New Olympus C-5050

It appears that Olympus quietly introduced a new C series 5 megapixel camera.

Having been a big fan of the "C" series cameras in the PT series housings, I was wondering if anyone knows if a housing will be available for the C-5050. I am hoping the PT series housing in particular since they are great for freediving.

Specs can be seen here

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Also,

Since no one has had a chance to dive w/ this camera yet, it's hard to give a good evaluation.

Cheers

James

Actually the 5050 is the exact same camera as the 4040 with one more mpix. Allen has the housing at underwater digital.

actually it is very different to the 4040

Actually,

I've been browsing the net myself, looking for an affordable camera and housing and there is a housing available, the PT-15 from by olympus Japan.

I just picked up the C5050 & the PT-015 today, and next week I'm off to where the water is. Can't wait to try it out!

A question about add-on lenses...

Previously I was using a Sony P5 housed in a MPK, and I had a Sea&Sea conversion kit. I have been using the Sea&Sea wide-angle lens (20mm) & a macro lens with reasonable success (some problems with the setup, but that's another story).

Today I tried fitting the Sea&Sea adapter for the Olympus housing onto the front, and I found that unless I zoom about 2/3 of the way in, I can see the conversion mounting in the corners of the image.

I assume this means there's no point trying to use this 20mm lens with the new camera, since I suppose there's not much point using a wide-angle lens if I have to zoom in to do so?

I also assume there's not much point in using the macro lens, since the Oly already has a super-macro mode which allows focus at 3cm (on land)?

However, I don't know much about this so any feedback would be welcome. I don't fancy paying for the conversion mounting only to find that it's no use! On the other hand, if it's worthwhile then I'll buy it before the trip.

Thanks

-David

Actually just did some tests with the macro lens compared to the inbuilt super macro mode. I tested to see what is the smallest size of object which can fill the image while allowing the camera to focus:

With the Sea&Sea 2x macro lens (same results in normal and macro modes)

- wide: 55mm (but the lens adapter masks 11mm so only 44mm is visible)

- tele: couldn't get focus in the small bucket I was using for the test

- half-zoom: 40mm (but a little blurred at the edges. and the adapter is visiable in the corners)

In super-macro model with the macro lens attached only the middle of the image is in focus.

Using the inbuilt super-macro mode: 38mm.

Obviously no point having that macro lens for this camera.

(I expect those who actually know something about photography already knew I'd get results like these. But I must confess I don't understand how macro mode works, and why I need to choose a different mode for macro instead of the camera just focusing at whatever distance the object is, in a single mode...)

David - as i'm looking to buy a 5050/PT015, i was wondering where you

found them, if they were "in stock", and their prices. Mike

Yeah David, where did you get the PT-015 from? Will be taking (fingers crossed) delivery of the C5050 end of this week but can't seem to get the housing in Australia. Leaving for Solomons on 26th Dec - info will be greatly appreciated.

Also noticed you had Sea and Sea WAL and adapter for the MPK for the P5 - my girlfriend is looking for a good US store where you can order online from - can you recommend any?

also want to buy Olympus 5050 + housing too before Christmas.

would appreciate if you oculd tell me where to buy

Sorry to disappoint - I'm based in Hong Kong. The C5050 came out about a week ago, and I found a couple of shops in MongKok that had "grey import" housings (ie purchsed by the shop's agent in Japan, but not officially available here and not supported by Olympus).

FWIW the prices were HKD5480 for the camera (say, USD 703) and HKD 1400 for the housing (say, USD 179)

So you'd guess I also don't know where to buy the Sea&Sea stuff in US.

Regarding the converter for the MPK - contrary to my experience with the Oly, I found the Sea&Sea stuff worked well with the Sony. I'm giving up on the Sony because there's no control over the camera's aperture and exposure. That means I can't force the camera to use mainly the flash for lighting, because the camera will always choose exposure settings which work without the flash, and then using the flash results in overexposure. So it's hard to get good colours. But I found it good for shots without the flash.

Incidentally, I decided to buy the PCU-01 close-up lens. Interesting, using this with full zoom, compared to the super macro mode it can magnify 50% more, but the big advantage as far as I'm concerned is that the focal plane is then 8cm from the housing instead of 2cm. That should make it easier to position the camera for some shots.

-David

also want to buy Olympus 5050 + housing too before Christmas.

would  appreciate if you oculd tell me where to buy

 

try our sponsor, Marine Camera Distributors. they have the PT-015 housing.

i ordered mine from www.japan-direct.com.... was $260 - v cool housing indeed

in fact, marinecamera has the pt-015 in stock!

also want to buy Olympus 5050 + housing too before Christmas.

would  appreciate if you oculd tell me where to buy

 

try our sponsor, Marine Camera Distributors. they have the PT-015 housing.

How is marine camera's setup with the Epoque ES150DS Strobe, Fiber optic sync, Epoque Tray and ESA-FASF-10cm arm for $644.35 with the PT-015? This will be my first venture into a underwater camera. Would any one suggest a different setup. What kind of len's should I go with.

Also where could I get insurance to cover the camera if the housing floods?

Thanks,

Insurance:

I recommend dan for insurance:

https://www.h2oinsurance.com/

DEPP is also popular.

Cheers

James

some have looked to their home owner insurance and purchaseed

an inexpensive rider for the coverage (posted elswhere on wet pixels)

House policy is the way to go it costs just a few dollars extra if you list its value on top of the house contents.

For too long these Insurance companies have taken $1000's away from divers - then have the cheak to make claims difficult and lengthy