Posted by Elaine on October 23, 2004 at 07:45:42:
In Reply to: This is why I come here. posted by Mojo Mike on October 22, 2004 at 21:44:19:
I stick with film because I've done it for years and can usually reliably come up with most the shots that I want on a 36 frame roll of film.
I use professional grade ($$$) slide film and cringe every time I write the check for the E6 processing after a multi day trip ($$$).
The Nikon scanner ($$$) does a good, but slow (tic, tock, tic, tock), job of converting the slides to digital format. The large digital files then need some work to try and make them look as good as the original slides (tic, tock, tick, tock) and they need to be resized way down to web posting dimensions with a further, often disappointing, loss of quality. I personally don't enjoy "digital editing", I find it a chore (how much time am I spending sitting at this computer - no wonder I have to eat less now days), not an enjoyable hobby, and, I don't tweak the digital files much. I do enjoy the sport of trying to make it all be as right as I can possibly make it when I snap the shutter - to me that is the art of photography.
I would guess that unless you shoot for a top of the line digital camera, housing something digital will be cheaper than purchasing a good housing for your N90. You will eliminate the need for film ($$$), you will probably eliminate the need to buy new lenses for the N90 - only a few work with underwater housings. Underwater photography has a steep and long learning curve and you can plow through it all faster with ditial. If you like manipulating digital files the world is now full of endless possibilities to make those 100+ photos that you take on every dive look really good. There are lots and lots of digital camera and housing options out there to choose from now.
Take your time and look at all of them. Every camera and lens set up has its benefits and limitations and you don't want one where after a short while you are just working around its limitations. Ask Chris sometime what the limitations are that he has found with his digital set up. Talk to others who do underwater digital a lot - the "do it a lot" part is key - what limitations they have encountered with their digital set up.
Photography is a lot of fun. It is a $$$ hole but it is a lot of bang for the buck.