Hi guys,

I'm considering these two cameras for underwater shooting (most will be macro)
I tend to choose D50 (cheaper) but wanted to ask your opinion.

First, D50 lacks DOF preview button. Have somebody used it while shooting macro underwater? WillI miss it in D50?

Second, D50 has only one command dial. In order to change aperture in manual mode, one need to hold aperture button (the one near the shutter release) and dial the command dial simultaniously. Is it possible in underwater housing (Ikelite for example)?

Are there any more things I should take in account while choosing among this two cameras?

Thanks in advance,
Boris

I didn't used the DOF preview button until now and I don't feel I miss something with it.
The second dial command is different story, I find it almost a 'must'

See this thread on the same issue.

When shooting macro I find that it's the aperture I want to change more often than the shutter speed. My film camera had a similar setup to the D50 and while it was possible to change the aperture it was a pain and you couldn't do it quickly.

What might make the D50 more usuable is if the function of the command dial can be switched in the CSM menu. If possible I would switch the dial to change aperture by default and shutter speed in conjunction with the button.

Very few housings provide access to the DOF preview button, so I wouldn't worry about that one.

Alex

One of the biggest things that I really like about the D70 over the Canon Rebel (the only other budget DSLR available when I bought the D70) is the dual mode dials. It seems so intuitive to me I can't concieve of why anyone would design a camera any other way. This applies as much to topside shooting as UW.

To me two of the most important (technical) aspects of photography are shutter speed and aperture. So why not have two seperate easy to use controls to dial in each one? It seems basic.

Underwater I select both aperture to control depth of field and shutter speed to control background exposure "blue water". I use flash exposure comensation with TTL to control the foreground, if I play with this at all.

In other modes these two controls have other valuable uses. In P mode both controls can be used to both select the proper equivelent combination of speed and aperture and with the other control dial in exposure compensation.

I think the DOF button is most useful topside to get a handle on the relationship of aperture and DOF. I find it hard to judge DOF underwater with housing, mask etc to look through. But shooting topside I can see it so I know which combinations of aperture and subject distance work well.

I think the D70 is a better value. The D200 would be better still. I don't think its worth it to sell my D70 AND housing to upgrade, and the D70 is a great camera but if I were buying today I'd want a D200.