages of info. on each cam, sample photos and much more.

[Hawkwin]

If I may be so bold, I'd like to suggest an alternative.

Look at the Nikon P4. It's 8 megapixel, full manual controls, and now under $200 (lots available on ebay, I bought one for $150, almost new, works great). Was waaaaayyyy more than that just a year ago.

Hmmm. Cnet.com states it has no manual control. I also can't seem to find any info on the light sensitivity either.

Looks like it might have been a option worth considering - but by now I have already ordered the Canon.