S95 or SX220HS UW Setup

MrCake

MrCake

MrCake

Associate
Joined
22 Sep 2003
Posts
704
Location
South Coast UK
As a keen snorkeller I am looking to update my current UW camera which is a Optio W60. It has served me well but a little outdated with the video quality only being SD and I fancy an upgrade.

At some point in the future I am going to try scuba diving so thought I would look at a decent compact camera and a separate case.

So far I am looking at the Powershot S95 and the newer SX220 HS.

The S95 has better build quality and a F2.0 lens but the SX220 HS has better quality full HD videos. Price wise, the S95 is about £40 more. What would people recommend?

I already have a decent DSLR setup so this camera will spend its life as a holiday and underwater camera.

Also does anyone know if the ikelite cases are worth the massive premium over the Canon own cases?
 
I think it comes down to the video vs stills aspect. If the video is better on the sx220 hs and that is priority, get that. If stills are priority go for the s95.

I'd certainly go for the s95 if it were me though, it has a massive aperture advantage - s95 at f2 the sx220 hs at 3.1. Of course this additional light would effect low light video recording performance also.

Those two cameras are very different though, one is a compact super zoom and one is a premium compact with low light high quality optics through a standard zoom range.

The sx220hs is great though, I've done some slow shutter speeds at full zoom and it still gives excellent images thanks to its 4 way image stabilisation, it has the best stabilisation I've seen on a compact super zoom, even better than the tz18/20.
 
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Yeah they are very different models and I am having a tough time working out how important good videos are. For some reason the S95 has gone from £230 to £280 over night so my decision might have been made for me.

Just a shame the Panasonic TZ20 gets such poor reviews on the stills quality as the video quality does look very good. The Sony equivalent looks to improve on the same sensor but then the ikelite case for the HX9V is £350 :eek:
 
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Would a mod be able to move this into the 'on the water' section to see if people have any additional ideas about the casing side of things? Thanks
 
That's the rainforest for you, they do like to bounce their prices around. Probably to level off demand and/or create interest in the s100. just a random guess though whcih is probably wrong
 
Cheers for the heads up. Unfortunately I am back to the drawing board as I was all set on the S95 until I found out by chance that the video mode doesn't support AF or zoom during record :( Zoom I can ignore but AF is a no go for me.
 
welshdragon said:
How did you get on?
Click to expand...

Going back on what I originally said, I had a Panasonic FT2 for a short while only to find that it leaked on the first trip into the sea just from snorkelling. Luckily I was able to return it and looking round, it certainly isn't the first FT2 to leak.

There seems to be a glut of new UW compact models coming out which I will wait and see how they turn out so for my next snorkel trip I have been lucky to borrow another FT2 which comes with a dive case and ultra wide lens which weighs a ton!

Ironically when checking it over I have found signs of corrosion on the battery terminals so think this FT2 has had some water ingress as well.
 
Also interested in this got an Fuji xp30 which took some impressive photos. But it did let a tiny amount of water in, which gave a black image untill it dried out. Also some grit got under the button. As well as later producing orange photos. It's off to Fuji to get repaired but lost confidence in it. the FT3 gets good reviews but I fear that'll be the sane as all over rugged cameras.

Off to America in June and will be doing snorkeling/jet ski and the like and would love a another rugged camera or a camera and a waterproof case.

So is there any decent alternatives out there? I also found the time it took for the xp30 to take a pic was too long, especially underwater where things move fast as well as movement from the swell.
 
There is a whole rash of new compact UW cameras coming out in the next few months with a FT4 from Panasonic as well as new offerings from Canon, Pentax and Olympus.

It is a bit of a tricky situation as most if not all compacts will have several reviews where water has damaged them but if you go for the proper diving case then you need to double your budget.

Obviously some of the water ingress issues will be through user error but having suffered from 2 dead FT2's which were used for snorkelling only following the care instructions to the letter, I am rather hesitant.
 
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