Canon S100 vs Nikon P7100 for Underwater Use (Ikelite vs Fantasea Housings)

Canon S100 vs Nikon P7100 for Underwater Use (Ikelite vs Fantasea Housings)

I recently wrote a detailed review on the Nikon P7100 underwater with Fantasea housing and on the Canon S100 in an Ikelite housing.

Due to over 100 emails and many forum questions asking which is better , I decided to post a Head to Head comparison between the 2 systems.

I would like to start with a few specs.

Canon S100 VS. P7100 specs for underwater use (I am highlighting the most important ones)

Spec	Canon S100	Nikon P7100
Mega pixel	12 MP	10 MP
Max ISO	6400	3200
LCD Screen ( 3″)	461K dots	921K dots
Flip LCD ( doesn’t matter for underwater)	No	Yes
Zoom	5x	7.1x
Lens range	24-120mm	28-200mm
Aperture	f/2.0	f/2.8
Focusing Distance (Macro)	3cm	2cm
Size	99x60x28mm (Much smaller)	114x77x45mm
Weight	198g (half the weight)	395g
Video	1080p @ 24fps or 720 @ 24fps	720 @ 30fps
Battery Life	200 Shots	350 Shots
Continuous Shooting	10 fps	1.3 fps
Shutter lag	250ms	Significantly lower but not published
Max Shutter	1/2000	1/4000
Flash TTL	In Auto/P/A/S Modes only	In all modes (Including M)

Some highlights that both cameras offer:

1. RAW Shooting
2. Same high end compact sensor 1/1.8″
3. Full manual controls (the S100 does not offer that with the Ikelite housing).
4. Fast and slick menus.
5. Very good image quality and Macro capabilities.

Here are the 2 setups we shot with ( We didnt use the Wide angle lens on the P7100 in the shots below):

Lets now compare a few important points that are specifically relevant to underwater photography considering both the camera and housing.

Price

The Nikon P7100 and Fantasea housing bundle costs as of June 27, 2012 – $899.

The Canon S100 in Ikelite housing bundle costs as of June 17, 2012 – $699

Usability (Manual shooting)

Above water, both these cameras offer full manual controls using 2 dials, in the front and back. This allows users that are not yet shooting with a DSLR to shoot with DSLR like controls and achieve any photo effect like a professional photographer.

Underwater , things are different. The Ikelite housing for the S100 does not offer control of the back dial ( the Canon housing doesn’t either ). That requires using the ring function key to change the feature of the front dial when switching between shutter speed and aperture. A workaround is to switch to A mode , change the aperture and switch back as the camera remembers it.

For generating good underwater shots , there is no other way but to shoot manual and this lack of manual control is very limiting.

In addition , the P7100 has a dedicated dial for EV +/- which allows shooting very comfortably in A or S mode having control of both the compensation and the specific manual control ( A or S).

The P7100 has 2 function keys which allow you to do many things very quickly , for example , you can set the WB to manual and then when holding the function key , shoot in Auto ( very good for doing both strobe and no strobe shots ).

In terms of usability underwater , the P7100 and Fantasea housing wins big time.

Ergonomics

The Ikelite housing is very much the same as all Ikelite housings , with their handle like shutter trigger , Aluminum buttons and high quality firm knobs.

I found the buttons to be very firm , and using the shutter trigger ,I missed the half-click quite a few times.

Fantasea designed this housing in a way that it is so contoured to the camera that you feel like you are holding a larger version of it. Yes , the controls are made of plastic but they are so soft and easy to use in every depth that it makes you wonder why would anyone every use a different material.

The Fantasea housing has a hand grip , connectors for a hand strap and room for your thumb on the back. This makes it very easy to hold and put all the controls at the reach of your fingers.

Another thing on the Fantasea is that the feature of the buttons is illustrated on the button making it very easy for shooters that do not yet know the camera that well. The P7100 has so many buttons that this is a real advantage.

The Fantasea housing wins here big time as well.

Image Quality

This is the big question. If you ask me, Canon S100 has better image quality. Overall , I found the shots to be clearer, sharper and colors more accurate and vibrant.

I cannot scientifically say which is better but there are many samples on the web and DxO testing. It looks like the Canon S100 is winning here.

With that said, the P7100 has superb image quality and it is probably better than most compacts in the market (including the G12 in my opinion) so I cannot say this is a huge downfall of this camera.

Canon S100	Nikon P7100

Wide Angle and Macro (Lens)

The Canon S100 has a wider lens ( 24mm ) , it feels significantly wider and I think photographers may be able to get a long without a wide angle lens in many situations ( provided that the water shot at is quite clear ). This is a big advantage over the P7100.

The P7100 has a longer range ( 28-200mm vs 24-100mm) but this is not so helpful for underwater as even with macro , no more than 80mm is used.

The Canon S100 wins big time, having a much wider lens out of the box.

Using a Strobe

The Ikelite housing does not have a strobe connection (god only knows why..) ,therefore an external accessory is needed to connect the strobe. Inon offers such connection or Sea and Sea mask set will do as well.

The Fantasea housing has 2 Sea and Sea type connections which is great.

The Canon S100 offers TTL in every mode other than Manual. Manual is the mode where its most important so I don’t have a clue why they would do that but all the Canon compacts are like that.

The Nikon P7100 offers TTL in all modes and using that in M with a Sea and Sea YS-01 or other TTL supporting strobe generates 10 great shots out of 10. When diving , it is very annoying to get out of he water with only 10-20% good shots and unless you are very experienced , that’s what happens with the Canon S100.

By the way , both TTL’s are accurate and provide good results.

Nikon P7100 wins here big time.

Accessory Lenses

Both cameras have various accessory lenses. Fantasea have their own red filter , wide angle lens , macro filter but also an adapter for a 67mm thread which allows mounting Inon , fix and others.

Ikelite housing has a 67mm thread so already anything can be mounted on it.

This one is a tie.

Video

I didn’t do much video shooting but it looks like other than the improved resolution on the Canon S100 , both cameras do good video shooting.

The Canon S100 has one touch video button that works in every mode and that’s an amazing feature.

Canon S100 wins here.

White Balance

Both cameras offer many modes of White Balance. Both make it easy to set manual white balance.

The Canon S100 has an underwater mode and has a very easy to use fine tuning to each white balance mode ( like in a DSLR ) . The underwater mode is very good up to about 40 feet , then I found manual white balance to be better.

The auto white balance of the Canon S100 is much better, more accurate and produces nicer results.

Canon S100 by far wins here .

Here are some sample shots that shows this performance.

pro

Canon S100	Nikon P7100

* These images have gone through some lightroom post processing.

Battery Life

The battery life on the P7100 is amazing. I did 3 full dives and came out with 2/3rds battery . It looks like you may be able to go through 2 days of diving with it.

The Canon S100 is very bad , I ran out of battery on the 3rd dive.. I think one has to buy a spare when going on a dive trip with this one.

The P7100 wins big time.

Continuous Shooting

Not much comparison here , the Canon S100 taken 10fps , like a fast sports DSLR. The Nikon P7100 is only 1.3 fps. So if you want to use this mode to catch fast moving fish , the Canon S100 is the only camera you could use.

Conclusion

These are 2 amazing cameras for the amateur underwater photographer. Both at a decent price point with full manual controls and good image quality.

Fantasea housing is amazing and it makes the P7100 camera so easy to use and ergonomic that you simply cannot move to any other housing after it.

The Canon S100’s performance is better in both optics , speed and image quality.

If you ask me, I cannot give up the “so comfortable” shooting experience of the P7100 for a little bit better image quality. I think if image quality was so important to me , I would not dive with a compact.

Plus , the TTL in manual mode is a must for beginner photographers. Its the difference between coming back with 10 good shots to 100 good shots.

For me , all in all considered the Nikon P7100 in Fantasea housing wins.

I do however understand while people have a hard time deciding. I hope this comparison may help at least some of them.